Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Panorama of the “Murray Buttes” shows a boulder that appears to be precariously balanced.
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1387 July 1, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1393, recently experiencing an apparent software glitch that has placed it in “safe mode.”

According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, steps are underway to return the rover to full activity following a precautionary stand-down over the Fourth of July weekend.

Unexpected mismatch

“The rover put itself into safe mode on July 2, ceasing most activities other than keeping itself healthy and following a prescribed sequence for resuming communications,” notes a JPL update.

Curiosity has entered safe mode three times previously, all during 2013.

“Preliminary information indicates an unexpected mismatch between camera software and data-processing software in the main computer,” explains the JPL website on Curiosity. “The near-term steps toward resuming full activities begin with requesting more diagnostic information from Curiosity.”

Precariously balanced boulder

Meanwhile, Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona reports that rover activities planned for Sols 1387 and 1388 were completed successfully.

Lots of good data were returned, Herkenhoff says, including a stunning Right Mastcam panorama of the “Murray Buttes” toward the southwest.

Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1387 July 1, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“One of the images in this panorama shows a boulder that appears to be precariously balanced,” Herkenhoff notes. “No, we don’t plan to drive right up next to it, but we’ll probably get closer looks as the rover proceeds toward Mount Sharp.”

Suspended science planning

Early on Sol 1389, the rover entered safe mode, apparently due to a software problem that is still not fully understood.

“So the 3-sol plan did not execute but the rover and all subsystems are healthy<” Herkenhoff adds. “Science planning has been suspended while critical engineering data are returned to Earth and studied by software experts at JPL,” he reports, “but I’m anxiously following the tactical team’s progress in recovering from safe mode.”