NASA unable to communicate with Mars rover – The Spirit rover has stopped transmitting data from Mars, NASA mission controllers said Thursday, but there were signs it is still operating at a basic level. 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.
[ “(extlink)CNN”:http://www.cnn.com ]
Sounds like more arguments for manned missions to Mars. Considering how expensive it is to get equipment there in the first place, having the ability to repair things on the planet would seem to make a lot of sense (and cents). At $300 million a probe, these things aren’t cheap, and if something goes wrong your repair options are very limited.
Mars Rover Broken?
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NASA unable to communicate with Mars rover – [ “(extlink)CNN”:http://www.cnn.com ]
Sounds like more arguments for manned missions to Mars. Considering how expensive it is to get equipment there in the first place, having the ability to repair things on the planet would seem to make a lot of sense (and cents). At $300 million a probe, these things aren’t cheap, and if something goes wrong your repair options are very limited.