BAD HARDWARE WEEK

MGS - 2 Nov lost telemetry. Error messages on solar array gimbals received. Tried to image with Mars Express and MRO. No definitive indication that we found spacecraft. Have a tem looking at failure mode. We have some indication of what happened. Want to feed lessons learned into operation of other spacecraft at Mars. Close out activities will continue in May 2007.

MGS completed 34,202 orbits and returned 25,528 images during 10 years of operations at Mars. Final news form MGS showed that water may still be flowing on/near the surface of Mars.

We think that failure that a software load we sent up in June of last year was the cause. This software tried to synch up two flight processors. Two addresses were incorrect - two memory addresses were over written. As the geometry evolved. We drove the arrays against a hard stop and the spacecraft went into safe mode. The radiator for the battery pointed at the sun, the temperature went up, and battery failed. But, this should be treated as preliminary.

BAD comment: Shit, hack like this one has not been shown until now in object programming lessons. Is there little Osama in every of us? Anyway, we are eagerly waiting for home robots. They will spend a lot of time in idle, safe mode.

THIS LINK posted by Joseph Bell : 7:46 PM