Mars Rover's Unexpected Behavior Puzzles NASA

Originally posted by InfaRedMan

LOL! Here we go - as predicted earlier!


It just wouldn't be ATS without the "NASA vs The Martian Alien Artifacts" conspiracy theory!

IRM

Well as some keep pointing out..ATS is a conspiracy site. And if some can conspire that FEMA is building prison camps to round up innocent American citizens to hord off and gas them to death, then I dont see any reason why we cant throw around conspiracy theories about NASA hiding stuff from us.

Fair is fair I think ya?


Cheers!!!!

Or it could have just worn out. When was the last time you had a remote control car last more than 12 months? Thats without it going through dust storms so savage it blocks the solar panels on the back of the poor little jethopper. Pretty dry too. Batteries have a limited life span too. NiMh are good for up to 1000 recharges according to radioshack. LiOn batteries fail in mobile phones too. So? Whats the more plausible, NASA keeping secrets or the poor old thing f***ed out?

reply to post by antisceptic


Naturally nothing lasts forever. But you have to admit those well engineered rovers lasting 5 years is quite a feat. Also dont forget, that ther are 2 of them up there, both identical to each other. The only difference is where they are located on the planet.

But the point here is that NASA has been well known to throw out the "it broke" excuse so many times at critical moments of discovery by a probe or orbiter or rover that its plausible to also say that NASA is lying on this too...saying that "its acting strage". Perhaps if they had been more specific about it "acting strange", the suspicion of their old worn out excuse of "it broke" might be more believable.

Never A Straight Answer.



Cheers!!!!

[edit on 29-1-2009 by RFBurns]

reply to post by watchZEITGEISTnow


hehehe, yeah i can picture this martian poking it with a stick, wondering just what the hell is this strange thing scratching about his backyard.

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
reply to post by watchZEITGEISTnow

 

hehehe, yeah i can picture this martian poking it with a stick, wondering just what the hell is this strange thing scratching about his backyard.

Lol! they are probably operating the rover themselves, they got an extra controler laying around

For those interested:

The rover requires power to operate. Without power, it cannot move, use its science instruments, or communicate with Earth. The main source of power for each rover comes from a multi-panel solar array. They look almost like "wings," but their purpose is to provide energy, not fly.When fully illuminated, the rover solar arrays generate about 140 watts of power for up to four hours per sol (a Martian day). The rover needs about 100 watts (equivalent to a standard light bulb in a home) to drive. Comparatively, the Sojourner rover´s solar arrays provided the 1997 Pathfinder mission with around 16 watts of power at noon on Mars. That´s equivalent to the power used by an oven light. This extra power will potentially enable the rovers to conduct more science.

The power system for the Mars Exploration Rover includes two rechargeable batteries that provide energy for the rover when the sun is not shining, especially at night. Over time, the batteries will degrade and will not be able to recharge to full power capacity. Also, by the end of the 90-sol mission, the capability of the solar arrays to generate power will likely be reduced to about 50 watts of power due to anticipated dust coverage on the solar arrays (as seen on Sojourner/Mars Pathfinder), as well as the change in season. Mars will drift farther from the sun as it continues on its yearly elliptical orbit, and because of the distance, the sun will not shine as brightly onto the solar arrays. Additionally, Mars is tilted on its axis just like Earth is, giving Mars seasonal changes. Later in the mission, the seasonal changes at the landing site and the lower position of the Sun in the sky at noon than in the beginning of the mission will mean less energy on the solar panels

source
source (way cool site)

Originally posted by RFBurns
But the point here is that NASA has been well known to throw out the "it broke" excuse so many times at critical moments of discovery by a probe or orbiter or rover that its plausible to also say that NASA is lying on this too...

This is the second time you have made this charge. What are these supposed critical moments? Do you have any proof NASA was/is supposedly lying any time a probe breaks?

The idea is ridiculous; if they are trying to keep a probe's activities secret, why would they even make public its existence in the first place?

I love this story. Our little Spirit is growing up.

Spirit failed to report in to engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., last weekend, prompting a series of diagnostic tests this week to hunt the glitch's source. The aging Mars rover did not beam home a record of its weekend activities and, more puzzlingly, apparently failed to even record any of its actions on Sunday, mission managers said.

Not phoning home. Taking weekends off. Spending Sunday on the couch.

Classic.

[edit on 29-1-2009 by IGOSH]

Originally posted by IGOSH
I love this story. Our little Spirit is growing up.

Spirit failed to report in to engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., last weekend, prompting a series of diagnostic tests this week to hunt the glitch's source. The aging Mars rover did not beam home a record of its weekend activities and, more puzzlingly, apparently failed to even record any of its actions on Sunday, mission managers said.

Not phoning home. Taking weekends off. Spending Sunday on the couch.

Classic.

[edit on 29-1-2009 by IGOSH]

So spirit is cheating on NASA? I knew it I knew it should have seen this one coming a long time ago well good for spirit we all know NASA lies anyways ( at least to us) how do we know NASA doesn't lie to spirit?

Originally posted by RFBurns
Perhaps if they had been more specific about it "acting strange", the suspicion of their old worn out excuse of "it broke" might be more believable.

But they did RF!

The aging Mars rover did not beam home a record of its weekend activities and, more puzzlingly, apparently failed to even record any of its actions on Sunday, mission managers said.

Source

That sounds specific enough to me. Didn't record and didn't send - i.e. abnormal behavior! Until they determine the cause, (if they can) it's a bit of a mystery. I guess we will know more as the days pass. Perhaps they can reboot the thing. It may just be something as simple as an OS Glitch.

IRM

[edit on 29/1/09 by InfaRedMan]

It's all to conveinent for NASA to say something broke, to keep the public distracted while the real good stuff goes on. This is a pretty conveinent time for the rover to all of the sudden "glitch" it just crys out "deception" to me.

Originally posted by alyosha1981
It's all to conveinent for NASA to say something broke, to keep the public distracted while the real good stuff goes on.

And your proof for this is...?

Originally posted by alyosha1981
This is a pretty conveinent time for the rover to all of the sudden "glitch" it just crys out "deception" to me.

How is this a "convenient" time?

reply to post by alyosha1981


Ok. When was the last time you got pissed off about a digital camera thats 4 - 5 years outside warranty cover stop working. Or a 5 yr old computer. Remember man its windows xp sp1 vintage.

Here's a good example of a NASA cover up right here!
They do it all the time!! and right now with more and more people tuning into their lies they have to be more carefull to cover their tracks.

[edit on 29-1-2009 by alyosha1981]

Originally posted by alyosha1981
Here's a good example of a NASA cover up right here!

No, it isn't. That story simply is not true.

...the transcript...was not taken from a "secret tape" leaked from NASA; it is a fanciful product of someone's imagination published in a February 1991 issue of Weekly World News...There never was such a transcript, nor was the crew of the Challenger known to be wearing personal recorders. Moreover, personal recorders would not have picked up the comments of crew members on different decks, as the faked transcript would have us believe.

So, I ask you again, where is your proof of this and how is it "convenient" the rover is dying now?

Oh ok here we go again with snopes the skeptics bible, I'll do some digging on it and reply later, gotta sleep now ( I work nights) but good challenge I'm sure RFBurns will no doubt be interested as well.

Originally posted by SaviorComplex

Originally posted by RFBurns
But the point here is that NASA has been well known to throw out the "it broke" excuse so many times at critical moments of discovery by a probe or orbiter or rover that its plausible to also say that NASA is lying on this too...

This is the second time you have made this charge. What are these supposed critical moments? Do you have any proof NASA was/is supposedly lying any time a probe breaks?

The idea is ridiculous; if they are trying to keep a probe's activities secret, why would they even make public its existence in the first place?

Google it yourself man. Im not yours or anyone else's "go get it" slave.

Try THIS and enter something pretaining to their probes and rovers.




Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by InfaRedMan

But they did RF!

The aging Mars rover did not beam home a record of its weekend activities and, more puzzlingly, apparently failed to even record any of its actions on Sunday, mission managers said.

Source

That sounds specific enough to me. Didn't record and didn't send - i.e. abnormal behavior! Until they determine the cause, (if they can) it's a bit of a mystery. I guess we will know more as the days pass. Perhaps they can reboot the thing. It may just be something as simple as an OS Glitch.

IRM

Well thats quite interesting...it failed to phone home yet they say that it didnt record the weekend's activity. Now how the hell would they know that it didnt record the activity for Sunday when the thing didnt phone home to tell them anything to begin with????? EH?????


Ya ok you will believe that government doesnt tell you the truth yet you will gladly accept NASA at their word when there is a history of NASA AND government covering up stuff.

Thats ok some of us like to think byond the puppet strings of NASA.



Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by RFBurns

Originally posted by InfaRedMan

But they did RF!

The aging Mars rover did not beam home a record of its weekend activities and, more puzzlingly, apparently failed to even record any of its actions on Sunday, mission managers said.

Source

That sounds specific enough to me. Didn't record and didn't send - i.e. abnormal behavior! Until they determine the cause, (if they can) it's a bit of a mystery. I guess we will know more as the days pass. Perhaps they can reboot the thing. It may just be something as simple as an OS Glitch.

IRM

Well thats quite interesting...it failed to phone home yet they say that it didnt record the weekend's activity. Now how the hell would they know that it didnt record the activity for Sunday when the thing didnt phone home to tell them anything to begin with????? EH?????


Ya ok you will believe that government doesnt tell you the truth yet you will gladly accept NASA at their word when there is a history of NASA AND government covering up stuff.

Thats ok some of us like to think byond the puppet strings of NASA.

Cheers!!!!

I was kind of wondering the same thing about not phoning home and not receiving data but then I was thinking, what if the batteries are taking an extended amount of time to charge and on top of it not able to save/send the data in time before the batteries go kaput?

On a side note if they do this again do you think the solar cells will get their own windshield wiper blades? Just thought if it was me designing the thing and knowing the dust that is up there not to mention the small dust storms it would be the first thing I would think of, or did they have a type I'm just unaware of?

It's obvious to me that the poor guy got stuck under a tree and can't find the sun!
How is NASA supposed to explain that one? Whooopsie!