NASA:机遇号火星探测器遭遇大规模灰尘风暴

2018年06月13日,NASA的工程师在当日试图联系机遇号,但是没有收到回应。这辆已经在火星上漫游约15年的探测器可能已经进入低功率故障模式,关闭了除任务时钟之外的所有系统。

Information Sources: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/opportunity-hunkers-down-during-dust-storm

Original Title:Opportunity Hunkers Down During Dust Storm


2018年06月20日:火星上的灰尘风暴仍在加强,位于盖尔陨石坑附近的"好奇号"火星车也监测到了尘埃的增多.虽然NASA仍然没有收到来自"机遇号"的任何讯息,但是分析认为,"机遇号"上的电子设备和电池能够保持足够的温度并发挥作用.

NASA官网原文:

引用:

Updated at 1:20 p.m. PDT on June 20, 2018

As of Tuesday morning, June 19, the Martian dust storm has grown in size and is now officially a “planet-encircling” (or “global”) dust event, according to Bruce Cantor of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, who is deputy principal investigator of the Mars Color Imager camera on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.  

The storm has starkly increased dust at Gale Crater, where NASA’s Curiosity rover is studying the storm’s effects from the surface.

There still was no signal received from NASA’s Opportunity rover, despite efforts to listen in case it’s coming out of sleep during its fault window — the period of time when it attempts to communicate. A recent analysis of the rover’s long-term survivability in Mars’ extreme cold suggests Opportunity’s electronics and batteries can stay warm enough to function. Regardless, the project doesn’t expect to hear back from Opportunity until the skies begin to clear over the rover. That doesn’t stop them from listening for the rover every day.

The dust storm is comparable in scale to a similar storm observed by Viking I in 1977, but not as big as the 2007 storm that Opportunity previously weathered. But it’s also different than the massive storms observed by Mariner 9 (1971-1972) and Mars Global Surveyor (2001). Those storms totally obscured the planet’s surface, save for the peaks of Mars’ tallest volcanoes. The current dust storm is more diffuse and patchy; it’s anyone’s guess how it will further develop, but it shows no sign of clearing.


2018年06月12日:NASA的工程师在当日试图联系机遇号,但是没有收到回应。这辆已经在火星上漫游约15年的探测器可能已经进入低功率故障模式,关闭了除任务时钟之外的所有系统。

NASA官网原文:

引用:

Updated at 6:30 p.m. PDT on June 12, 2018

NASA engineers attempted to contact the Opportunity rover today but did not hear back from the nearly 15-year old rover. The team is now operating under the assumption that the charge in Opportunity’s batteries has dipped below 24 volts and the rover has entered low power fault mode, a condition where all subsystems, except a mission clock, are turned off. The rover’s mission clock is programmed to wake the computer so it can check power levels.


2018年06月10日:NASA收到了机遇号发送的信息,这证明机遇号的电池仍然储备有一定的能源。不过,机遇号的科学行动继续暂停。

NASA官网原文:

引用:

Updated at 4:30 p.m. PDT on June 10, 2018

NASA engineers received a transmission from Opportunity on Sunday morning — a positive sign despite the worsening dust storm. Data from the transmission let engineers know the rover still has enough battery charge to communicate with ground controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Science operations remain suspended.


2018年06月08日:由于火星上的灰尘风暴不断增强,机遇号火星车已暂停科学行动。

NASA官网原文:

引用:

Original story posted on June 8, 2018

Updated 6:30 p.m. June 12, 2018 to correct and clarify the dates in paragraph 2 below

Science operations for NASA’s Opportunity rover have been temporarily suspended as it waits out a growing dust storm on Mars.


 

附:

截至北京时间2018年06月14日13时42分,NASA官网关于机遇号情况的最新通报截图:

Picture From nasa.gov
Picture From nasa.gov