Curiosity Rover Is Back to Science on Mars

[Judi Lynn]

By Meghan Bartels 6 hours ago



The Curiosity rover captured this photograph of itself and its surroundings on Mars on Feb. 10, 2019, before a temporary glitch paused the craft's science activity.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)


After a brief staycation caused by a technical glitch, the Curiosity rover is back to gathering data on a clay-rich region of Mars, according to a NASA statement released today (Feb. 28).

The problem occurred during a routine boot-up on Feb. 15, according to the agency's announcement of the issue on Feb. 22. Between the glitch and that disclosure, Curiosity underwent 30 more boot-up procedures without issue, but the team still wasn't quite sure what had gone wrong. The robot's engineers paused the rover's science work to avoid overwriting information about the glitch.

"Curiosity has returned to science operations and is once again exploring the clay unit," the statement reads. "The mission's engineering team is continuing to study the computer reset experienced by the rover on Feb. 15. No other issues have arisen since then."

The statement suggests that the rover engineers haven't quite pinpointed what happened but have the information they need to let science work resume.

More:
https://www.space.com/mars-curiosity-rover-returns-to-science.html

[rickford66]

1. Dealing with computer problems in person was maddening.

I can't imagine the stress in this case. You know there's "people" watching over the shoulders of the engineers. Probably asking questions like "how long will it take?" I used to love those questions. These people are magicians.