NASA's Curiosity rover, which has been exploring Mars since it landed to much fanfare last August, is back on active status Tuesday, after a memory glitch set the robot back. <\/p>\n
\"We expect to get back to sample-analysis science by the end of the week,\" said Curiosity Mission Manager Jennifer Trosper in a statement. <\/p>\n
On February 28, controllers put the rover into \"minimal activity safe mode\" when they switched the machine's operations to a backup computer after detecting malfunctions in the primary computer's flash memory. <\/p>\n
Engineers have diagnosed the software issue that prompted the alert last month, and are prepared to prevent it from happening again, NASA said. <\/p>\n
The once-primary \"A-side\" computer is now back online as a backup, it added, and engineers are testing the B-side computer, which has taken over, by commanding a preliminary free-space move of the robotic arm. <\/p>\n
The six-wheeled vehicle, with 10 scientific instruments on board, is the most sophisticated robot ever sent to another planet. <\/p>\n
The $2.5 billion Curiosity mission, which is set to last at least two years, aims to study the Martian environment and to hunt for evidence of water in preparation for a possible future manned mission. <\/p>\n
Last week, NASA announced that the rover's analysis of a rock sample had found conditions once suited to life on the Red Planet. <\/p>\n
\"A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment,\" Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, said. \"From what we know now, the answer is yes.\" <\/p>\n
At the televised press conference, the NASA team said this was the first definitive proof a life-supporting environment had existed beyond Earth. <\/p>\n
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NASA 's Curiosity rover back online after memory glitch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA's Curiosity rover, which has been exploring Mars since it landed to much fanfare last August, is back on active status Tuesday, after a memory glitch set the robot back. \"We expect to get back to sample-analysis science by the end of the week,\" said Curiosity Mission Manager Jennifer Trosper in a statement. On February 28, controllers put the rover into \"minimal activity safe mode\" when they switched the machine's operations to a backup computer after detecting malfunctions in the primary computer's flash memory Continue reading