Friday, March 8, 2013

Curiosity Weathers Solar Storm

Hey Space Placers!

NASA commanded Curiosity to prepare for an incoming solar storm and she responded by ceasing operations and hunkering down. The predicted solar storm was due to an energetic event on the Sun that was predicted to hit Mrs yesterday, 3-7-13.

In characteristic fashion, here is the tweet from the rover herself:

That all you got Sun? The solar storm was less energetic than predicted so no sleeping in tosol. Operations have resumed.
8:44 PM - Mar 7, 2013


This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines 66 exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013).

Curiosity is working towards full recovery from the computer problem that occurred last week - see my 3-2-12 blog entry - and is expected to be in full operations mode next week. The cause of the problem is still undetermined.

NASA will be announcing the results of the drill sample analysis next week as well so stay tuned for news from Mars!

Sky Guy in VA

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