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NASA's Curiosity rover is busy make new ones
discoveries on Mars. The rover climbs Mount Sharp from
2014 and recently reached a region of clay that can offer new clues about the
the potential of the ancient Martian environment to support life.
Curiosity met an obstacle last Friday, when a hiccup
when starting interrupted its planned activities and triggered a protective action
safe mode. The rover was out of this mode on Tuesday, February 19th.
otherwise, works normally, after successfully starting more than 30 times
without other problems.
Throughout the weekend, Curiosity sent and
receive technical data, contact the team to help identify them
the cause of the problem.
"We are still not sure of its exact cause and are
gather relevant data for analysis, "said Steven Lee, director of Curiosity.
assistant project manager of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
California. JPL leads the Curiosity mission. "The rover has experienced a
punctual reset of the computer, but normally works since, which is a good
sign, "he added. We are currently working to take a snapshot of her
memory to better understand what could have happened ".
As a precaution, Lee said, science
operations will remain on hold until the issue is better understood.
"In the short term, we limit orders to the
vehicle to minimize changes in his memory, "Lee said. We do not want
destroy any evidence of what might have caused the computer to reset. Like a
As a result, we expect science activities to be suspended for a short time.
time."
Curiosity is one of two NASA satellites that actively studies
the Martian surface. InSight, an immobile lander, reached the planet in November.
26; Opportunity, which has lasted more than 14 years, has completed its mission.
Curiosity has explored a region – nicknamed "Glen
Torridon "- where clay minerals can be seen from the orbit.
that form in the water, are of particular interest to the rover's scientific team.
The rover has been specifically designed to study ancient environments that could
have supported life, and water plays a key role in this determination.
As the engineers take care of resetting the computer, the
scientific team will continue to study the images and other data that have been
collected in Glen Torridon. A potential drilling site was just sighted
656 feet (200 meters).
"The science team is eager to break through our first sample
of this fascinating place, "said Ashwin Vasavada of JPL, Curiosity
project scientist. "We do not yet understand how this area fits into the
the general history of Mount Sharp, our recent images give us a lot to think
sure."
For more information on
Curiosity, visit:
https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/
Media contact
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
818-393-2433
[email protected]
2019-029
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