Mars Orbiter Has Unplanned Computer Swap

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA Orbiter Safe After Unplanned Computer Swap

NASA's long-lived Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter put itself into a precautionary safe standby mode March 9 after an unscheduled swap from one main computer to another. The mission's ground team has begun restoring the spacecraft to full operations.

"The spacecraft is healthy, in communication and fully powered," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Manager Dan Johnston of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We have stepped up the communication data rate, and we plan to have the spacecraft back to full operations within a few days."

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[keninsc]

I would have thought they would have anticipated that requirement when they upped the data rate, however that's the best way to test a system safety function.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

I would have thought they would have anticipated that requirement when they upped the data rate, however that's the best way to test a system safety function.

This problem has NOTHING to do with an upped data rate, you didn't read that properly. What it actually says is:

"We have stepped up the communication data rate, and we plan to have the spacecraft back to full operations within a few days."

In other words they have upped the data rate SINCE the problem as part of the recovery process. The data rate will have dropped as part of the "safe mode" that the orbiter entered.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Resumes Full Duty

UPDATED: March 13, 2014

Engineers have restored NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to full operations, following a March 9 unplanned swap of duplicate computers aboard the spacecraft. On Thursday morning, March 13, the orbiter resumed science observations with its own instruments and relay of data from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.

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