There is something wrong with NASA's Curiosity rover

The situation of NASA on Mars is very complicated. The aging Opportunity rover was engulfed by the planet-wide dust storm that covered Mars earlier this summer and has not woken up since. The rover's extended mission is currently in abeyance as NASA waits to see if it's still alive, so all eyes have turned to the new Curiosity rover that continues to explore the Martian surface.

Now, in a new update from the Curiosity team, it looks like the last working robot is coming in with something … something. It seems that Curiosity refuses to send back the vital scientific data it has collected, and NASA is not sure of what's wrong.

"Over the past few days, JPL engineers have been working on a Curiosity problem that prevents it from sending much of the scientific and technical data stored in its memory," says the Curiosity team. "The rover stays in its normal mode and is otherwise healthy and responsive."

The mobile, however, is not completely silent and continues to transmit some information about the state, but not the scientific data stored locally. This strange situation leaves the Curiosity engineers scratching their heads.

"In addition to transmitting the data stored in its memory, the mobile can transmit data" in real time "when it connects to a relay orbiter or an antenna of the Deep Space network," writes the team. . "This real-time data normally transmits and includes various details about the state of the mobile. The engineers develop the details that the mobile transmits in this data in real time to better diagnose the problem. "

The opportunity, that is to say the one that is currently resisting the hangover of the dust storm, has largely exceeded the schedule of its initial mission. Originally scheduled to last 90 days on Mars, it has managed to last more than ten years. The curiosity is much more recent, having landed on the planet in mid-2012, and she has done a fantastic job so far. His main assignment lasted about two years and has continued since.

Whatever the problem with Curiosity, we will cross our fingers for this to be solved quickly.