A solar flare has struck Nozomi, Japan’s first probe to Mars, cutting off its communications with Earth. Japanese scientists believe that the spacecraft can repair the damage within 6-months, hopefully before it arrives at the Red Planet in December 2003. The solar flare happened over a month ago, but the damage to the spacecraft was only recently admitted to the public. Nozomi will study Mars’ upper atmosphere and magnetic field.
2 Replies to “Solar Flare Silences Japanese Mars Probe”
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WOW!!!!! how many probes have been lost or damaged on mars missions now?20?30? i watched a pbs show on it and the numbers back in the nineties were something like 16. do you think that the odds are getting a little long on this repeated failure/damage to mars probes.?
No I’ll bet lotta ppl wrkng on new shielding methods and “flare” resistant electronic components, no? Time for electronic evolution. Positronics? LOL