Glitch Halts New Horizons Operations as It Nears Pluto

[IDemo]

Source: Discovery

Nine days away from an unprecedented flyby of the mysterious mini-planet Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is recovering from a computer glitch that has temporarily idled science operations.

Ground control teams lost radio contact with New Horizons for about 80 minutes on Saturday when the spacecraft put itself in an automated safe mode after it switched over from its primary to its backup computer. What triggered the computer switch is under investigation.

With New Horizons about 3 billion miles from Earth, radio signals traveling at the speed of light take about 4.5 hours to arrive and another 4.5 hours to get the spacecraft’s return messages.

“Full recovery is expected to take from one to several days,” NASA wrote in a status report on Saturday. “New Horizons will be temporarily unable to collect science data during that time.”

Read more: http://news.discovery.com/space/private-spaceflight/glitch-halts-new-horizons-operations-as-it-nears-flyby-150705.htm

[BlueJazz]

1. After all this time. I worry about this type of stuff. I Anthropomorphize?

[Marty McGraw]

9. Maybe..., Barely

But I think it is deserved that our AI counterparts partake with our daily aches and pains. It's the only way we Truly Learn, huh..

I sometime think my daily pauses are due to micro-meteorites passing through my skull. Then I just wipe up my drool and continue about my day. Counting on our little NewHori that it can do the same!

[BlueJazz]

10. "I sometime think my daily pauses are due to micro-meteorites passing through my skull"

I understand. I've heard that a person's brain never gets full. Mine was overflowing about 4 years ago.

[Marty McGraw]

11. just turn your head

and give a little tap and let all the little grains fall out. Then you get a whole new clean slate! I am well overdue for that little tap. Damn those sticky wax plugs

[Delphinus]

2. Oh, crap!

I heard a short talk on Here and Now and was so excited by what the scientist in charge was saying. I hope they get things worked out.

[tymorial]

3. This really upset me this morning.

I have been looking forward to this for a long time now. I hope NASA is able to get it working before the fly by. I have dreamed about what Pluto looks like ever since I was a little boy. If I wasn't such a failure at math and science, I would have become an astronaut. It was always my dream.

[SkyDaddy7]

4. ME TOO!!!!!

New Horizons launched on my brother's birthday in 2006 & like you I have wondered since a child what Pluto must look like...For the mission to crap out now would be horrible! Hope it was not hit by something & it is just a software glitch or something they can work around.

[tymorial]

7. As bad as I feel...

I cannot imagine the men and women working on this project and the anxiety and fear they must be feeling right about now. To put so much effort into something that is more than likely an once in a lifetime (for them) accomplishment and then to have it potentially fall apart just before the moment of triumph. I hope they are able to fix it for all of us but for them the most.

[SkyDaddy7]

18. I know...Must be gut wrenching. nt.

[Reter]

5. Wonder what they found

n/t

[dogknob]

17. Have you ever noticed that the only guy in this who asks a question...

...is the guy talking to Dr. Floyd before the briefing?

[neverforget]

6. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

8. Murphy's Law

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Corollary to Murphy's Law: "When it goes wrong, it will happen at the worst possible time."

Short version: "Oh, shit!"

[red dog 1]

12. I hope they can fix it

Pluto has 2 moons....amazing!

K&R

[sorechasm]

13. Pluto may be a binary planet + 2 moons. Pretty cool!

The center of its rotation is outside of the planet's sphere because it's primary 'moon' is so large and close by comparison.

Or so we think from what we can detect from millions of miles away. See NASA link for more:

/


Fingers crossed that we soon find out...

[Baclava]

14. "the spacecraft’s onboard computers detected some yet-to-be-determined anomaly"

[valerief]

15. Damn hackers are now out in Pluto!

[Baclava]

16. NASA Says New Horizons Pluto Probe Is Okay After a Scary Glitch

Investigators said the anomaly was caused by an operational glitch that will not compromise the quality of the mission. New Horizons was launched in 2006 and has already traveled 3.5 billion miles.

“I’m pleased that our mission team quickly identified the problem and assured the health of the spacecraft,” said Jim Green, NASA’s Director of Planetary Science.

http://time.com/3946445/nasa-new-horizons-pluto/

----------------------------

they scrubbed the data of the "anomaly" you weren't supposed to see - all is well!

[happyslug]

19. What do you expect using 10 year old computers....

Launch date: January 19, 2006 19:00 UTC

9 years, 5 months and 18 days ago as of July 6th, 2015, I do not suspect the computer in horizons were newer then six months (but NOT much older, Horizon had be be planned for years before it was launched).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons