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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 11.08.04 10:46l 88 Lines 4246 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Press release, 10th August
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Sent: 040811/0927Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:45406 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
NEWS RELEASE: 2004-197
August 10, 2004
Relays from Mars Show International Interplanetary Networking
One of NASA's Mars rovers has sent pictures relayed by the European
Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter for the first time, demonstrating
that the orbiter could serve as a communications link if needed.
The link-up was part of a set of interplanetary networking
demonstrations paving the way for future Mars missions to rely on these
networking capabilities. The American and European agencies planned them
as part of continuing efforts to cooperate in space exploration.
On Aug. 4, as Mars Express flew over NASA's Mars Exploration Rover
Opportunity, the orbiter received data previously collected and stored
by the rover. The data, including 15 images from the rover's nine
cameras, were subsequently forwarded to the European Space Operations
Centre, Darmstadt, Germany, and immediately relayed to the rover team
based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Mars Express also is demonstrating two other networking modes with
Opportunity and the twin rover, Spirit, between Aug. 3 and Aug. 13.
Two NASA orbiters, Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor, have relayed
most data the rovers have produced since they landed in January. In
addition, Mars Express demonstrated communication compatibility with the
rovers in February, but at a low rate that did not convey much data. The
Aug. 4 session, receiving 42.6 megabits from Opportunity in about 6
minutes, set a new mark for international networking at another planet.
The ability for a European mission and a NASA mission to communicate
with each other at Mars required years of groundwork on Earth, said JPL
engineer Peter Shames. Both Mars Express and the rovers use a
communications protocol called Proximity-1. The Consultative Committee
for Space Data Systems, an international partnership for standardizing
techniques used for handling space data, developed Proximity-1.
Mars Express was 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) above Mars' surface during
the Aug. 4 session with Opportunity. In that session, the goal was
reliable transfer of lots of data. The orbiter was about four times
higher when it listened to Spirit on Aug. 3 and Aug. 6. Those sessions
demonstrated a mode useful for catching fewer bits of a weaker signal
during critical events, such as a landing or an approach to another
craft for a rendezvous in orbit. The final session of the series,
scheduled for Aug. 13 with Opportunity, will demonstrate a mode for
gaining navigational information from the Doppler shift in the radio
signal.
"Establishing a reliable communication network around Mars or other
planets is crucial for future exploration missions," said Con McCarthy
of the European Space Agency's Mars Express project. "This will allow
ESA and NASA to more accurately track spacecraft during their approach,
atmospheric entry and even descent, as well as to increase the coverage
and the amount of data that can be brought back to Earth."
"We're delighted how well this has been working, and thankful to have
Mars Express in orbit," said JPL's Richard Horttor, project manager for
NASA's role in Mars Express.
JPL engineer Gary Noreen of the Mars Network Office said, "The
capabilities that our international teamwork is advancing this month
could be important in future exploration of Mars."
JPL's Dr. Mark Adler, Mars Exploration Rover mission manager, said, "A
lot of the people who have worked on the Mars Exploration Rovers will be
working on future Mars missions or have already switched to working on
future missions, so we are very glad to see these capabilities
demonstrated."
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington. Images and additional information about the
rover project are available from JPL at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov
and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at http://athena.cornell.edu
73 - Alan, ZL2VAL @ ZL2AB
Message timed: 21:22 on 2004-Aug-11
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