What Happens When The Sun Blocks Signals from NASA's Mars Rovers & Orbiters?
During late December 2025 and January 2026, Mars and Earth are on opposite sides of the Sun, blocking radio communications between them. Perseverance and the Curiosity Mars rovers will resume sending raw images in late January.
How can you communicate with Mars spacecraft when the Sun is in the way?
Learn more about 'solar conjunction' in this 60-second video.
About every two years, Earth and Mars wind up on opposite sides of the sun. This is called “solar conjunction.”
It is like being on either side of a huge bonfire. We cannot see Mars, and our landers, rovers, and orbiters cannot see us.
If our spacecraft send back signals, charged particles from the sun could interfere, causing gaps in the data that reach us.
This is not difficult to handle. If something is missing, it can always be resent later. However, in no way do we want to lose data when we send up commands. Receiving a partial command could confuse the spacecraft, putting them at serious risk.
So, mission controllers plan ahead by sending up simple to-do lists, including regular health check ups.
Back home, this break in communications lets team members catch up on other work . . . or take a well-deserved vacation!
Solar conjunction lasts just a few weeks. Then, it is back to normal operations on Earth and on Mars.
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: March 20, 2013
#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #Planets #Earth #Mars #SolarConjunction #MarsOrbiters #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video
No comments:
Post a Comment