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CNN Live Saturday
One Mars Rover on Life Support, Another Arrives Tonight
Aired January 24, 2004 - 12:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: With one Mars rover in critical condition, NASA scientists are getting ready to land another rover on the Red Planet's surface. Called Opportunity, it's due to touchdown late tonight.
CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not over for the rover. But it's no longer a pretty picture, either.
PETE THEISINGER, MARS PROGRAM MGR.: We do not know to what extent we can restore functionality to the system because we don't know what's broke.
O'BRIEN: This from the man in charge of Spirit's ground team after a frustrating pair of sols, or days, on Mars.
The trouble began on Wednesday morning Mars time, when the team radioed commands for Spirit get to work. It sent back little more than gobbledy gook. As it turns out, Spirit was in the midst of a mysterious software crisis, rebooting then crashing no less than 60 times on Wednesday.
The good news? Spirit is still communicating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our spacecraft decided to turn itself on as the Odyssey was going over, and instead of dumping a few hundred bits, it dumped 76 or 80 megabits data. Most of it was garbage, but some of it was really important.
O'BRIEN: Perhaps the best news is Spirit is stable and the team can safely focus on Opportunity, Spirit's twin, headed for a Saturday night impact on the other side of Mars.
JAMES GARVIN, MARS SCIENTIST: A choice is made at NASA to fly two Marts exploration rovers to Mars. Not just for science, but to be able to handle what Mars could throw at it.
O'BRIEN (on camera): The Opportunity rover is headed for a plain that is 1000 feet higher than Spirit's crater. Since its breaking rockets fired only 28 feet above the surface, the team here has decided to open Opportunity's parachute a little sooner. Not a lot of margin for error in this business.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Pasadena, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 24, 2004 - 12:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: With one Mars rover in critical condition, NASA scientists are getting ready to land another rover on the Red Planet's surface. Called Opportunity, it's due to touchdown late tonight.
CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not over for the rover. But it's no longer a pretty picture, either.
PETE THEISINGER, MARS PROGRAM MGR.: We do not know to what extent we can restore functionality to the system because we don't know what's broke.
O'BRIEN: This from the man in charge of Spirit's ground team after a frustrating pair of sols, or days, on Mars.
The trouble began on Wednesday morning Mars time, when the team radioed commands for Spirit get to work. It sent back little more than gobbledy gook. As it turns out, Spirit was in the midst of a mysterious software crisis, rebooting then crashing no less than 60 times on Wednesday.
The good news? Spirit is still communicating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our spacecraft decided to turn itself on as the Odyssey was going over, and instead of dumping a few hundred bits, it dumped 76 or 80 megabits data. Most of it was garbage, but some of it was really important.
O'BRIEN: Perhaps the best news is Spirit is stable and the team can safely focus on Opportunity, Spirit's twin, headed for a Saturday night impact on the other side of Mars.
JAMES GARVIN, MARS SCIENTIST: A choice is made at NASA to fly two Marts exploration rovers to Mars. Not just for science, but to be able to handle what Mars could throw at it.
O'BRIEN (on camera): The Opportunity rover is headed for a plain that is 1000 feet higher than Spirit's crater. Since its breaking rockets fired only 28 feet above the surface, the team here has decided to open Opportunity's parachute a little sooner. Not a lot of margin for error in this business.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Pasadena, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
