NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft entered protected mode on Feb. 16 after encountering a difficulty with its Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which measures the spacecraft fee of rotation to be used in figuring out its pointing. The IMU had been powered up in preparation for a minor maneuver focused to scale back eclipse durations in 2027.
On Feb.17, MAVEN exited safe mode and is at the moment working in all stellar mode, a mode that doesn’t depend on IMU measurements such that the IMU will be powered off to preserve its lifetime. The maneuver shall be waived because the crew evaluates the trail ahead. Relay actions and nominal science operations are scheduled to renew on Feb. 23.
MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered Mars’ orbit in September 2014. The mission’s purpose is to discover the planet’s higher environment, ionosphere, and interactions with the Solar and solar wind to discover the lack of the Martian environment to space. Understanding atmospheric loss provides scientists perception into the historical past of Mars’ environment and local weather, liquid water, and planetary habitability.
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NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Quotation:
MAVEN standing replace (2023, February 24)
retrieved 24 February 2023
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