NASA’s Curiosity rover is not moving right now for a good reason…
A Curiosity mission update revealed that the Mars rover lost its orientation this week. It’s unclear what exactly caused Curiosity to freeze in its tracks, but it was likely due to a safety check failure.
“Some knowledge of its attitude was not quite right, so it couldn’t make the essential safety evaluation. Thus, Curiosity stopped moving, freezing in place until its knowledge of its orientation can be recovered,” wrote Dawn Sumner, Planetary Geologist at University of California Davis. “Curiosity kept sending us information, so we know what happened and can develop a recovery plan.”
A view of Mount Sharp on #Mars, photographed by @MarsCuriosity on Sol 467.
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— Kevin M. Gill (@kevinmgill) January 15, 2020
Just like us, rovers need to known where their bodies are to move through their environment. According to NASA, Curiosity stores its body attitude in memory, including which arm instruments are pointing down, the proximity of APXS to the ground, and the orientation of each point. It also notes details about the environment it’s moving through, including how steep slopes are, the location of larger rocks, and if there are unsafe bedrock areas.
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I hope this coming year is as full of all the vision and clarity we could want out of an orbit named 2020…
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— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) January 1, 2020
Curiosity performs a safety check of all this information before it executes any movement. If the rover is unsure of what’s ahead or senses danger, it stops in its tracks without turning on the motor. This process helps prevent Curiosity from slamming into things or damaging equipment during the mission. Once Curiosity is aware of its position within its environment, it can safely conduct activities.
On Monday, Curiosity team engineers formulated a plan to let the rover know about its attitude and to confirm the shutdown incident. This safety first approach will help keep Curiosity safe on Mars and enable the team to prevent similar hiccups in the future.
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- NASA’s Curiosity Rover Finds ‘Ancient Oasis’ on Mars
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