NASA detects communication from too-quiet Mars rover

Houston Comical ^ | 1/23/04 | Mark Carreau and AP Staff

[The_Victor]

I'm not dead yet.

[Johnny_Cipher]

Just pining for the fjords.

[ezsmoke]

Mars Exploration Rover Updated Mission Status


Artist's concept of the Mars Exploration Rover


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 limted 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).

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, 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 .


###
Guy Webster (818) 354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
NEWS RELEASE: 2004-30

[hispanarepublicana]

Have they tried mashing ctrl/alt/delete?

[N. Theknow]

NASA detects communication from too-quiet Mars rover

Ruh-roh!

When things get too quiet, it means the Indians are about to attack.

[DannyTN]

It's been possessed by the martian spirits.

[mylife]

Works for me!

[labowski]

Can anyone tell me what the heck Hoagland is implying with these pics?

http://www.enterprisemission.com/images/Spirit/coverup.jpg

[mvpel]

They should have known better than to use Java on that thing. I can't count how many times it's crashed my web browser over the years.

[TheBigB]

Shhhh...be vewwy, vewwy quiet. I'm hunting mawtians.

[Johnny_Cipher]

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.

If what I have read elsewhere is true, this means that diagnostic data was sent and received in this transmission. This should hopefully pinpoint what's wrong with Spirit.

[Giddyupgo]

I can't stand this guy. He's always talking about a conspiracy when it comes to space.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Among the possible problems: a corruption of its software or computer memory. If the software is awry, NASA can fix it from Earth by beaming patches across more than 100 million miles of space or by rebooting the rover's computer. But if the problem lies with the rover's hardware, the situation would be far more grave -- perhaps beyond repair."

Wonder if they are going to put in a change control request for this.

[Semper Paratus]

Looks like the rover wasn't tested as completly as it should have been.

[Bush Cheney]

MARS Bump.

[steveo]

We get signal!

[BenLurkin]

Iron Pyrite

[mylife]

I Told you to upgrade to Windows XP !!

[SubSailor]

I think it's really cool going to Mars and beaming back pictures. It's amazin'...simply amazin'! HOWEVER, the cost of this project was over 800 million dollars. How many people are in the USA? Around 300 million? I would have much preferred cancelling this project and distributing the cash equally among every citizen in the USA. Same goes for the proposed Moon/Mars missions. I can't believe we are considering this when we're not sure if Social Security will still be solvent by the time the last baby boomers retire. Just my 2 cents.

[blam]

"Can anyone tell me what the heck Hoagland is implying with these pics?"

No. What is the blue patch?