{"id":18474,"date":"2018-06-13T19:05:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T11:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/good-news-nasa-says-opportunity-rover-should-be-able-to-wait-out-martian-storm\/"},"modified":"2018-06-13T19:05:13","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T11:05:13","slug":"good-news-nasa-says-opportunity-rover-should-be-able-to-wait-out-martian-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/good-news-nasa-says-opportunity-rover-should-be-able-to-wait-out-martian-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Good news! NASA says Opportunity rover should be able to wait out Martian storm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Opportunity
An artist\u2019s conception shows NASA\u2019s Opportunity rover under sunnier conditions. (NASA Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA has had to put its power-starved Opportunity rover into an induced coma on Mars, but that drastic maneuver \u2014 plus some luck \u2014 should be enough to save it from one of the worst dust storms ever observed on the Red Planet.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean everything\u2019s cool at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which has overseen the rover\u2019s work on Mars for nearly 15 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a very tight emotional connection with it,\u201d John Callas, project manager for the Mars Exploration Rover mission, told GeekWire today during a teleconference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like you have a loved one in a coma in the hospital,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe doctors are telling you that, \u2018OK, you\u2019ve just got to give it time and she\u2019ll wake up. All the vital signs are good, so it\u2019s just waiting it out.\u2019 But if it\u2019s your 97-year-old grandmother, you\u2019re going to be very concerned. And so we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Opportunity has advantages that your typical 97-year-old grandmother may lack. And that should help the solar-powered rover cope even though Mars\u2019 expanding dust storm has reduced its electricity-generating capability by more than an order of magnitude.<\/p>\n

The bad news is that the dust storm has darkened the skies over Opportunity to nearly pitch-black. Richard Zurek, chief scientist for JPL\u2019s Mars Program Office, had to go back to 1971 to name a worse storm.<\/p>\n

The good news is that the march of Martian seasons is heading toward summer in the Meridiani Planum region where Opportunity sits. That means temperatures are projected to stay above the range of -40 to -55 degrees Celsius (40 to 67 degrees below zero Fahrenheit), which is considered the minimum for survival of the rover\u2019s electronics package.<\/p>\n

Eight plutonium-powered heating units will provide an extra margin of safety, ensuring that the electronics stay warm enough to function.<\/p>\n

Opportunity\u2019s twin, the Spirit rover, wasn\u2019t so lucky when it experienced a similar power drain in 2010. That rover\u2019s electronic systems are thought to have frozen to death amid Mars\u2019 wintry weather.<\/p>\n

Another bit of good news has to do with Opportunity\u2019s power system. Even after more than 14 years of operation, its batteries can hold 85 percent of the capacity they were designed for, Callas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are really the finest batteries in the solar system,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish my cellphone battery had half of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Global
A global map of Mars, based on orbital imagery, shows the extent of the Martian dust storm on June 11, along with the locations of the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers. (NASA Graphic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The current dust storm came on more quickly than expected, but the rover team was prepared nonetheless. Over the past week, as mission managers saw that the storm was turning into a monster, they programmed Opportunity to deal with what Callas saw as an emergency situation.<\/p>\n

For now, the rover has gone into an extended deep sleep and has shut down all of its systems \u2014 except for a master clock that\u2019s timed to interrupt the snooze periodically and check the power levels. If the skies have lightened enough to keep the batteries charged, the rover will recontact Earth and get back to work.<\/p>\n

But if the power keeps draining away, even that master clock would have to be turned off. The rover would then be forced to use a more basic survival mode. Opportunity would set an alarm clock to check its conditions every four hours. Once there\u2019s enough sunlight to activate the solar panels, the rover would try to contact Earth even if it didn\u2019t know what time it was.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means we have to be able to watch and be vigilant,\u201d Callas said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not yet clear exactly how long the storm will last. Its extent is still growing, and within the next day or two, dust could be swirling around virtually the entire planet. But Zurek said the darkness can last only so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically you get back to background levels in a few weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cFor the very largest storms, that could be a few months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opportunity should be able to handle even an extended outage. \u201cAs long as the rover stays warm enough, and our predictions are that it will, then it can go any number of days,\u201d Callas said.<\/p>\n

Because Mars\u2019 atmosphere is so thin, there\u2019s no danger that the rover will get blown over, despite what you may have seen on the movie screen in \u201cThe Martian.\u201d And Mars\u2019 winds are expected to sweep dust off the solar arrays, as they have during past episodes. But there\u2019s a chance that Opportunity\u2019s camera optics could be degraded by the dust.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of the things the mission team will look for once Opportunity rouses itself from its slumber. If all checks out as hoped, the rover will resume its study of Perseverance Valley, a channel that descends from the rim of Endeavour Crater. Scientists hope to determine whether the valley was carved in ancient times by the flow of water or ice, or by wind erosion.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover is continuing its work in Gale Crater, on the other side of the planet. So far, Curiosity hasn\u2019t borne the brunt of the storm, and its plutonium-fueled generator should hold it in good stead even if the skies darken.<\/p>\n