[ad_1]
The radio silence of NASA's Opportunity Rover has been going on for four months now.
The robotic device, which is located on the edge of Mars' Endeavor Crater, has been quiet since the terrible dust storm that surrounded the Red Planet on June 10.
The skies were finally cleared in mid-September, when the US Space Agency launched a six-week listening program to try to receive data from its device.
However, the exhalation is already approaching and the robot powered by solar energy remains dormant or even dead.
Opportunity is killed in June, with no way to power its solar battery, as dust continues to block the sun. The animation shows how the rover (center) was directly on the way to the storm
Even if it turns on again, NASA anticipates "complexity" with the rover's mission clock.
Without enough energy to maintain its mission clock, which is considered the only instrument that still works, the rover will not know what time it is.
Nevertheless, despite everything, the team still hopes that some dust removal work could result in reactivation.
"The sun is shining through the mist over the Perseverance Valley, and soon there will be enough sun for Opportunity to recharge its batteries," said John Callas, Opportunity project manager at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA in Pasadena, California.
& # 39; When the tau level [a measure of the amount of particulate matter in the Martian sky] Below 1.5, we will begin a period of attempts to communicate with the mobile by sending commands through NASA's Deep Space network antennas.
"Assuming we receive information from Opportunity, we will begin the process of discerning its status and bringing it back online."
The inhospitable red planet: Without enough energy to maintain its mission clock, which is considered the only instrument that still works, the rover will not know what time it is
In the same way, a windy period on Mars – known to the Opportunity team as the "dusting season" – occurs from November to January and has already cleared the vehicle panels.
If the remaining listening period is futile, NASA will reevaluate its recovery plans and efforts.
Up to now, Opportunity has exceeded many times its expected life.
Opportunity and her twin, Spirit, were designed to last only 90 days on the Martian surface, hoping that the extreme winters and dust storms of the planet could shorten their mission.
The rover lasted nearly 15 years: it last communicated on June 10 before being hibernated by the dust storm.
The panoramic camera of Opportunity (Pancam) took the component images of this view from a position located outside Endeavor Crater between 7 and 19 June 2017. It is from one of the latest pictures sent by the mobile.
Source link
