The Mars Explorer Rover Spirit has encountered a hiccup. JPL lost communications with the plucky little robot a couple of days ago. After such a magnificent start, it’s a real shame to see an issue like this crop up. I’m watching the press briefing right now on NASA TV. Project Manager Pete Theisinger seems hopeful that part of the mission can be salvaged, though he’s also pessimistic that full functionality will ever be restored. I know that some of the best technical minds in the world are working on this, and if it’s a problem that can be fixed, it will be.

Opportunity landing is tomorrow at 9:05 PM (PST), and coverage will start at 7:30 PM. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a successful landing and mission.

By the way, there’s really good coverage of the entire mission on Spaceflight Now and on the Planetary Society’s site.

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Friday, January 23rd, 2004 @ 11:08 am Nothings
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