Mars rover Spirit has unexplained computer reboots

April 14, 2009 mars rover

(AP) -- NASA's aging Mars rover Spirit has rebooted its computer at least twice for unknown reasons.

Rover project manager John Callas at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena said Monday that the rover is in a stable operations state called automode and can remain that way for some time while the problem is diagnosed.

The reboots occurred during the past weekend.

Callas says Spirit's batteries are charged, its solar arrays are producing energy and its temperatures are within allowable ranges.

The rover team is investigating whether the problem could be related to recent updates of the rover's onboard software.

Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, have been exploring the cold and dusty red planet since 2004

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Bob_Kob - Apr 14, 2009
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Martians.
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Yelmurc - Apr 14, 2009
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Martians.

That's just crazy talk. Its obviously becoming self aware.
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RFC - Apr 14, 2009
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If Spirit becomes self-aware, is it itself a Martian?

If anyone knows... I myself am unfamiliar with Martian immigration law.
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O2L - Apr 14, 2009
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Martians.

haha! thats what i thought, there is a little green man hitting the reboot button over and over again
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Illure - Apr 14, 2009
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I agree with Yelmurc. It's evolving. It just wants to run free in the plains of Mars.
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la7dfa - Apr 14, 2009
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Probably because the rovers use Windows ME... ;)
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jaggspb - Apr 14, 2009
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The Martian is just trying to see if Spirit is the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator that he ordered.
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RFC - Apr 14, 2009
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Ya know, there is some resemblance to Wall-E.... hmmm.
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LariAnn - Apr 14, 2009
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Rebooting is a computer's version of doing a double-take. Wonder what Spirit saw that caused a double-take?
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Mercury_01 - Apr 14, 2009
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NSA
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Suzu - Apr 14, 2009
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Dust, Radiation, Shock, Corrosion, Chocolate Cake, Oni, Buddha, Jesus, Usagi. Are all possible reasons for resets.
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Illure - Apr 14, 2009
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Mars might have get hit by a solar storm. Due to the weak magnetic field, it would have affect the little Spirit on the surface.
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Mercury_01 - Apr 14, 2009
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I bet the new administration "borrowed" the rover over the weekend and used it to get the info they want. Then later they'll confront the black budget folks about what they know.
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theophys - Apr 15, 2009
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Guys guys guys. It's obviously the communists screwing with our heads. Next they're going start sending the CIA computers porn viruses. Then they'll give all our crops syphilis. It's all a part if their head games.
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laserdaveb - Apr 15, 2009
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oh great...one of our viruses infected another planet.
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Crossrip - Apr 15, 2009
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Maybe its computer is made by
Gateway
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Edylc - Apr 18, 2009
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My guess is it's the update, every time my computer messes up it's from an update, every time any piece of tech I have connected to the internet gets an update it usually messes up. How bad would it suck if your computer was over 33,900,000 miles away when that happened?
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robbor - Apr 18, 2009
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i reboot my computer every other week. what does that mean?
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stonehead666 - Apr 25, 2009
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Maybe uses a MS OS. Win xp or vista...
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