Communication between NASA and Mars suspended for two weeks!
NASA is unable to send command signals to its orbiters, the Perseverance rover, and the Curiosity rover on Mars for approximately two weeks due to the Sun passing between the two planets.
AA
According to a CNN report, the approximately 2-week communication blackout, which occurs every two years when the Sun passes between the orbits of Mars and Earth, began on November 11 and will continue until November 25.
During this period of interruption, the hot, energy-charged gas that the Sun constantly ejects into space from its outer atmosphere could disrupt the radio signals NASA sends to communicate with its Mars rovers.
Any corruption in the commands sent by NASA during this period could jeopardize the missions of the orbiters and the rovers on the Martian surface.
ROVERS WILL CONTINUE THEIR MISSIONS
Before the blackout, the Curiosity rover, which has completed approximately 11 years on Mars, parked in Gale Crater, while the Perseverance rover, located 3,700 kilometers away, parked in Jezero Crater. They will monitor Mars' weather, surface conditions, and changes in radiation in accordance with the instructions they received in advance.
Perseverance will examine the surrounding rocks and use its cameras to take the opportunity to detect clouds and "dust devils," which are weather vortices that are weaker and smaller than tornadoes on Earth.
The Ingenuity helicopter, which is Perseverance's aerial scout, will not fly during this period and will instead use its color camera to study the movement of sand, which is considered one of the biggest and most difficult obstacles facing Mars missions.
The Reconnaissance and Odyssey spacecraft in Mars orbit will continue to take photos of the planet's surface, while the "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution" (MAVEN) spacecraft will monitor the changes the Sun makes to the Martian atmosphere.
MISSION STATUS WILL BE MONITORED
On the other hand, a written statement from NASA emphasized that while communication will be completely cut off for two days during this process because the Red Planet will be behind the Sun, NASA will still be able to receive signals from the Mars orbiters, and the rovers will continue their missions without NASA intervention.
The statement noted that once the interruption, referred to as a "moratorium," ends, the spacecraft in Mars orbit will transmit all pending scientific data to Earth, and the spacecraft will be able to begin receiving instructions again.
Roy Gladden, manager of the Mars Relay Network at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, stated, "Our mission teams have spent months preparing to-do lists for all our Mars spacecraft. We will be able to receive signals from them in the coming weeks and check whether they are operating healthily."