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January 23, 2004

What's Up With Spirit?

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.

Says 2005 Proposed Budget Is $16.2 Billion

Last week, President Bush launched a new, aggressive space initiative. This week, NASA's new budget has been beefed-up in order to accomplish this lofty goal. In more specific terms, the agency's proposed budget for fiscal 2005 will be $16.2 billion, a 5.6 percent increase meant to jump-start President Bush's plan for missions to the moon and Mars. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said his agency was well-placed to begin the ambitious space exploration program, even with the shuttle fleet grounded since the Feb. 1 Columbia disaster and no clear indication for when the shuttle fleet will resume flight. "In many ways, we're probably better positioned right now than we might have been otherwise," O'Keefe told r