"Nasa rover breaks down" - Martians did it!

All over the news today is news that the Spirit rover has stopped
communicating 'properly' with Earth. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3421071.stm

Now, listen to this: "Nasa's Mars rover Spirit has stopped sending useful
data ... received either very little or no data ... At around 0430 GMT on
Thursday, the Mars Global Surveyor probe received a signal from the rover
suggesting that its radio was on ... Spirit was only transmitting
"pseudo-noise", a random series of zeroes and ones in binary code and not
anything the scientists could decipher".

Well, I think they need to get Jeff Goldblum in to decode it! Was I the
only person who read this and thought, 'Martians have discovered the rover
and are now trying to communicate back with us in binary"?

Oh... I was? :| How embarrassing!
--
Darklighter

Moi wrote:

All over the news today is news that the Spirit rover has stopped
communicating 'properly' with Earth. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3421071.stm

Now, listen to this: "Nasa's Mars rover Spirit has stopped sending useful
data ... received either very little or no data ... At around 0430 GMT on
Thursday, the Mars Global Surveyor probe received a signal from the rover
suggesting that its radio was on ... Spirit was only transmitting
"pseudo-noise", a random series of zeroes and ones in binary code and not
anything the scientists could decipher".

Well, I think they need to get Jeff Goldblum in to decode it! Was I the
only person who read this and thought, 'Martians have discovered the rover
and are now trying to communicate back with us in binary"?

Oh... I was? :| How embarrassing!
--
Darklighter


I can not help but remember this bit of chilling news from the first day of
setup. Noise in the electronics and spikes in the power consumption are
never good signs.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/20...rs-stuff_x.htm

? Tracking a noise.
After making a good connection with Spirit's most powerful antenna, a
lollipop-shaped device atop the deck, the team stopped using it while
technicians sought the origin of electronic noise.

Scientists noticed a spike in an electric current when they first moved the
antenna. That could indicate a problem, so the team is studying the antenna
carefully and limiting its use for now. The dramatic pictures and other
data are being sent back to Earth through two other antennas. Use of
another one is also being limited because of the heat it gives off.

Time to update the "Earth vs. The Great Ghoul Of Mars" scorecard... :-(
http://www.bio.aps.anl.gov/~dgore/fun/marsscorecard.html


-- Gordon D. Pusch

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