Contact With Mars Spirit Rover Lost....

[Dinger]

let's be honest.  If you're writing the code for something like that, you do it in layers.  at the very bottom is the reversion code, for when the 5417 hits the fan.  This is gonna be as simple as possible, and will be tested ten times to tuesday for errors.  In other words, the software base will be rock-solid. If they can't get the darn thing out of its lowest reversion mode, odds are something catastrophic happened.

okay, now the news is:

NASA scientists now have received a basic communication tone from the rover indicating it is alive but the solid flows of data that marked its first 18 days on Mars have stopped, said Richard Cook, deputy project manager, speaking from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The tone is programmed into the spacecraft, to be emitted when there is a serious problem onboard.

Now, that "tone" is probably a carrier signal and not an error message.  'cos if you can get an error message out, you can probably rewrite the firmware.

[Tuomio]

The tone has indicated, that it is in safe mode and is waiting for commands, they do not expect to get any data from it on the communication windows until they ask it in the "safe channel", which they haven't done yet. If it does not answed coherently to those commands, then there is odds that something is fried badly up there.

[SLO]

Originally posted by Fishu
Would be hard..  theres more radiation on the way to mars than to the moon or the orbit, then there is increasing risk of getting hit by something and repair would be quite far away.. then as last and the biggest difference between moon and mars would be the atmosphere...  moon pretty much doesnt have one, but mars has one which can have very violent storms, tornados far bigger than the mankind has ever seen.
The wind alone can be very strong.
Travelling there would take long long long time..  I dont think anybody even spent that much time on the Mir space station.. and thats just to one way... if you've ever planned on to getting back.

Otherwise good, but technology isn't quite there yet

2 years there and back.....

russians lasted 400 something days on MIR.....

they are now studyin different methods to fight solar radiation on a long term basis on the space station...thinks its german and russian studyin these effects.

[LWACE]

I saw somethin online today, said contact with rover regaind, so guess it wasnt sometin to big.

[Duedel]

Originally posted by LWACE
I saw somethin online today, said contact with rover regaind, so guess it wasnt sometin to big.

Havent heard any news about it. If so it would be really great.

[rpm]

They sent a Ping, got a Pong. Going thru system reboot procedures.

[Fishu]

Originally posted by SLO
2 years there and back.....

russians lasted 400 something days on MIR.....

they are now studyin different methods to fight solar radiation on a long term basis on the space station...thinks its german and russian studyin these effects.

Yes.. and it was quite a hard stretch for human body.

IIRC the travel to one way alone would take about as long or longer

[Chairboy]

You recall incorrectly.  The right answer would be of course 'it depends on how much fuel you have.'

If you do a Hohmann transfer orbit launched at the right time (very frugal), it's a 259 day trip.  If you have enough fuel to do a direct transfer, you can do it in 155 days.

[AKcurly]

Originally posted by Fishu
the biggest difference between moon and mars would be the atmosphere...  moon pretty much doesnt have one, but mars has one which can have very violent storms, tornados far bigger than the mankind has ever seen.
The wind alone can be very strong.yet

Hi Fishu,

While the storms are large, the air density is tiny.  Big tornados blowing dust everywhere (on Mars) would not be a big deal -- air pressure too low.

I haven't read one negative remark about the Brit expedition.  All US scientists are painfully aware of Mars' propensity for eating landers.

The Euro orbiter has been a resounding success and all have learned something from the Brit experience - failures, while painful always teach a lesson.

curly

[Dingbat]

Originally posted by -dead-
Yes, but sadly they also used:
"Where would you like to stop working today?"

I fixed it for you, tool...

[h345]

Originally posted by ra
This is the last picture the Spirit transmitted back to Earth:

I knew that man was planning something