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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