Mars rover Spirit suffering glitches
Posted: Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 8:53 PM ET (0153 GMT)
NASA's Mars rover Spirit, exploring the Red Planet for over five years now, is suffering from "unexpected behavior" in the last few days, NASA announced late Wednesday. On Sunday the rover indicated that it had received instructions to drive to a new location but had not moved; it also failed to record data for the day in non-volatile memory on the spacecraft. To test to see if the rover had lost its orientation, rover controllers sent instructions to Spirit to find the Sun with its camera on Tuesday. Data returned from Spirit indicated that the rover had attempted to carry out the instructions but failed to find the Sun. Project officials said they don't know what the root cause of the problems is, but are looking into a number of possibilities, including the aftermath of a cosmic ray hit on the rover's electronics. The rover, which marked five years on Mars earlier this month, is otherwise in good health.
NASA's Mars rover Spirit, exploring the Red Planet for over five years now, is suffering from "unexpected behavior" in the last few days, NASA announced late Wednesday. On Sunday the rover indicated that it had received instructions to drive to a new location but had not moved; it also failed to record data for the day in non-volatile memory on the spacecraft. To test to see if the rover had lost its orientation, rover controllers sent instructions to Spirit to find the Sun with its camera on Tuesday. Data returned from Spirit indicated that the rover had attempted to carry out the instructions but failed to find the Sun. Project officials said they don't know what the root cause of the problems is, but are looking into a number of possibilities, including the aftermath of a cosmic ray hit on the rover's electronics. The rover, which marked five years on Mars earlier this month, is otherwise in good health.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, August 1
Space Force outlines acquisition wins amid ongoing Department wide transformation at Air and Space Summit
US Space Force — 8:40 am ET (1240 GMT) Blue Origin continues rebuilding LC-36, prepares testing alternatives for New Glenn second stage
NasaSpaceFlight.com — 8:39 am ET (1239 GMT) Starbase Pad 1 Retrofits Progress as Block 3 Flights Start
NasaSpaceFlight.com — 8:38 am ET (1238 GMT) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Rocket Is About to Crash Into the Moon—and It Could Be Visible From Earth
Wired News — 8:37 am ET (1237 GMT) The High-Stakes Battle for Invisible Real Estate in Space
New York Times — 8:35 am ET (1235 GMT) |
