Every two years, Mars enters what is called a “Solar Conjunction,” where its orbit takes it behind the Sun relative to Earth. Throughout these periods, the hot plasma frequently expelled by the Suns corona can cause disturbance with radio signals transferred in between Earth and Mars. To prevent signal corruption and the unexpected habits that might result, NASA and other space companies state a moratorium on interactions for two weeks.
What this indicates is that in between Oct. 2nd and Oct. 16th, all of NASAs Mars objectives will experiencing what is referred to as a “commanding moratorium.” This will include NASA sending a series of basic commands to its objectives in orbit, which will then be dispatched to landers and rovers on the surface area. These basic jobs will keep all of the robotic Martian explorers busy till routine communications can be established.
Every 2 years, Mars enters what is known as a “Solar Conjunction,” where its orbit takes it behind the Sun relative to Earth. During these periods, the hot plasma routinely expelled by the Suns corona can cause interference with radio signals transmitted between Earth and Mars. This moratorium can be extended by a day or two in either direction, depending on the angular range between Mars and the Sun in the sky. “Though our Mars objectives wont be as active these next couple of weeks, theyll still let us know their state of health,” Roy Gladden, manager of the Mars Relay Network at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Regardless, no brand-new directions are ever sent to Mars during a Solar Conjunction given that a loss of details in a command series could potentially threaten a mission.
This moratorium can be extended by a day or two in either direction, depending upon the angular distance in between Mars and the Sun in the sky. “Though our Mars missions wont be as active these next few weeks, theyll still let us understand their state of health,” Roy Gladden, manager of the Mars Relay Network at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Each mission has been offered some research to do till they hear from us again.”
Illustration of Mars throughout a Solar Conjunction, where it is on the opposite side of the Sun relative to Earth. Credit: NASA
Throughout the moratorium, the robotic missions will transmit a limited amount of science information back to Earth (with the understanding that some will be lost), however the majority of it will be conserved up until after Mars is no longer in conjunction. At that time, the staying information will be beamed to Earth utilizing the Deep Space Network (DSN), the variety of Earth-based radio antennae NASA uses to communicate with its deep-space missions.
In the meantime, NASAs 3 orbiters– the Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter– will keep relaying some data from the missions on the surface, and also gather their own information. As for what the surface objectives will be doing, the Perseverance rover will perform weather measurements with its Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA).
This will include trying to find dust devils with its sensing units and Mast-Mounted Camera System (Mastcam-Z), making radar scans with its Radar Imager for Mars Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX), and recording new noises with its microphones. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter will remain at its current location, 175 meters (575 feet) far from Perseverance, and communicate its status weekly to the rover.
Over in the Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover will likewise watch for dust devils utilizing its suite of video cameras. It will utilize its Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) sensing units to monitor the local weather conditions. It will likewise use its Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) sensing units to take radiation measurements. The InSight lander will continue to keep an eye on for “marsquakes” utilizing its seismometer, comparable to the three large ones it identified just recently.
In all cases, the objective controllers will pick which instruments to shut down or keep in operation, depending upon the type of mission theyre supporting. They will also decide what to do with the collected data– store it and wait up until after the moratorium to transit it or transmit it and risk some data loss. Regardless, no brand-new guidelines are ever sent to Mars throughout a Solar Conjunction because a loss of info in a command sequence might potentially endanger an objective.
It is specifically for this reason that the moratorium procedure was developed, where mission controllers send two weeks worth of directions prior to the combination and then wait. The capability of the landers, orbiters, and rovers to look after themselves throughout this time is a testimony to how far the technology has advanced. Engineers can engage the autopilot and take some well-deserved trip time when it is not safe to send guidelines to distant missions!
Additional Reading: NASA
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