[meteorite-list] Bogged Down Software Could Explain Spirit's Ailment

From: mark ford <markf_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:09 2004
Message-ID: <6CE3EEEFE92F4B4085B0E086B2941B31014448_at_s-southern01.s-southern.com>

>"Also...there was a solar event Wednesday and the timing of that is
being >looked at with respect to correlation to the onset of our
problems. The >flash memories are sensitive to high-energy ions and
neutrons when they are >being read from and written to, and we were
certainly engaged in a lot of >that activity that day."



Well well well, 'The flash memories are sensitive to high energy ions',
well that's a surprise isn't it (not!). Shouldn't they have considered
the not even slight possibility, that if you send a spacecraft to a
planet with no magnetic field and at a time of Solar Maximum (with some
of the biggest solar CME's on record occurring), that the flash RAM
would get completely fried?=20

Well Let's just hope Opportunity doesn't go the same way, since they
carry identical hardware, and there are plenty more solar flares in
prospect!! ...


;)
Received on Tue 27 Jan 2004 05:02:14 AM PST