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Resurrecting NEAR

Posted by michael on from the nine-lives-already-used-up dept.

JoeRobe writes "Space.com is reporting that John Hopkins researchers are going to attempt to revive the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft at the end of the year. The spacecraft, designed to orbit asteroid Eros, finished its mission by successfully landing on the surface of the asteroid in February 2001, resting on its body and two solar panels. Now, after NEAR has been silent and cold for over a year, researchers are going to try to make contact with it and possibly try to turn on its scientific instruments one last time . How long can silent electronics last in space?"

3 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Curious - Security ? by eet23 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think the primary aim is to find things out, not to stop other people finding things out. Either way, the data gets here, so it doesn't really matter.

  2. Re:Umm.... by lionchild · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I suspect that there's some sort of time limit on the electronics packages. However, it's probably more dependent on the fact that it's not be whacked by a handful of micrometeors since we put it into hibernation mode. Something like that could definitely make it a lost cause, real quick.

    --
    Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
  3. Re:Curious... by mikerich · · Score: 2, Insightful
    AFAIK, only the Pioneer 10/11 and Voyager 1/2 probes have that information as they were intended to leave the Solar System.

    There is an explanation of the Pioneer plaque (and it is a work of genius) at: http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/pioneer/other/plaq ue.gif

    Best wishes,
    Mike.