The Mars rover Opportunity once again suffered problems with its electronic memory systems, NASA officials have announced.
The latest round of issues were the first in a week and occurred after engineers reformatted flash memory aboard the mobile laboratory on the surface of Mars. That action was carried out in an attempt to reduce or eliminate periodic memory issues that have recently plagued the long-lived spacecraft.
Flash memory is used to store data during the nighttime as systems power down to preserve energy generated by solar panels during the day. Seven flash memory banks are available to computer processors aboard Opportunity. In December 2014, mission engineers rerouted data away from these banks, storing it in volatile memory for the night, which requires power to operate. Recently, the team decided to re-engage the flash memory systems but only brought six of the units back online as many of the earlier problems had been traced to bank seven. No underlying cause for the memory problems has yet been identified by researchers.
Opportunity was launched to Mars on July 7, 2003, touching down on the Red Planet on Jan. 25, 2004. Designed to last just 90 days, the rover is continuing to function 11 years after touchdown.
"Earlier this week, Opportunity became the first vehicle ever to travel the distance of a marathon race on the surface of another world. The rover is examining outcrops on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, approaching 'Marathon Valley,' where clay minerals have been detected in observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter," NASA officials reported.
Spirit, a twin rover to Opportunity put on Mars weeks before its companion, also far exceeded its design lifetime, transmitting data back to Earth for six years before it fell silent. Both rovers detected significant evidence for the presence of water on Mars in the ancient past. Proof of ancient seas on that world could provide potential targets to find the first alien fossils. Officials at NASA also believe the study of Mars utilizing a series of robotic rovers will help pave the way for the first human mission to the Red Planet, scheduled for some time in the 2030s.
Opportunity experienced several bouts of amnesia toward the end of 2014, driving mission planners to adopt the modification directing data to volatile memory. However, this form of storage is similar to RAM in home computers, and it loses all data every time it is powered down.
This latest brief bout of amnesia did not cause any loss of data, mission engineers report. Following the event, the vehicle was directed toward its next target, a rock known as Athens.
