PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 30 (UPI) — The flash memory on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are vital. But they need to be updated.
Next week, mission scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will begin rewriting the orbiter’s memory.
MRO’s flash memory holds precise information about the location of the sun and the Earth, information the orbiter uses to reorient itself in the event of a software crash and reboot. If the rebooted spacecraft can’t figure out where to point its communication antenna and solar panels, it could get lost and crash. MRO’s computers have spontaneously crashed and rebooted 16 times since it launched in 2005. Flash memory is retained even when the orbiter’s power is off.
Currently, the orbiter’s memory holds data on the sun and Earth’s positions only through July 12, 2016.
Beginning next week, mission scientists will begin rewriting portions of MRO’s memory with new location data. The rewrite requires the orbiter to shut down most of its computers and communications systems. All of the orbiter’s science operations will be suspended for a week. During the rewrite, both of NASA’s Mars rovers will use another orbiter, Odyssey, to relay information to Earth.
Researchers updated MRO’s memory once before in 2009, but each update is a new challenge. Because the orbiter’s flash memory also holds backups of the spacecraft’s main computer drives, scientists must exercise special caution.
“It’s the fundamental operating system of the spacecraft. That’s what adds risk,” Dan Johnston, project manager on the MRO mission, said in a press release. “Just like with your home computer: If you mess with the operating system, the computer won’t work.”
But it’s work that must be done.
“Updating what’s in the memory is essential for spacecraft safety and for extending the mission,” Johnson added.
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