Tuesday, November 23, 2010

NASA to Revive Cassini Spacecraft at Saturn


NASA is preparing to revive the dormant Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn, which ceased science operations three weeks ago due to a computer glitch. Cassini mission controllers plan to reawaken the Saturn probe tomorrow (Nov. 24). The spacecraft has been operating in a protective standby mode — called "safe mode" — since Nov. 2 because of an ill-timed flip of a data bit in Cassini's command and data system computer.

The glitch forced mission planners to skip planned observations of Saturn's largest moon Titan during a Nov. 11 flyby of the cloud-covered satellite. 

The Cassini spacecraft arrived in 2004 to study Saturn and its rings, and to deliver the European-built Huygens probe to land on Titan. Cassini completed its primary mission in 2008 and is now in its second extended phase that extends through May 2017. SPACE.COM

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