Fri, Jan 23, 2004
Rover Hasn't Sent Data; Scientists Investigating
After all the hoopla
with the Spirit Mars rover's landing and first exploration of the
red planet, recent news about some communication problems may put a
damper on NASA's starry mood.
The Spirit rover has stopped transmitting data from Mars, NASA
mission controllers said Thursday, but there were signs it is still
operating at a basic level. Flight-team engineers for NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Mission were encouraged Thursday morning when
Spirit sent a simple radio signal acknowledging that the rover had
received a transmission from Earth. However, the team is still
trying to diagnose the cause of earlier communications difficulties
that have prevented any data being returned from Spirit since early
Wednesday.
"We have a very serious situation," said Pete Theisinger of
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, project manager for Spirit and
its twin, Opportunity.
Spirit did send a radio signal via NASA's Mars Global Surveyor
orbiter Wednesday evening, but the transmission did not carry any
data. Spirit did not make radio contact with NASA's Mars Odyssey
during a scheduled session two hours later or during another one
Thursday morning. It also did not respond to the first two attempts
Thursday to elicit an acknowledgment signal with direct
communications between Earth and the rover, and it did not send a
signal at a time pre-set for doing so when its computer recognizes
certain communication problems.
Charles Elachi, Director of the NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, said Thursday night that engineers are planning to send
Spirit a series of commands very early Friday morning. Since the
craft has responded to initial electronic prodding, the JPL team
hopes to receive a diagnostic report from the rover, which Elachi
believes may have inadvertently switched into "a safe mode".
Meanwhile, mission leaders decided to skip an optional
trajectory correction maneuver today for Opportunity, the other
Mars Exploration Rover. Opportunity is on course to land halfway
around Mars from Spirit, in a region called Meridiani Planum, on
Jan. 25.
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