23 January 2004
NASA Engineers Receive Limited Data from Mars Rover
Still trying to diagnose cause of communications problem
Engineers of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) received 30 minutes of transmissions early January 23 from the robot explorer that landed safely on Mars three weeks ago. The NASA team is attempting further communications hoping to diagnose the problem that has been hindering the craft's communications with Earth.
According to press releases issued by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, engineers heard from the six-wheeled Spirit rover for 10 minutes and then received more data for 20 minutes about an hour later. The latest signals were received via NASA's Deep Space Network antenna complex near Madrid, Spain.
"The spacecraft sent limited data in a proper response to a ground command, and we're planning for commanding further communication sessions later today [January 23]," said Spirit's project manager Pete Theisinger.
NASA engineers are still trying to diagnose the cause of communications difficulties that have prevented normal data transmissions being returned from Spirit since early January 21. Prior to the January 23 data transmission, Spirit had sent back to Earth only meaningless radio noise or simple beeps acknowledging receipt of commands since the 21st. Until January 21, Spirit had functioned almost flawlessly and NASA scientists and engineers had been jubilant.
According to NASA, among the possible causes of the communications problem are a corruption of flight software or corruption of computer memory -- either of which could leave Spirit's power supply healthy and allow adequate time for recovering control of the rover.
Spirit landed on Mars on January 3 and then was safely rolled off its lander platform onto Martian soil on January 15. It snapped thousands of pictures of the Martian landscape and carried out preliminary work analyzing the minerals and elements that make up the Martian soil before the communications problems began. Spirit is supposed to examine the Red Planet's rocks and soil for evidence that it was once wetter and more hospitable to life.
Spirit's twin Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, is due to reach Mars on January 25 to begin a similar examination of a site on the opposite side of the planet.
Full coverage of the mission is available at http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/index.html
Following are the latest NASA press releases:
(begin text)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
January 23, 2004
Updated Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status
The flight team for NASA's Spirit received data from the rover in a communication session that began at 13:26 Universal Time (5:26 a.m. PST) and lasted 20 minutes at a data rate of 120 bits per second.
"The spacecraft sent limited data in a proper response to a ground command, and we're planning for commanding further communication sessions later today," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager Pete Theisinger at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The flight team at JPL had sent a command to Spirit at 13:02 Universal Time (5:02 PST) via the NASA Deep Space Network antenna complex near Madrid, Spain, telling Spirit to begin transmitting.
Meanwhile, 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 (Universal Time and EST; Jan. 24 at 9:05 p.m. PST).
January 23, 2004
Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status
NASA's Spirit rover communicated with Earth in a signal detected by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna complex near Madrid, Spain, at 12:34 Universal Time (4:34 a.m. PST) this morning.
The transmissions came during a communication window about 90 minutes after Spirit woke up for the morning on Mars. The signal lasted for 10 minutes at a data rate of 10 bits per second.
Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., plan to send commands to Spirit seeking additional data from the spacecraft during the subsequent few hours.
January 22, 2004
Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status
Flight-team engineers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission were encouraged this 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. The successful attempt to get a response signal came shortly before 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.
No single explanation considered so far fits all of the events observed, Theisinger said. When the team tried to replicate the situation in its testing facility at JPL, the testbed rover did not have any trouble communicating. Two of the possibilities under consideration are a corruption of flight software or corruption of computer memory, either of which could leave Spirit's power supply healthy and allow adequate time for recovering control of the rover.
Engineers will continue efforts to understand the situation in preparation for scheduled communication relay sessions using Mars Global Surveyor at 7:10 p.m. PST and Mars Odyssey at 10:35 PST. Efforts to resume direct communications between Spirit and antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network will resume after the rover's expected wake-up at about 3 a.m. PST Friday.
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 (Universal Time and EST; Jan. 24 at 9:05 p.m. PST).
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Additional information about the project is available from JPL at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at http://athena.cornell.edu.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=January&x=20040123161355FJrelluF0.8167993&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
