[meteorite-list] Controllers Cheer as Data Arrive from NASA's Spirit Rover

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:02:02 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200811171902.LAA02979_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20081113a.html

Controllers Cheer as Data Arrive from NASA's Spirit Rover
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
November 13, 2008

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit communicated via the Mars Odyssey
orbiter today right at the time when ground controllers had told it to,
prompting shouts of "She's talking!" among the rover team at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

"This means Spirit has not gone into a fault condition and is still
being controlled by sequences we send from the ground," said John Callas
of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager
for Spirit and its twin, Opportunity.

The solar-powered rover still has low energy, a condition worsened by a
dust storm in recent days. Today's communication confirmed that Spirit
had received commands sent on Tuesday and that the battery charge had
not fallen low enough to trigger a pre-programmed fault mode.

Callas said, "The baby is crying, which means it is healthy enough to
communicate normally. Now we are analyzing the data we've received to
determine what the next commands should be, but this is all good news."

Spirit has been operating on Mars for nearly five years in an
exploration mission originally planned to last three months. The recent
dust storm is clearing, but a coating of dust on Spirit's solar panels
is reducing the rover's ability to generate electricity even when the
sky is clear.

###

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Guy.Webster at jpl.nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-212
Received on Mon 17 Nov 2008 02:02:02 PM PST