Solar conjunction is an unavoidable natural phenomenon, where the Sun blocks a straight line from Earth to Mars.
Over the next few weeks, all rover which is in Mars will be left to survive alone, receiving no orders or communications from Earth. This includes rover Perseverance NASA and China’s most recent Zhurong rover landed on Mars.
Rover has the task of exploring signs of life on the planet. The rover uses satellites orbiting Mars to communicate with teams on Earth. However, satellites orbiting Mars don’t always run smoothly.
Every two years, there is an astronomical phenomenon known as solar conjunction or sun conjunction. This phenomenon occurs when the Sun blocks a straight line from Earth to Mars, so that the solar plasma and wind create interference in radio signals and data that can affect rover on Mars.
Therefore, NASA and the China National Space Administration roverit is actively operating on Mars activates “stealth mode.” In other words, no orders will be sent to rover from Earth during this time, to avoid interference that could damage communications rover with the team.
Broken communications can cause malicious modifications and trigger unwanted behavior in rover. NASA, which has explored Mars for more than two decades, is familiar with this phenomenon and will close operations from October 1 to October 13. On the other hand, China has already closed all communications with Mars since September 13.
Curiosity, Perseverance, Insight, Ingenuity, dan Zhurong – empat rover which is still active on Mars – will survive alone on the red planet without any direction. They will adapt and do what must be done according to their own instincts, which have been designed in such a way by the engineers.
What happens after the sun’s conjunction ends?
“Like parents raising their children responsibly and letting them go on short vacations with their friends, they’ve done everything they could to make sure the child came home healthy and safe,” NASA said.
According to the Chinese space agency, electromagnetic radiation interference from the Sun’s conjunction forces the orbiter and rover enter safe mode.
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