Mars rover problems
Thu Jan 22, 2004 12:50 pm
Breaking news(no links yet), NASA confirms no data sent from rover for last 24 hours.
Thu Jan 22, 2004 12:57 pm
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040121a.html
-------
Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status
Ground controllers were able to send commands to the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit early Wednesday and received a simple signal acknowledging that the rover heard them, but they did not receive expected scientific and engineering data during scheduled communication passes during the rest of that martian day.
Project managers have not yet determined the cause, but similar events occurred several times during the Mars Pathfinder mission. The team is examining a number of different scenarios, some of which would be resolved when the rover wakes up after powering down at the end of the martian day (around midday Pacific time Wednesday).
The next opportunity to hear from the vehicle is when the rover may attempt to communicate with the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter at about 8:30 p.m. Pacific time tonight. A second communication opportunity may occur about two hours later during a relay pass via the Mars Odyssey orbiter. If necessary, the flight team will take additional recovery steps early Thursday morning (the morning of sol 19 on Mars) when the rover wakes up and can communicate directly with Earth.
Full details on the rover's status will be described in the next daily news conference Thursday at 9 a.m. Pacific time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which will be broadcast live on NASA Television.
-------
Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status
Ground controllers were able to send commands to the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit early Wednesday and received a simple signal acknowledging that the rover heard them, but they did not receive expected scientific and engineering data during scheduled communication passes during the rest of that martian day.
Project managers have not yet determined the cause, but similar events occurred several times during the Mars Pathfinder mission. The team is examining a number of different scenarios, some of which would be resolved when the rover wakes up after powering down at the end of the martian day (around midday Pacific time Wednesday).
The next opportunity to hear from the vehicle is when the rover may attempt to communicate with the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter at about 8:30 p.m. Pacific time tonight. A second communication opportunity may occur about two hours later during a relay pass via the Mars Odyssey orbiter. If necessary, the flight team will take additional recovery steps early Thursday morning (the morning of sol 19 on Mars) when the rover wakes up and can communicate directly with Earth.
Full details on the rover's status will be described in the next daily news conference Thursday at 9 a.m. Pacific time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which will be broadcast live on NASA Television.
Thu Jan 22, 2004 1:10 pm
Rover-jacked again!!!
Thu Jan 22, 2004 1:28 pm
Thu Jan 22, 2004 1:34 pm
perhaps it's twin will have better luck
Thu Jan 22, 2004 1:39 pm
Let's not give up on this one yet.
Thu Jan 22, 2004 1:41 pm
Maybe they had Windows on it and it suffered a blue screen of death..or in this case, red screen of death... 
Sun Jan 25, 2004 1:04 am
Rover Spirit whose condition has been upgrade to 'serious' from critical now has a sibling on the planet. Opportunity successfully went through entry, descent, and landing. All appears to have gone perfectly. Hopefully, we'll see a picture or two yet this evening/morning.
Sun Jan 25, 2004 9:43 am
Sun Jan 25, 2004 9:54 am
I'm glad that they got it back up & working, the last thing NASA needs is another failed Mars probe.. would be a huge blemish.
Sun Jan 25, 2004 10:32 am
No, Spirit (the first rover) is still down.. but Opportunity (the second mars rover launched a few days after Spirit launched) is transmitting these pics as normal.
Sun Jan 25, 2004 11:02 am
Originally posted by Ryan
No, Spirit (the first rover) is still down.. but Opportunity (the second mars rover launched a few days after Spirit launched) is transmitting these pics as normal.
They've corrected the crashing problem of Spirit's computer. Now they need to find out how to keep it up and running without problems. Right now it is in a forced sleep mode to recharge the batteries spent trying to fix it.
Sun Jan 25, 2004 12:32 pm
It's down but not dead. They hope to be roving again in about 2-3 weeks.Originally posted by Ryan
No, Spirit (the first rover) is still down.. but Opportunity (the second mars rover launched a few days after Spirit launched) is transmitting these pics as normal.
Sun Jan 25, 2004 2:11 pm
Originally posted by Evan
They've corrected the crashing problem of Spirit's computer. Now they need to find out how to keep it up and running without problems. Right now it is in a forced sleep mode to recharge the batteries spent trying to fix it.
It's probably running Windows...
D'oh!