[X] My Assistant

[Guest_Analyst_*]

Did nobody notice this:

Ground Team Stays Busy on 10th Anniversary of NASA Mars Launch

Ten year after launch, there is some trouble with a solar array motor and a comm problem probably resulting from this and entering safe mode. Nothing dramatic yet, but something to follow closely.

There are other things than MRO and MER

Analyst

[djellison]

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/lofiver...x.php/t902.html

"As of 05-153 (06/02/05) MGS fuel consumption is 3.3 g/day, with 9.15 kg of usable fuel remaining. At this consumption rate, the usable fuel will support operations into 2013."


Doug

[mcaplinger]

"As of 05-153 (06/02/05) MGS fuel consumption is 3.3 g/day...

Unfortunately this is in the normal mapping attitude. In nearly all safe mode orientations it won't apply, and in some safe modes, it uses thruster control instead of reaction wheel control and will consume fuel even faster. But we are still talking fairly low consumption rates; it's not like it's spinning wildly about looking for Earth. Its normal response to faults is to get the solar arrays pointed at the sun and then spin slowly about the sun line, awaiting commands. There are a few complicating factors: first, the whole problem started with a stuck solar array (one of two); second, the spacecraft goes into solar and Earth eclipse on every orbit; and third, the low-gain transmitter antennas are both up on the articulated HGA electronics box, so there are some orientations of the HGA that could block one or the other of the LGTs from view from Earth. The low-gain receivers are down on the body of the spacecraft and do not articulate.

Compiled from public sources: see http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/...og/insthost.txt and http://klabs.org/richcontent/Reports/Failu...erver_11_93.pdf