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Flares Injure Mars Odyssey

Posted by michael on from the tan-don't-burn dept.

Henry writes "The BBC is reporting that NASA's Mars Odyssey has suffered a hit from the recent solar flares. Apparently, the instrument which measures radiation levels has been shut down; it is not known if the damage is permanent."

1 of 26 comments (clear)

  1. So what? by TheRedHorse · · Score: 3, Informative

    From the article:

    "Even if the instrument provides no additional data in the future, it has been a great success at characterising the radiation environment that a crewed mission to Mars would need to anticipate," said Jeffrey Plaut, project scientist for Mars Odyssey.

    It appears the radiation instrument has already given NASA enough data. The Odyssey's true purpose now would be to rebroadcast signals to and from probes planning to land on Mars itself soon.