” The team really stepped up to an existential danger.”– Rich Burns, MAVEN task manager
NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft is the first Mars orbiter particularly developed to study the worlds upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
NASAs MAVEN Spacecraft Resumes Science & & Operations, Exits Safe Mode
After 3 months in safe mode, NASAs MAVEN spacecraft has finally gone back to regular science and relay operations. The issue started back on February 22, 2022, when contact with the spacecraft was lost. After re-establishing contact, its main Inertial Measurement Unit, IMU-1, a system vital for navigation, was not working and the group had to switch the spacecraft over to its backup, IMU-2. That system was also nearing the end of its life expectancy. The spacecraft was taken into safe mode, while engineers raced to finish an all-stellar mode whereby the spacecraft might browse utilizing stars rather of the IMUs. With an existential hazard looming, the team stepped up and completed the brand-new software needed 5 months ahead of schedule.
NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, mission went back to regular science and relay operations on May 28, 2022, after recovering from a prolonged safe mode occasion. The spacecraft experienced problems in February with its Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). The objective group effectively identified the concern with these navigation instruments and developed a system for the spacecraft to browse by the stars, which should allow for ongoing MAVEN mission operations through the next years.
” This was a crucial obstacle facing the objective, but thanks to the work of our spacecraft and operations group, MAVEN will continue producing important science and operating as a relay for the surface area assets through completion of the years,” said Shannon Curry, MAVENs primary investigator at the University of California, Berkeley. “I could not be prouder of our team.”
MAVEN introduced in November 2013 and went into orbit around Mars in September 2014. MAVENs main mission was one year in period.
This illustration shows NASAs MAVEN spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Goddard
Safe mode event
Once contact with the spacecraft was brought back, engineering telemetry showed that the spacecraft was not able to identify its mindset from either IMU. As a last resort, the spacecraft swapped to the backup computer, which permitted MAVEN to get accurate readings from IMU-2. The spacecraft entered “safe mode,” where it stopped all planned activities, consisting of science and relay operations, and awaited even more directions from the ground.
The group had actually currently been working to develop all-stellar mode– a system to navigate by the stars without IMUs– to be implemented in October 2022 due to the fact that IMU-1 had actually previously shown abnormalities and IMU-2 was nearing completion of its life-span. When IMUs deteriorate on aging orbiters, the development and switch to all-stellar mode is a basic practice.
” This was a situation that no one at first anticipated, but the spacecraft performed as developed,” stated Micheal Haggard, the Lockheed Martin MAVEN spacecraft team lead in Littleton, Colorado. “By the time we wound up on the backup computer, the spacecraft had actually been attempting to fix the problem with IMU-1 for about 78 minutes. We ended up on IMU-2, and the pressure was on to get the all-stellar mode all set as rapidly as possible.”
This image shows an artists principle of NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) objective. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
A race versus time
In the following months, the spacecraft team at Lockheed Martin worked to accelerate the development of software application to allow all-stellar mode, considering that the anticipated lifetime of IMU-2 would not last until October. On April 19, 5 months ahead of schedule, the spacecraft team finished advancement and uplinked the software patch to MAVEN.
” The group truly stepped up to an existential danger,” stated Rich Burns, the MAVEN task manager at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “When we acknowledged in the fall that IMU-2 was degrading, we understood we were going to need to shorten the schedule for all-stellar mode. The spacecraft team rose to the obstacle, working under extreme pressure after the abnormality.”
When all-stellar mode was uplinked, the spacecraft and science groups powered on the instruments and configured them for science operation. All instruments were healthy and effectively resumed observations; nevertheless, the spacecraft was constrained to pointing at the Earth until testing of all-stellar mode was completed, so the instruments were not oriented as they normally would be throughout science operations. However, some restricted science was still possible, and MAVEN even observed a coronal mass ejection effect on Mars less than two days after the instruments were powered on.
This image reveals an artists concept of NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) objective. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Onwards to science and relay
MAVEN went back to small science and relay operations on Saturday, May 28, 2022, after effectively transitioning to complete all-stellar navigation.
The MAVEN spacecraft continues to operate successfully using all-stellar mode. Typically, there are certain times each year that IMUs must be utilized, so the team will require to continue finding ingenious ways to manage the spacecrafts orientation. This will make sure that MAVEN can keep operating through its prolonged objective life time, which will allow the orbiter to continue to make observations throughout the most extreme conditions in the Martian atmosphere that the mission has so far experienced.
MAVENs primary investigator is based at the University of California, Berkeley, while NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, handles the MAVEN objective. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is accountable for objective operations.
After three months in safe mode, NASAs MAVEN spacecraft has actually lastly returned to normal science and relay operations. The spacecraft was put into safe mode, while engineers raced to finish an all-stellar mode whereby the spacecraft might navigate utilizing stars instead of the IMUs. As soon as contact with the spacecraft was brought back, engineering telemetry revealed that the spacecraft was not able to determine its attitude from either IMU.” This was a circumstance that no one at first expected, however the spacecraft carried out as created,” stated Micheal Haggard, the Lockheed Martin MAVEN spacecraft group lead in Littleton, Colorado. The MAVEN spacecraft continues to operate successfully utilizing all-stellar mode.