Spirit communication lost!

Jon Isaacs wrote:
Thanks for the information. I rely on this newgroup for information like this
so I am glad to hear that things are not so bleak.

I'm fortunate to have a schedule that allows me to watch the press
conferences live every day (even if it's only via the web). Hopefully
we'll hear more tomorrow, but they tend to be cautious before they start
trying various things, which takes time. If something broke due to bad
luck that's bad enough, but to later discover that it was the first
thing you tried to fix the problem that truly doomed the hardware,
that's quite another...

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Jon Isaacs wrote:
Thanks for the information. I rely on this newgroup for information like this
so I am glad to hear that things are not so bleak.

I'm fortunate to have a schedule that allows me to watch the press
conferences live every day (even if it's only via the web). Hopefully
we'll hear more tomorrow, but they tend to be cautious before they start
trying various things, which takes time. If something broke due to bad
luck that's bad enough, but to later discover that it was the first
thing you tried to fix the problem that truly doomed the hardware,
that's quite another...

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Greg Crinklaw wrote:

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:

Folks,

I just received a news flash from the Space Flight Now web site
(run by Astronomy Now Magazine) and it seems to be official that
communication HAS been lost.

Hey Greg,

It's not that bad yet. In fact, they do have two way communication.
It's just not working properly. There is a serious problem,
apparently in the computer. But if it is a software problem (which is
not unprecedented) then there is a good chance for recovery; time to
reboot. If it is hardware that is another matter, but even then there
are possible solutions.

If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...

What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep. CNN
just mentioned that one good possibility is a software meltdown. As to
my source, it was identified up above.

Anthony.

Greg Crinklaw wrote:

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:

Folks,

I just received a news flash from the Space Flight Now web site
(run by Astronomy Now Magazine) and it seems to be official that
communication HAS been lost.

Hey Greg,

It's not that bad yet. In fact, they do have two way communication.
It's just not working properly. There is a serious problem,
apparently in the computer. But if it is a software problem (which is
not unprecedented) then there is a good chance for recovery; time to
reboot. If it is hardware that is another matter, but even then there
are possible solutions.

If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...

What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep. CNN
just mentioned that one good possibility is a software meltdown. As to
my source, it was identified up above.

Anthony.

Greg Crinklaw wrote:

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:

Folks,

I just received a news flash from the Space Flight Now web site
(run by Astronomy Now Magazine) and it seems to be official that
communication HAS been lost.

Hey Greg,

It's not that bad yet. In fact, they do have two way communication.
It's just not working properly. There is a serious problem,
apparently in the computer. But if it is a software problem (which is
not unprecedented) then there is a good chance for recovery; time to
reboot. If it is hardware that is another matter, but even then there
are possible solutions.

If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...

What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep. CNN
just mentioned that one good possibility is a software meltdown. As to
my source, it was identified up above.

Anthony.

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:
If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...

What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep.

Simple: communication has not been lost with Spirit. Your subject
heading implies that there is no contact at all, which is alarmist and
not true. They can still command it and it is still sending a signal.
The signal received by MGS contained no meaningful data, but it was
received. A signal was also received that indicated Spirit has gone
into fault protection mode. All-in-all there is still quit a bit of
communication going on. Most likely the problem is in the computer,
which is not unprecedented, and there is good reason to believe it can
be fixed. If your subject heading were true, there would be little hope.

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:
If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...

What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep.

Simple: communication has not been lost with Spirit. Your subject
heading implies that there is no contact at all, which is alarmist and
not true. They can still command it and it is still sending a signal.
The signal received by MGS contained no meaningful data, but it was
received. A signal was also received that indicated Spirit has gone
into fault protection mode. All-in-all there is still quit a bit of
communication going on. Most likely the problem is in the computer,
which is not unprecedented, and there is good reason to believe it can
be fixed. If your subject heading were true, there would be little hope.

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:
If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...

What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep.

Simple: communication has not been lost with Spirit. Your subject
heading implies that there is no contact at all, which is alarmist and
not true. They can still command it and it is still sending a signal.
The signal received by MGS contained no meaningful data, but it was
received. A signal was also received that indicated Spirit has gone
into fault protection mode. All-in-all there is still quit a bit of
communication going on. Most likely the problem is in the computer,
which is not unprecedented, and there is good reason to believe it can
be fixed. If your subject heading were true, there would be little hope.

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Greg Crinklaw wrote:

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:

If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...


What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep.


Simple: communication has not been lost with Spirit. Your subject
heading implies that there is no contact at all, which is alarmist and
not true. They can still command it and it is still sending a signal.
The signal received by MGS contained no meaningful data, but it was
received. A signal was also received that indicated Spirit has gone
into fault protection mode. All-in-all there is still quit a bit of
communication going on. Most likely the problem is in the computer,
which is not unprecedented, and there is good reason to believe it can
be fixed. If your subject heading were true, there would be little hope.

My take was different: At least one request was sent for data to be
transmitted and Spirit only acknowledged receiving the command. This is
very serious and effective/productive communication seems to be lost (at
least for now). There was also mention that the return signal from the
beep was weaker than expected.

If you ask me a question and I simply nod, I would not exactly call that
communication.

Anthony.

Greg Crinklaw wrote:

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:

If I were you I'd find another news source less likely to indulge in
hyperbole, or did you add that yourself...


What do you exactly mean by me adding something? There is no
transmission of data and it is only sending an acknowledgement beep.


Simple: communication has not been lost with Spirit. Your subject
heading implies that there is no contact at all, which is alarmist and
not true. They can still command it and it is still sending a signal.
The signal received by MGS contained no meaningful data, but it was
received. A signal was also received that indicated Spirit has gone
into fault protection mode. All-in-all there is still quit a bit of
communication going on. Most likely the problem is in the computer,
which is not unprecedented, and there is good reason to believe it can
be fixed. If your subject heading were true, there would be little hope.

My take was different: At least one request was sent for data to be
transmitted and Spirit only acknowledged receiving the command. This is
very serious and effective/productive communication seems to be lost (at
least for now). There was also mention that the return signal from the
beep was weaker than expected.

If you ask me a question and I simply nod, I would not exactly call that
communication.

Anthony.