Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Update Thread

[MeteorWayne]

More bad news from MRO....

"NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be kept in its safe mode — suspending its science observations of the red planet for several weeks — while engineers try to investigate what is plaguing the spacecraft.

The 4-year-old orbiter has mysteriously rebooted its main computer three times this year, most recently on Aug. 26. It also inexplicably switched to a backup computer last month in a different malfunction.

During analysis of the four safe-mode events, NASA engineers have identified a vulnerability of the spacecraft to the effects of subsequent events. They are currently developing added protection to eliminate this vulnerability while they continue analysis of the string of incidents.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/09 ... pdate.html

 

[3488]

Hi Wayne, I've just got that e-mailed to me from JPL about 2 minutes ago.

It looks like MRO will not be carrying out any observations for a few weeks, but it looks solvable.

There is this though the PDS September 2009 PDS image release of 1,512 images from the MRO HiRISE. PDS = Planetary Data System.

Andrew Brown.

 

[MeteorWayne]

MRO water ice teleconference underway:

images:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/n ... 90924.html

Audio:

http://www.nasa.gov/news/media/newsaudio/index.html

 

[abq_farside]

MRO water ice teleconference underway:

images:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/n ... 90924.html

Audio:

http://www.nasa.gov/news/media/newsaudio/index.html

Saw that on the front page of SDC - too cool. Now if could examine them up close!

 

[MeteorWayne]

PASADENA, Calif. -- The team operating NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter plans to uplink protective files to the spacecraft next week as one step toward resuming the orbiter's research and relay activities.

Since the orbiter spontaneously rebooted its computer on Aug. 26, flight team engineers have been examining possible root causes and repercussions of that incident and three similar events this year on Feb. 23, June 3 and Aug. 6. Meanwhile, the team has kept the spacecraft in a precautionary, minimally active status called "safe mode."

The four reboots involved a device, called the "computer module interface controller," that controls which of two redundant main computers on the spacecraft is active. Still undetermined is whether trouble lies with that controller itself or with a voltage glitch elsewhere on the spacecraft. The Aug. 6 reboot, though not the other three, prompted a switch from one computer to its backup twin. More than 100 factors are under consideration as possible root causes.

Engineers' analysis of the reboots has identified a possible, though unlikely, scenario that, should it occur, could jeopardize the spacecraft. This scenario would require two computer reboots, each worse than any so far, occurring within about a minute of each other in a certain pattern. The effect would be that neither of the redundant computers would remember that the spacecraft is in orbit around Mars instead of awaiting launch. The team has developed and tested a preventive-care measure to eliminate this possibility.

The preventive care requires amending some data files in the computers' non-volatile, or "flash" memories where the computers check for default settings when they reboot. However, overwriting information in those files can entail risk, especially if the spacecraft were to experience another reboot with the process only partially completed. A process developed and tested in recent weeks to minimize that risk will take several days to implement. The team will uplink, install and verify the changes in a careful sequence.

"We plan to begin uplinking protective files next week," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Manager Jim Erickson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "This process is to bulletproof the spacecraft against a remote vulnerability that our team identified. Meanwhile, analysis of possible root causes for the four reboots this year continues as another important part of our path toward resuming science operations."


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/n ... 91124.html

 

[3488]

Thanks for the update on this Wayne.

I'm off out now but will be back tonight. It looks like MRO has almost had 'Alzheimers' sort of regressing to pre launch data & getting confused when in orbit around Mars.

I wonder if they'll end up doing something similar to a Hard Boot, i.e powering down all but the most critical computer hardware then reboot manually using commands from Earth. That may do the trick.

Andrew Brown.

 

[MeteorWayne]

NASA has finally revived its most powerful Mars orbiter from its months-long slumber due to a computer glitch.

The spacecraft, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, slipped into a protective "safe mode" in late August, stalling its science observations but safeguarding the $720 million probe from further damage. Instead of rousing the orbiter within a few days, as in past glitches, NASA engineers spent months trying to find the source of the probe's inexplicable computer rebooting malfunctions.

"The patient is out of danger, but more steps have to be taken to get it back on its feet," said Jim Erickson, the spacecraft's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

JPL engineers beamed the 4-year-old orbiter a vital software upgrade last week to patch a potentially mission-killing scenario in the spacecraft's onboard computer. That scenario, the unlikely occurrence of back-to-back computer reboots, could have sent the powerful Mars orbiter offline for good, mission managers said.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/09 ... pdate.html

 

[nimbus]

Doesn't seem to give any clues to what the cause was.

 

[MeteorWayne]

It's a computer! Has yours ever gone wonky for a few days?

 

[nimbus]

Wayne, my computer is a PC, not a piece of custom-designed interplanetary space probe hardware subject to cosmic rays and what not I'm just curious if it's a native hardware fault, or an external cause like cosmic ray hitting just the wrong component at the wrong time. Or something else.

 

[paulscottanderson]

"Big Announcement" from HiRISE next Wednesday...

http://twitter.com/HiRISE/status/7806354996

Did they find MPL or Beagle? Something else? :?

 

[3488]

Long time no see paulscottanderson. Great to see you again.

I suspect it may be one or the other or even both. Perhaps even a failed Soviet Mars Lander perhaps???

I hope it is MPL. I really wanted that mission to succeed, imagine my dissappointment at the failure, partly the reason for my involvement in the campaign to prevent the cancellation of Phoenix Mars Lander.

Or is there evidence of active volcanism?????????

We'll see.

Andrew Brown.

 

[abq_farside]

Bump

I think active volcanism would be potentially more exciting

 

[nimbus]

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/hiwish.php ?

 

[abq_farside]

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/hiwish.php ?

So is HiWish the Big Announcement? While it seems like an interesting tool, that is not the kind of big announcement I was anticipating.

 

[nimbus]

Looks like it is.
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

 

[EarthlingX]

For my collection:
Colorful Streaks (ESP_016136_1525)

 

[babea]

I wonder if NASA will still be planning to fly a plane thru the Martian atmosphere

 

[EarthlingX]

I wonder if NASA will still be planning to fly a plane thru the Martian atmosphere

This might be a hint:

Maybe a hint about the new research focus:
NASA Administrator Names Braun NASA Chief Technologist

WASHINGTON, (NASA) — NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden named Robert D. Braun the agency’s Chief Technologist, effective Wednesday, Feb. 3. Braun serves as the principle advisor and advocate on matters concerning agency-wide technology policy and programs.

I think, this is him:

Dr. Robert D. Braun

Associate Professor
David and Andrew Lewis Professor of Space Technology
Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Technical papers from Georgia Tech SSDL:
http://www.ssdl.gatech.edu/TechPapers.htm

NASA Langley Research Center about the budget (he was working there for 16 years) :
NASA Budget Increases Play to Langley's Strength

The forecast was one of optimism, of continued employment, even a return to history. And the forecast was of interesting work, if not work on technology for a spacecraft to go to the moon or Mars.

from
NASA's website budget links (forum)

 

[babea]

Here's link and photo of plane...

http://www.popsci.com/technology/articl ... face?page=

 

[MeteorWayne]

Your post has NOTHING to do with the MRO mission. Can you please make some effort to stick to the subject of the discussion in a thread? Especially in Missions and Launches???

I will move this to SB&T under it's own title.

 

[EarthlingX]

from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Blog
NASA Mars Orbiter Speeds Past Data Milestone

March 03, 2010

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's newest Mars orbiter, completing its fourth year at the Red Planet next week, has just passed a data-volume milestone unimaginable a generation ago and still difficult to fathom: 100 terabits.

That 100 trillion bits of information is more data than in 35 hours of uncompressed high-definition video. It's also more than three times the amount of data from all other deep-space missions combined -- not just the ones to Mars, but every mission that has flown past the orbit of Earth's moon.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Just a little factoid... SDO will be returning 1 1/2 terabytes a day once it's operational

 

[EarthlingX]

Just a little factoid... SDO will be returning 1 1/2 terabytes a day once it's operational

Whaaa ... :shock:.. oow .. that would be about 60 GB/h ... How did i miss this ? Thanks Wayne

 

[EarthlingX]

from Discover/Bad Astronomy :

Another awesome Martian avalanche

March 15th, 2010 7:44 AM, by Phil Plait

Spring is approaching us here in the northern hemisphere on Earth once again, and we are experiencing the annual thaw of the winter ice.

Spring is approaching the northern hemisphere of Mars as well, and with it comes the thaw of carbon dioxide ice. Some of that dry ice sits at the tops of cliffs, and when it thaws it dislodges the material there. The rock and debris on Mars then does the same thing it would do on Earth: it falls. Fast.

And when it does, you get this slice of Martian awesomeness:



Holy scarp!

That’s another avalanche on Mars caught in the act by the HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. I say another, because a few others have been seen, including this spectacular one two years ago, and lots of older ones that left their marks on the Red Planet’s surface.

If you want to learn more, check out the HiRISE blog, which always has great stuff, including explanations of these extraterrestrial rockslides.

Which i did, and here's a cut from Candidate Landing Site in Possible Salt Playa (ESP_016288_1745 :