Nasa has temporarily halted communication with their robotic explorers, but this disruption isn’t the end of their enduring connection.
Just like any relationship, there are times when it’s necessary for the parties to temporarily separate due to external factors interfering with their healthy communication. In this case, the hindrance is the Sun.
Every two years, Nasa cuts off transmission with their Mars fleet of robots for two weeks when Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun, obstructing their signals, according to Nasa.
This year, the communication blackout occurs between 11 November and 25 November. After this period, Nasa and the robots will resume their connection until the Sun interrupts again in a few years.
The robots affected include the “Perseverance and Curiosity rovers,” the “Ingenuity Mars Helicopter,” and a series of orbiters such as the “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,” “Odyssey,” and “MAVEN.”
This interruption, known as the “Mars solar conjunction,” temporarily pauses the exploration mission due to the Sun’s ionized gas, which may corrupt radio signals between Nasa and its Mars robots.
While the signals sent back to Nasa would be recoverable, the robots could receive fragmented instructions that could jeopardize the mission. It’s deemed too risky for the robots to continue receiving signals during this time.
However, the robots are not left idle during the communication hiatus. Nasa sends a to-do list to the robots, instructing them to monitor changes in surface conditions, weather, and radiation while they are unable to communicate.
Nasa mentioned that they are still able to receive health updates from their fleet of robots, but there will be two full days of silence once Mars is fully behind the Sun’s disk.
During the communication break, the Jep Propulsion Laboratory stated that the robots can catch up on other pending tasks or take a well-deserved break.
