DEEP SPACE ONE MIRACULOUSLY RECOVERS

REMEMBER our old friend "Deep Space One?" The NASA/Los Alamos craft that
was originally scheduled to photograph our other friend Comet
76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura when it was closest to Mars (late May/Early
June)....

(snip)

The extremely tight schedule grew even tighter on June 3 when a problem
familiar to many computer users cropped up.

On that date, a glitch aboard Deep Space 1 forced the spacecraft to
reboot its computer, deleting in the process 81 of the files that had

already been uploaded.

(end snip)

Then MIRACULOUSLY:

(snip)

By June 8, the new software was in place and ready to be tested. Four
days later, the spacecraft found and locked onto a star other than the
sun for the first time. With that step, the probe gained full knowledge
of its orientation in space for the first time since November.

(snip)

On June 21, NASA sent commands to switch on the engine for the first
time since last fall. On June 28, Deep Space 1 began its first full week
of thrusting toward the spot in space where it will meet up with
Borrelly.

(end snip)

Hmmmmm....

Anyone else thinking what I am thinking?

SURFING THE APOCALYPSE
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.com

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FULL ARTICLE:

Deep Space 1 Resumes its Mission

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/deep_space_1_000707.html

By Andrew Bridges
Pasadena Bureau Chief
posted: 07:00 am EST
07 July 2000

PASADENA, Calif. – A team of undaunted NASA engineers has bridged the
vast gulf of space to successfully rouse an ailing spacecraft from the
sickbed where it had lain for seven months and send it racing toward a
promised tryst with a distant comet.

NASA’s Deep Space 1 has completed its first week of thrusting toward a
September 2001 encounter with the comet Borrelly, Marc Rayman, the
mission’s chief engineer, said Thursday. That marks its first powered
flight since losing use of its navigational camera last November, a loss
that left it unable to orient itself in space.

The still-unexplained glitch occurred two months after the spacecraft
had completed its primary mission of flight testing a dozen innovative
technologies. But with the spacecraft in otherwise excellent health –
and nearly a full tank of propellant aboard – the malfunction dashed
scientists’ hopes of making bonus flybys of two separate comets.

"The typical response at that point would have been to declare the
mission over. We could have retired the spacecraft and been proud of its
prior accomplishments. But as the hero of one of my favorite movies
said, ‘Never give up, never surrender,’" said Rayman, quoting the recent
Hollywood sci-fi parody Galaxy Quest.

Now, with its advanced ion-propulsion engine chugging away again – and
its science camera functioning as a jury-rigged navigational instrument
– mission members at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and
spacecraft builder Spectrum Astro Inc. are confident the spacecraft can
make one of the two rendezvous. Barring any future catastrophes, Deep
Space 1 should wing by the comet Borrelly a little over a year from now.

"We really hope to continue thrusting until we get to Borrelly," said
Mike Matranga, of Spectrum Astro, the lead engineer for the flight
computer that runs the ion engine. "We’ve got plenty of gas, for
goodness’ sake."

The fix came not a moment too soon: had the spacecraft not resumed
thrusting by July 5, it could well have missed its shot at meeting
Borrelly.

"It wasn’t drop-dead," Rayman said of the date, "but it was
drop-comatose."

The innovative repair required engineers to write new software to press
the spacecraft’s science camera into a navigational role for which it
had not been designed. NASA began uploading the software, broken down
into 90 files, on May 30.

The extremely tight schedule grew even tighter on June 3 when a problem
familiar to many computer users cropped up.

On that date, a glitch aboard Deep Space 1 forced the spacecraft to
reboot its computer, deleting in the process 81 of the files that had
already been uploaded.

"At that point, I felt like we had conducted this heroic effort and we
had done a great job and it looked as if we were going to lose it," said
Rayman, part of the 10-member core team working to save Deep Space 1.

However, NASA allocated the mission more time on its Deep Space Network
of antennas, which allowed the team to redouble its efforts to send the
spacecraft commands across a distance more than twice that separating
the Earth from the sun.

By June 8, the new software was in place and ready to be tested. Four
days later, the spacecraft found and locked onto a star other than the
sun for the first time. With that step, the probe gained full knowledge
of its orientation in space for the first time since November.

"Hats off to JPL for their stick-to-it-tiveness and being able to
rewrite the software," Matranga said.

On June 21, NASA sent commands to switch on the engine for the first
time since last fall. On June 28, Deep Space 1 began its first full week
of thrusting toward the spot in space where it will meet up with
Borrelly. Between now and September 2001, the spacecraft will keep its
ion propulsion engine on for the equivalent of about 225 days, picking
out every month or so a new guide star to point toward en route to its
cosmic rendezvous.

"It’s really exciting to me to think about this small craft, hundreds of
millions of kilometers (miles) away and we are not only able to make a
detailed diagnosis of its problem but build a new system that works,"
Rayman said. "It’s really amazing humans can do this."

++++++++++++++++

BACKGROUND

BINGO ! MARS COMET - LOS ALAMOS TIE-IN
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3645

BROOKHAVEN CONNECTION TO DEBRIS FIELD SOHO C2 &C3?
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3660

SOMEONE HAS CONNECTED THE DOTS -- CLICK AND READ
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3663

NASA-NO-PHOTOS: 'IT SIMPLY ISN'T VERY INTERESTING"
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3669

OPEN LETTER TO NASA RE: 76P/WEST-KOHOUTEK-IKEMURA
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3687

ALERT SOHO C2 & C3: DEBRIS FLYING EVERYWHERE!
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3593

Re: ALERT SOHO C2 & C3: DEBRIS FLYING EVERYWHERE!
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3595