A six-second rocket firing Tuesday nudged NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter into position to relay telemetry from the Mars Science Laboratory back to Earth in near real time during the $2.5 billion rover's rocket-powered descent to the red planet's surface on August 6, officials said.
An artist's view of NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft in orbit around the red planet.
(Credit: NASA)
Odyssey entered "safe mode" July 11 after problems with the craft's attitude control system, raising the possibility that the orbiter might not be properly positioned to relay entry, descent and landing data from the rover back to Earth.
The Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" rover is shown safely on the surface in this computer graphic. Telemetry from the rover will be relayed back to Earth by the Mars Odyssey orbiter during Curiosity's descent to the surface August 6.
(Credit: NASA)
While the Curiosity rover will be sending X-band signal tones directly back to Earth marking off major entry events, the landing site -- Gale Crater -- will drop below the horizon well before touchdown, cutting off line-of-sight communications.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be overhead throughout the descent, but it can only store telemetry from the lander and send it back to Earth later, after processing. Another orbiter, the European ... [Read more]
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