NASA reported that the Mars orbiter called MAVEN was recently pointed to Earth as it is being repaired. Due to the problems, the instrument would be unusable for observations until it comes back up and running.
The space agency said that the issue on the MAVEN was caused by a navigation glitch system that occurred earlier this year. The recovery phase of the spacecraft minimally affected the progress of scientific examinations over the red planet's atmosphere.
MAVEN in Safe Mode, Still Under Recovery Phase
The MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) orbiter was initially launched in 2014. For the first time in its service, the spacecraft had to undergo 'safe mode' back in February of 2022 after it 'began exhibiting anomalous behaviors' on its inertial measurement systems, NASA said.
During its safe mode, the vessel and its affected projects would halt until the problem is resolved by the ground-based controllers.
Following its first issues back in February, MAVEN's revival was already attempted by the scientists from NASA. However, this solution resulted in MAVEN having a limited capacity of power only. The restriction required the orbiter to point its own antenna back to our planet to maintain clear communications from its flight controllers back home.
NASA explained in a May 19 press release that the configuration of the MAVEN would put a brake on the communication relays between other spacecraft that are currently scattered across Mars and would only be able to carry out a limited scientific observation on the atmospheres of the planet.
The recovery of the instrument has been conducted by the mission team since April 20.
Among the main functions of the MAVEN is to regulate communication relays between other spacecraft that were deployed on the Martian territories, including the Perseverance rover and the Curiosity rover. MAVEN also helps the vehicles to beam back images they captured from the red planet to Earth.
Gyroscope Glitch
MAVEN's international measurement unit or IMU was the system that was heavily affected by the said glitch. NASA's press kit explains that the equipment is responsible for the vessel's ring laser gyroscopes that allow it to maintain its inertial motion in space. The system consists of four reaction wheels that were constructed into a pyramid arrangement, allowing a full spinning motion that dictates the orientation of MAVEN while hovering above the Martian atmosphere.
NASA officials said that all of MAVEN's instruments are online. However, most of these apparatus are still not able to retrieve and send data to the ground-based team even if its high-gain antenna was redirected to Earth.
The MAVEN team is already working to process and screen the 'all stellar' mode of the spacecraft in a chance for it to operate again and resume scientific operations by the end of the month.
The MAVEN mission commenced in November 2013, with the vessel arriving on Mars in October 2014. Among the main interests of the spacecraft is to gather information regarding the loss of water on the red planet and how it ended up with its current dusty surface.
NASA extended the operations for MAVEN last month, adding three more years to its intended deployment, Space reports.
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