[meteorite-list] NASA Reformats Memory of Longest-Running Mars Rover

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4517

NASA Reformats Memory of Longest-Running Mars Rover
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
March 23, 2015

* The rover team reformatted the aging rover's flash memory to restore 
use of overnight data storage

* Opportunity completed inspections of blocky rocks above Marathon Valley

* The rover is nearing the equivalent of a marathon in total driving distance

After avoiding use of the rover's flash memory for three months, the team 
operating NASA's 11-year-old Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reformatted 
the vehicle's flash memory banks and resumed storing some data overnight 
for transmitting later.

The team received confirmation from Mars on March 20 that the reformatting 
completed successfully. The rover switched to updated software earlier 
this month that will avoid using one of the seven banks of onboard flash 
memory. Some of the flash-memory problems that prompted the team to adopt 
a no-flash mode of operations in late 2014 were traced to Bank 7. The 
remaining six banks provide more nonvolatile memory capacity than the 
rover has used on all but a few days since landing on Mars in January 
2004.

In the no-flash mode of operations, Opportunity continued conducting science 
investigations and driving, but transmitted each day's accumulated data 
before powering down for overnight conservation of energy. Flash memory 
is nonvolatile, meaning it retains data even without power. Opportunity 
also uses random access memory, which retains data only while power is 
on.

Last week, Opportunity completed examination of unusual rocks it found 
at an overlook to its "Marathon Valley" science destination. The rover 
is approaching an elongated crater called "Spirit of St. Louis" on the 
path to Marathon Valley. As of March 23, Opportunity has 47 yards (43 
meters) remaining to drive before its odometry passes the distance of 
an Olympic marathon race.

"Opportunity can work productively without use of flash memory, as we 
have shown for the past three months, but with flash we have more flexibility 
for operations," said Opportunity Project Manager John Callas of NASA's 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "The rover can collect 
more data than can be returned to Earth on any one day. The flash memory 
allows data from intensive science activities to be returned over several 
days."

Marathon Valley was selected as a science destination because spectrometer 
observations from orbit indicate exposures of clay minerals. Before entering 
the valley, Opportunity will observe Spirit of St. Louis Crater, which 
holds an interior rock structure rising higher than the crater rim.

As of March 16, Opportunity has driven 26.192 miles (42.152 kilometers) 
since it landed on Mars in January 2004. A marathon is 26.219 miles (42.195 
kilometers).

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, 
manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission 
Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, 
visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/rovers

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov

You can follow the project on Twitter and on Facebook at:

http://twitter.com/MarsRovers

http://www.facebook.com/mars.rovers


Media Contact

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov 

2015-094