Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status - January 21, 2004

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
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http://www.jpl.nasa.gov


NEWS RELEASE: 2004-027
January 21, 2004 4 p.m. PST

MARS EXPLORATION ROVER MISSION STATUS

Ground controllers were able to send commands to the Mars Exploration
Rover Spirit early Wednesday and received a simple signal
acknowledging that the rover heard them, but they did not receive
expected scientific and engineering data during scheduled
communication passes during the rest of that martian day.

Project managers have not yet determined the cause, but similar events
occurred several times during the Mars Pathfinder mission. The team
is examining a number of different scenarios, some of which would be
resolved when the rover wakes up after powering down at the end of the
martian day (around midday Pacific time Wednesday).

The next opportunity to hear from the vehicle is when the rover may
attempt to communicate with the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter at about
8:30 p.m. Pacific time tonight. A second communication opportunity
may occur about two hours later during a relay pass via the Mars
Odyssey orbiter. If necessary, the flight team will take additional
recovery steps early Thursday morning (the morning of sol 19 on Mars)
when the rover wakes up and can communicate directly with Earth.

Full details on the rover's status will be described in the next daily
news conference Thursday at 9 a.m. Pacific time at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, which will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

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