spacetoday.net: NASA: reviving Spirit could take weeks

Posted: Fri, Jan 23, 2004, 4:54 PM ET (2154 GMT)
Mars Exploration Rover (NASA/JPL)

NASA flight controllers were able to reestablish limited communications with the Mars rover Spirit on Friday, but cautioned that it could take days or even weeks before they are able to solve the problems currently incapacitating the rover. Project officials said Friday afternoon that the rover's main computer appears to be resetting itself repeatedly — perhaps several dozen times since the rover's problems started on Wednesday. The cause for the computer resets is unknown, and officials said that on two occasions that they studied the events that led up to the computer reset were not the same, complicating the investigation into the problem. Project manager Peter Theisinger said that it could take "many days, perhaps a couple of weeks" even in the best-case scenario, to resolve the problem. He and other project officials are confident that the problem will eventually be solved, although the rover may lose some functionality in the process. Because of the problems with Spirit controllers plan to proceed more cautiously with Opportunity, the twin to Spirit, which will land on the opposite side of Mars late Saturday night.