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NASA's resilient Curiosity Rover bounces back once more after attitude issue

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover takes a selfie in the middle of a massive storm. Credit: Se?n Doran/Flickr

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NASA’s Curiosity rover had a little attitude problem earlier this week. The issue sidelined the rover for a brief time, but the golf cart-sized robot is back to roaming the red planet.

In rover speak, “attitude” doesn’t mean Curiosity is being sassy, but rather it refers to the robot’s position in space. Curiosity needs to know where it and its robotic arm (which is where the robot’s instruments are kept) are at all times. This helps keep the rover safe.

If Curiosity fails to keep track of its attitude, it could accidentally point one of its cameras towards the sun or even damage an instrument by hitting it on a nearby rock or boulder.

The Mars 2020 rover is a souped up version of Curiosity that will launch in July. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Partway through its last set of activities, Curiosity lost its orientation. Some knowledge of its attitude was not quite right, so it couldn’t make the essential safety evaluation,” Dawn Sumner, a planetary geologist and Curiosity team member wrote in a mission update on Monday (Jan. 20).

“Thus, Curiosity stopped moving, freezing in place until its knowledge of its orientation can be recovered,” she added. “Curiosity kept sending us information, so we know what happened and can develop a recovery plan.”

Curiosity has explored the Martian surface since 2012, and over the course of its mission, the rover has bounced back from numerous glitchesthis was no exception. Thanks to the robot’s handlers, a plan was quickly implemented and Curiosity started moving again.

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Their plan was to manually send the robot its location information. Soon after, Curiosity was back in action.

The Curiosity rover captures a view of an outcrop with finely layered rocks within the ‘Murray Buttes’ region on lower Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“We learned this morning that plan was successful and Curiosity was ready for science once more!” said Scott Guzewich, mission team member and atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, wrote in a subsequent update.

This isn’t the first time the rover dealt with issues. Curiosity has overcome multiple glitches and setbacks during its time on Mars. But thanks to a robust design and a team of highly-skilled engineers, the rover has been able to work through the various issues that have popped up. (Including memory issues as well as damage to its wheels from the rougher-than-expected Martian terrain.)

In fact, Curiosity originally had just a two-year mission, but has performed so well, that the six-wheeled rover is in its seventh year.

A side-by-side view of the Mars 2020 and Curiosity rovers. Credit: NASA/JPL-Cal-Tech

The rover landed inside Gale Crater, a 96-mile-wide (154-kilometer) crater in August 2012, and was tasked with assessing the region’s habitability. Did life once flourish in this spot? So far, Curiosity has not found direct evidence of past life on Mars, but the rolling scientist did discover that the spot was once home to a lake and stream system, some time in Mars’s past.

Currently, the rover is exploring the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3.4-mile-high mountain jetting up from the crater’s center. Here, the rover will look for clues about Mars’s ancient climate and how it changed over millions of years.

Right now, Curiosity is the only functioning rover on the red planet’s surface. NASA’s storied Opportunity rover was shut down following a planet-wide dust storm that blocked out the lift-sustaining sunshine the rover needed to power its batteries.

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ESA’s ExoMars rover will roam the rusty Martian surface in search for signs of life.

In July, NASA will be sending its next rover—a souped up version of Curiosity—to Mars. Designed to search for signs of life, the Mars 2020 rover will arrive on the red planet in March 2021. Landing in Jezero Crater, the rover will bag up samples for return to Earth at a later time.

But that’s not all. The European Space Agency (ESA) is teaming with Russia’s Roscosmos to send its own rover to Mars. The Rosalind Franklin, ExoMars rover will also look for signs of past life on Mars.

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Starlink India launch gains traction with telecom license approval  

Starlink just secured its telecom license in India! High-speed satellite internet could go live in 2 months.

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(Credit: Starlink)

 

Starlink India’s launch cleared a key regulatory hurdle after securing a long-awaited license from the country’s telecom ministry. Starlink’s license approval in India paves the way for commercial operations to begin, marking a significant milestone after a three-year wait.

The Department of Telecommunications granted Starlink a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) license, enabling it to roll out its high-speed internet service. Local reports hinted that Starlink plans to launch its services within the next two months. Starlink India’s services are expected to be priced at ₹3,000 per month for unlimited data. Starlink service would require a ₹33,000 hardware kit, including a dish and router.

“Starlink is finally ready to enter the Indian market,” sources familiar with the rollout plans confirmed, noting a one-month free trial for new users.

https://www.teslarati.com/starlink-india-launch-spectrum-rules/

Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellite network promises low-latency, high-speed internet that is ideal for rural India, border areas, and hilly terrains. With over 7,000 satellites in orbit and millions of global users, Starlink aims to bridge India’s digital divide, especially in areas with limited traditional broadband.

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Starlink has forged distribution partnerships with Indian telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to streamline deployment and retail logistics. However, the company still awaits spectrum allocation and final clearances from India’s space regulator, IN-SPACe, and national security agencies before its full launch, expected before August 2025.

India’s satellite internet market is becoming increasingly competitive, with Starlink joining rivals like OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications. While Starlink positions itself as a premium offering, its entry has sparked debate among domestic telecom operators over spectrum pricing.

Local reports noted that other players in the industry have raised concerns over the lower regulatory fees proposed for satellite firms compared to terrestrial operators, highlighting tensions in the sector.

Starlink India’s launch represents a transformative step toward expanding internet access in one of the world’s largest markets. Starlink could redefine connectivity for millions in underserved regions by leveraging its advanced satellite technology and strategic partnerships. As the company navigates remaining regulatory steps, its timely rollout could set a new standard for satellite internet in India, intensifying competition and driving innovation in the telecom landscape.

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SpaceX to decommission Dragon spacecraft in response to Pres. Trump war of words with Elon Musk

Elon Musk says SpaceX will decommission Dragon as a result of President Trump’s threat to end his subsidies and government contracts.

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SpaceX will decommission its Dragon spacecraft in response to the intense war of words that President Trump and CEO Elon Musk have entered on various social media platforms today.

President Trump and Musk, who was once considered a right-hand man to Trump, have entered a vicious war of words on Thursday. The issues stem from Musk’s disagreement with the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which will increase the U.S. federal deficit, the Tesla and SpaceX frontman says.

How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies

The insults and threats have been brutal, as Trump has said he doesn’t know if he’ll respect Musk again, and Musk has even stated that the President would not have won the election in November if it were not for him.

President Trump then said later in the day that:

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Government Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

Musk’s response was simple: he will decommission the SpaceX capsule responsible for transporting crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS): Dragon.

Dragon has completed 51 missions, 46 of which have been to the ISS. It is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth’s orbit. It is the only spacecraft that is capable of returning vast amounts of cargo to Earth. It is also the first private spacecraft to take humans to the ISS.

The most notable mission Dragon completed is one of its most recent, as SpaceX brought NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth after being stranded at the ISS by a Boeing Starliner capsule.

SpaceX’s reluctance to participate in federally funded projects may put the government in a strange position. It will look to bring Boeing back in to take a majority of these projects, but there might be some reluctance based on the Starliner mishap with Wilmore and Williams.

SpaceX bails out Boeing and employees are reportedly ‘humiliated’

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SpaceX hit with mishap investigation by FAA for Starship Flight 9

Starship’s ninth test flight has the FAA requiring a mishap investigation from SpaceX.

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has been hit with yet another mishap investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) related to the company’s ninth test flight of Starship earlier this week.

The FAA said the mishap investigation is “focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle, which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned.” The agency said the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the FAA’s approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX.

All of Starship and Super Heavy booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas, the FAA confirmed.

SpaceX Starship Flight 9 recap: objectives & outcomes

It said it activated a Debris Response Area out of an abundance of caution as the booster “experienced its anomaly over the Gulf of America during its flyback toward Texas. The FAA subsequently determined the debris did not fall outside of the hazard area. During the event there were zero departure delays, one flight was diverted, and one airborne flight was held for 24 minutes. ”

SpaceX has become accustomed to mishap investigations by the FAA, as they have been impacted by them on several occasions in the past, including on Flight 8. However, they are a precautionary measure and usually are resolved within a few weeks.

Flight 9 was one of SpaceX’s most eventful, as there were several discoveries during the launch. First, it was SpaceX’s first time reusing a Super Heavy booster, as the one utilized for Flight 9 was also used on Flight 7 in January.

Contact with the booster and Starship were both lost during Flight 9. SpaceX said the booster was lost “shortly after the start of landing burn when it experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly approximately 6 minutes after launch.”

Meanwhile, Starship was set to make a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, but the vehicle was lost about 46 minutes into the flight, SpaceX said in a mission recap.

It was an improvement from the previous two flights, as both 7 and 8 resulted in the loss of Starship after just a few minutes. Flight 9 lasted considerably longer. These flights are also not intended to make it to Mars, despite what other reports might try to tell you.

These are ways to gain information for when SpaceX eventually tries to get Starship to Mars.

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