• Mars Odyssey Orbiter Recovering from Precautionary Pause in Activity

    From baalke@1:2320/100 to sci.space.news on Wed Jan 4 00:28:58 2017
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    http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6711

    Orbiter Recovering from Precautionary Pause in Activity
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    December 28, 2016

    Mars Odyssey Mission Status Report

    NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, which has been in service at Mars since October 2001, put itself into safe mode -- a protective standby status -- on Dec.
    26, while remaining in communication with Earth.

    The Odyssey project team has diagnosed the cause -- an uncertainty aboard
    the spacecraft about its orientation with regard to Earth and the sun
    -- and is restoring the orbiter to full operations. Odyssey's communication-relay
    service for assisting Mars rover missions is expected to resume this week,
    and Odyssey's own science investigations of the Red Planet are expected
    to resume next week.

    The orbiter's knowledge of its orientation was restored Dec. 26 by resetting the inertial measurement unit and the circuit card that serves as interface between that sensor, the flight software and the star tracker, for determining spacecraft attitude. The mission last experienced a similar fault and
    solution in December 2013.

    Mars Odyssey left Earth on April 7, 2001, entered orbit around Mars on
    Oct. 24, and began systematically examining Mars in February 2002. In
    December 2010, it surpassed the previous record for longevity of a robotic mission at Mars. The Mars Odyssey Project has been extending that record
    daily for more than six years.

    In addition to its direct contributions to planetary science, Odyssey
    provides important support for other missions in NASA's Journey to Mars through communication-relay service and observations of candidate landing sites.

    NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California,
    manages the Mars Odyssey Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate
    in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft
    and collaborates with JPL in mission operations. For more information
    about Odyssey, visit:

    http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey

    News Media Contact
    Guy Webster
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
    818-354-6278
    guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

    Laurie Cantillo / Dwayne Brown
    NASA Headquarters, Washington
    2202-358-1077 / 202-358-1726
    laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov / dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

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