Given that 2014, NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has been orbiting Mars and collecting information on its upper environment, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind. In so doing, the mission has actually shown how billions of years ago, the Martian environment was slowly removed away by solar wind. This caused Mars to undergo a significant shift in its environment, transforming from a warmer world that had flowing water on its surface area to the desiccated and very frigid location it is today.
In February, the mission came across problems with its main Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and got in safe mode. Since Saturday, May 28th, after the mission group effectively diagnosed the issue with these navigation instruments, MAVEN has gone back to its typical science and relay operations. Henceforth, the satellite will utilize a system specifically established by the objective group to navigate by the stars. This could extend the MAVEN objectives science operations (which were just extended until 2024) well into the next decade.
To determine its orientation in orbit around Mars, MAVENs IMUs measure the rate of the spacecraft rotation– IMU-1 is the primary unit while IMU-2 is its backup. On Tuesday, Feb. 22nd, the objective team lost contact with the spacecraft after performing a routinely-scheduled power cycle of the IMU-1. The spacecraft could not identify its mindset from either IMU and changed to its backup computer (which enabled it to obtain accurate readings from IMU-2) once contact was restored.
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An artists conception of MAVEN orbiting Mars. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC
The spacecraft then went into “safe mode” and waited for more instructions from the ground. Shannon Curry, MAVENs primary private investigator at UC Berkeley, said in a recent NASA press release:
” This was a critical difficulty dealing with the objective, but thanks to the work of our spacecraft and operations team, MAVEN will continue producing essential science and operating as a relay for the surface possessions through completion of the decade. I couldnt be prouder of our team.”
Currently, they had actually been dealing with an all-stellar navigation mode that would permit MAVEN to browse without the IMUs. This is standard practice with aging orbiters that begin to experience equipment issues and was originally meant to be implemented in October 2022 after the objective group identified abnormalities in IMU-1 and IMU-2. When dealing with degrading and aging orbiters navigation systems, switching to an all-stellar navigation mode is standard practice. This occurrence required the mission team at Lockheed Martin to accelerate the advancement of the software given that the IMU-2 was not predicted to stay in operation till October. Micheal Haggard, the Lockheed Martin MAVEN spacecraft team lead, described:
” This was a circumstance that nobody initially expected, however the spacecraft carried out as developed. By the time we ended up on the backup computer system, the spacecraft had actually been trying to fix the problem with IMU-1 for about 78 minutes. We wound up on IMU-2, and the pressure was on to get the all-stellar mode ready as quickly as possible.”
Artists rendering of a solar storm striking Mars and removing ions from the worlds upper atmosphere. Credits: NASA/GSFC
The mission group likewise switched the IMU-2 off to preserve its remaining battery power, just in case it is needed again before the end of the objective. With the uplink complete, the spacecraft and science groups brought back MAVENs instruments to their complete operation mode.
” The group truly stepped up to an existential danger. We understood we were going to have to reduce the schedule for all-stellar mode when we acknowledged in the fall that IMU-2 was degrading. The spacecraft group increased to the difficulty, working under intense pressure after the anomaly.”
One minor misstep was the truth that the spacecraft needed to be kept pointed at Earth till the mission group concluded evaluating the all-stellar mode. As a result, MAVENs science instruments were not oriented as they would be throughout regular science operations throughout the shutdown period. This had an extremely minimal effect on the mission, and some science was still possible– such as the coronal mass ejection MAVEN observed striking Mars environment less than 2 days after the instruments were powered on.
MAVEN has actually continued to operate successfully given that using its all-stellar mode, though the mission team will need to find long-term solutions (considering that there are specific seasons that IMUs must be utilized). This will make sure that MAVEN can keep operating throughout its extended objective and observe the most severe conditions in the Martian environment it has so far experienced. This will continue to supply insight into the process of atmospheric loss that triggered Mars to cease being a warmer, wetter, and potentially-habitable planet.
The MAVEN objective will continue to work as a communications relay satellite also, linking surface missions to Earth through NASAs Deep Space Network (DSN).
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Considering that 2014, NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has actually been orbiting Mars and collecting information on its upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind. As of Saturday, May 28th, after the objective group effectively detected the issue with these navigation instruments, MAVEN has actually returned to its typical science and relay operations. The mission group also switched the IMU-2 off to protect its remaining battery power, simply in case it is required once again before the end of the objective. One minor hiccup was the truth that the spacecraft had actually to be kept pointed at Earth until the mission group concluded testing the all-stellar mode. MAVEN has continued to run successfully since utilizing its all-stellar mode, though the objective team will require to find long-lasting services (given that there are certain times of year that IMUs need to be used).