NASA Rover May Not Work Properly for 2 Weeks or More, JPL Says

bloomberg ^ | 01/23/04 | bloomberg

[Pikamax]

NASA Rover May Not Work Properly for 2 Weeks or More, JPL Says Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- NASA's Mars rover Spirit is having trouble communicating with Earth because of a computer problem and may not be fully operational for two weeks or longer, the project manager for the exploration effort said.

[Sacajaweau]

At least there on to something. The geeks are having fun but I bet they're not sleeping much.

[BenLurkin]

Guess there is a lot of that crashed space ship debris to photograph and encrypt before getting back to showing the public pictures of rocks. . . . 8^)

[af_vet_rr]

Did it reboot? I mean that in the literal sense - I read somewhere that it's got certain failsafe programming that it can revert to that sets it up to basically be reprogrammed if a glitch is found, and then NASA uploads the code.

[mercy]

They should have rolled that thing off it's platform on day two and put it to work. We'll probably never get anything more out of it. It had a two week lifespan and they frittered it away. Scientists!

[GigaDittos]

Well don't worry folks, we have word from the Martian Space Agency that their best scientists on this issue.

[RightWhale]

Do you cross the street without first looking both ways? Do you leap before you look? Do you take off in your private plane without checking the checklist?

[LibWhacker]

Interesting briefing this morning . . . Other highlights, at least as I understood them, in no particular order, and working from memory:

- The rover has attempted to reset itself over 60 times since the fault condition first arose.
- It looks like the fault is not in the software, but in the hardware. However, it's not necessarily mechanical, either. It could be a sensor, e.g.
- Apparently, during the reboots, Spirit's processors sense a problem, pause, and reboot again.
- Spirit can receive commands and return data, both crucial for "working" the problem.
- If a sensor has failed, e.g., causing the fault condition, a workaround may be as simple as commanding Spirit to ignore the fault.
- Ordering Spirit to take a picture of itself from the camera(s) on the mast, will probably not reveal anything of importance; the problem is internal.
- The fault manifests itself differently during each reboot, further pointing to something external to the software and also suggesting that the failed component is in a changing state . . . a motor or something like that.

That's all I can remember for now. I think I got it mostly right, but if not, please correct me. Tomorrow, Opportunity is scheduled to land at 9:05PM PST. There will be additional briefings on Spirit and Opportunity tomorrow at noon Pacific time and at 2PM. NASA TV goes live at 7:30PM in preparation for Opportunity's landing.

[RightWhale]

For Opportunity landing, should those who posted to the Spirit landing thread be pinged? Or maybe use that thread continued? It was a good thread.

[Fitzcarraldo]

further pointing to something external to the software and also suggesting that the failed component is in a changing state . . . a motor or something like that.

Which causes a concern for power use, but they say the rover can handle a complete drain of its batteries and operate from solar cells alone.

[Lokibob]

BEN: How did you know???

 

From JPL this morning: ( http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/rover-images/jan-23-2004/3-labeled_640.jpg )

 

 

 

 

Notice how close the first bounce estimate was to the actual first bounce.

 

AF, a reboot is the last thing they want to try.

 

Mercy, it has a 3 month life span, and they have to be careful.  Just rolling it off the platform was dangerous (fear it would tip over).

 

 

 

[LibWhacker]

Sure, they'll probably be interested. Maybe I missed that thread? Which one was it, again, RW?

[CasearianDaoist]

Start a new thread and ping everyone in the Spirit landing thread? If you start a thread (or use an old one) please ping me.

[LibWhacker]

Right! Also, that reminds me, Spirit is not going into "sleep" mode at night as it's designed to do. It's got insomnia!

[CasearianDaoist]

Can it ever recharge?

[DoctorMichael]

Nail-biting BTTT.

[RightWhale]

I'm not a great organizer, and anyway I'll be at orchestra rehearsal until late. Someone, probably several people, will start a new thread tomorrow evening.

[InterceptPoint]

My Instant Analysis: They have a software problem and do not have a functioning broadband uplink.

Two weeks to figure out what the heck to do, write the new Java code (Java - big mistake), test it out on good old terra firma and upload version 1.01 via a narrowband channel. The good news is that this may only be a software problem and if they have a decent design and don't lose the comms they should be able to fix it. Just wondering though: Why would you launch a Mars expedition with beta software, particularly Java beta software?

[Viking2002]

Let that be a lesson: never buy dilithium crystals from the Klingons. >>>;-)>

[Spruce]

...preparing to examine a football-size rock when communications were lost...

Hmmm.