Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status ReportNASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is in safe mode and in communications with
Earth after an unexpected rebooting of its computer Wednesday evening, June 3.
The spontaneous reboot resembles a Feb. 23 event on the
spacecraft. Engineers concluded the most likely cause for that event was a cosmic ray or
solar particle hitting electronics and causing an erroneous voltage reading.
Jim Erickson,
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project manager at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., said, "The
spacecraft is sending down high-rate engineering data, power positive, batteries fully charged, sun pointed and thermally safe. The flight team is cautiously bringing the orbiter back to normal operations. We should be resuming our exploration of
Mars by next week."
The reboot occurred at approximately 6:10 p.m. PDT (9:10 p.m. EDT) on June 3. This is the sixth time since the spacecraft began its primary
science phase in November 2006 that it has entered safe mode, which is its programmed precaution when it senses a condition for which it does not know a more specific response.
To help keep
astronauts at peak performance during missions,
NASA researched, qualified and patented a highly effective electrolyte concentrate formula that maintains and restores optimal body hydration levels quickly and conveniently. Developed as a remedy for dehydration, it helps prevent the loss of body fluids during heavy exercise, heat exposure and illness. It also can be used to treat and prevent dehydration caused by altitude sickness and jetlag.
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., licensed the patented rehydration formula to Wellness Brands Inc., Boulder, Colo. Wellness Brands plans to launch its first electrolyte concentrate brand, 'The Right Stuff' in June 2009.
"We developed the hydration formula to perform optimally under the most extreme conditions. The health of our highly trained astronauts was paramount," explained John Greenleaf, now a former Ames research scientist and inventor of the formula. "With all that Americans and the government have invested in the
space program and our astronauts, this is one clear way to protect and maximize that investment. And now the general public will benefit from this research as well."
The novel electrolyte formula contains a specific ratio of key ingredients, sodium chloride and sodium citrate, for rapid restoration of hydration. These electrolytes, dissolved in water, optimize the levels of sodium ions in the body. The beverage is an isotonic formulation that restores both intra- and extracellular body fluid volumes in dehydrated
astronauts, athletes and others.
For more information about '
The Right Stuff' from Wellness Brands, Inc., visit:
http://www.therightstuff-usa.comFor more information about
NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, and
NASA technology infusion activities, visit:
http://ipp.nasa.govFor information about
NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison "
Jack" Schmitt visited
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on June 3 for an interview with Fox News as part of an upcoming feature commemorating this July's 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.
During his visit,
Schmitt spoke with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team members. Scheduled for launch on June 17,
LRO and its companion mission,
LCROSS, will help identify safe landing sites for future human explorers, locate potential resources -- particularly water ice, characterize the
radiation environment and test new
technology.
NASA managers completed a review Wednesday of space shuttle Endeavour's readiness for flight and selected June 13 as the official launch date for the
STS-127 mission to the
International Space Station. Commander Mark Polansky and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 7:17 a.m. EDT from
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Endeavour's launch date was announced following a daylong Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy. During the meeting, top
NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight.
The
16-day mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to
space.
The
STS-127 crew members are Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will join the space station crew and replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will return to Earth on Endeavour to conclude a three-month stay at the station.
Polansky, who has a Twitter account named
Astro_127, can be followed online at:
http://www.twitter.com/Astro_127
For more information about the
STS-127 crew and its mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
http://www.nasa.gov/station
A new image of
Spirit's underbelly is helping engineers assess the rover's current state and plan her escape from soft soil. The panoramic mosaic of multiple images was taken by the microscopic imager instrument at the end of
Spirit's robotic arm -- the first time that imager has been used to assess the underside and wheels of the rover. The image appears blurred because the microscopic camera was designed to focus on targets just a few centimeters in front of its optics. The imagery will assist engineers with analyses and ground-based testing to recreate the rover's conditions before testing various options for extracting it from its current location.
The full image can be seen at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/mer-20090603.html .
