MER 24/7 shifts?

Well, what a day!

Quick question: Does anyone know if they'll work 24/7 shifts for the
MER support? Since both will land on opposite sides of the planet, and
with 2 (TWO) relays passing over quite frequently, plus the direct
Earth-Mars links with DSN, how are they going to manage to keep up
with the continuous opportunities for data and interaction?

I just hope that they won't let them sit in the dirt idle for hours at
a time because they can't afford the staffing. I'd volunter any time
to do the driving freely, anytime of the day! (Would look good on a
resume and/or a driver's license :-P )

Okay, just kidding, I know that every thing is planned and
preprogrammed and you can basically tell the rovers to "Go that way
and then if you don't hear from us, take the opportunity to do some of
those things, in the spirit of science." (See how I got the two
rover's name in there ;-P)

And when you come back to the office you just anaylyse strategic data
and lay out the next couple of day's targets and upload it... I figure
that automation has progressed a lot from Pathfinder/Sojourner...