Rover's Lost? Say it ain't so!

[Pexster]

I'm seriously bummed.

[Bovon]

Ahhh crap...CNN just now said it has been 14 hours since they have heard from it.

By Associated Press

January 22, 2004, 1:28 PM EST

NASA: Spirit Rover Stops Sending Data

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- NASA's Spirit rover stopped transmitting data from the surface of Mars for more than 24 hours, mission members said Thursday. NASA last heard from Spirit early Wednesday. Since then, it has returned just random, meaningless data -- and only then sporadically, scientists said. Initially, the scientists said they believed weather problems on Earth caused the glitch. They now said they believe the rover was experiencing hardware or software problems.

[Bill in SD, CA]

This blows and sucks!!

Bill

[MTAtech]

Sure glad we don't have manned missions.

Originally posted by Bovon
They now said they believe the rover was experiencing hardware or software problems.

Do they have the ability to send service pak updates remotely?

[Gomer]

they do have that ability... but they have lost all communication.

All it is doing is sending out a "beep" to let command know it is still alive.. but has suffered some major problem.

[Gomer]

This morning’s beep from Spirit was welcomed news. That beep confirms that the robot had received a transmission from Earth. Still, it has not returned any data since early Wednesday.

Flight-team engineers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project are working to diagnose the cause of communications difficulties.

Spirit appears to be in what's known as "fault mode," said Theisinger, given that the robot has beeped back to ground controllers. That is good news for perplexed engineers.

"So at least some element of Spirit’s software that is necessary to process that command and take action…took action," Theisinger said.
However, the robot is not transmitting significant data -- enough information for troubleshooting -- that the engineers can use to fully determine what has happened.

Getting tones from Spirit means a number of important things on the rover are in working order. Spirit is in what engineers call "power positive mode" and is maintaining proper temperatures in the frigid air of Mars. It continues to generate power from the Sun with its solar panels, said deputy project manager Richard Cook.

The command from Earth requested Spirit to react if it did hear a signal. That response came in the form of a beep, lasting for five minutes. It heard the command and acted upon it.

The rover was operating in the day when the problem cropped up. Engineers always worry about the issue of "thermal cycling" -- hardware that must survive repeated day-to-night temperature swings.

Theisinger told SPACE.com that this concern can’t be discounted. "Yes something could break…something could fail." But the likelihood of that being the problem is now low on the list of probabilities, he said.

www.space.com

[RedFury]

Talk about remote desktop

I'll bet ya anything . . . somebody has there foot on it.

[super gerbil]

aw crap

I say we send evilrick to go and fix it


WHen is the other one supposed to land?

[Bill in SD, CA]

The 24th.

I think.

Bill