Nasa’s Juno space probe orbiting Jupiter went into “safe mode” with cameras and instruments offline just as it prepared to pass over the immense planet’s dense cloud tops, the space agency said.

Juno had rebooted its onboard computer and could communicate with Earth but its activities were limited until engineers diagnosed what went wrong, Nasa said.



“It’s too early to take a guess” but the issue with Juno was not caused by the intense radiation belts surrounding Jupiter because the spacecraft was far away when it entered safe mode, said mission chief scientist Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

On Mars, scientists with the European Space Agency lost contact with the Schiaparelli experimental lander that was supposed to touch down. The mother ship successfully slipped into orbit around Mars but the fate of the lander was unknown.

For Juno it is the second setback in less than a week. The solar-powered craft has been orbiting Jupiter since July on a $1.1bn mission to explore its poles, atmosphere and interior.

Last week mission managers decided to postpone an engine firing planned for Wednesday after a pair of valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system did not work as expected.

Nasa said the two problems were not related.

The delay means Juno will not swing close again to Jupiter until December. The spacecraft made its first close pass in August, beaming back pictures of Jupiter’s stormy north pole, which appeared bluer than the rest of the planet.

Scientists continued to pore over close-up images from the first flyby, determining that Jupiter’s magnetic fields and northern and southern auroras were more powerful than expected.

The Juno mission was designed to fly closer to Jupiter than previous spacecraft, coming within 2,500 miles of the surface. Some three dozen close passes are planned during the 20-month mission.

With the Associated Press</s>Nasa announces Juno craft circling gas giant had to shut down camera and instruments, while ESA says Schiaparelli lander may have crashed on red planet

Bad day for space probes: one lost on Mars, another in 'safe mode' at Jupiter

Nasa’s Juno space probe orbiting Jupiter went into “safe mode” with cameras and instruments offline just as it prepared to pass over the immense planet’s dense cloud tops, the space agency said.

Juno had rebooted its onboard computer and could communicate with Earth but its activities were limited until engineers diagnosed what went wrong, Nasa said.



“The spacecraft is healthy and we are working our standard recovery procedure,” said Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“It’s too early to take a guess” but the issue with Juno was not caused by the intense radiation belts surrounding Jupiter because the spacecraft was far away when it entered safe mode, said mission chief scientist Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.



On Mars, scientists with the European Space Agency lost contact with the Schiaparelli experimental lander that was supposed to touch down. The mother ship successfully slipped into orbit around Mars but the fate of the lander was unknown.



Schiaparelli lander's planned descent to Mars Schiaparelli lander’s planned descent to Mars

For Juno it is the second setback in less than a week. The solar-powered craft has been orbiting Jupiter since July on a $1.1bn mission to explore its poles, atmosphere and interior.

Last week mission managers decided to postpone an engine firing planned for Wednesday after a pair of valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system did not work as expected. Nasa said this and the latest problem were not related.

The delay means Juno will not swing close again to Jupiter until December. The spacecraft made its first close pass in August, beaming back pictures of Jupiter’s stormy north pole, which appeared bluer than the rest of the planet.



Scientists continued to pore over close-up images from the first flyby, determining that Jupiter’s magnetic fields and northern and southern auroras were more powerful than expected.

The Juno mission was designed to fly closer to Jupiter than previous spacecraft, coming within 2,500 miles of the surface. Some three dozen close passes are planned during the 20-month mission.

With the Associated Press</s>Wednesday was meant to be a momentous day for NASA's Juno spacecraft. The robot, which entered orbit around Jupiter in July, was set to fire its main engine for the first time. That would have maneuvered Juno into a new trajectory where it could pass close to Jupiter's surface more often.

But last week, some of Juno's pieces weren't working quite as they should. A set of valves in the fuel pressurization system -- components that help facilitate the firing of the main engine -- were a bit sluggish when scientists executed a command sequence. The mission team decided to hold off on the scheduled burn, which meant keeping the craft's current orbit until December. Yet they hoped to have all of the spacecraft's instruments turned on for the planetary pass it would make Wednesday, making the most of a close encounter with Jupiter as consolation for the passes they'd miss.

Instead, NASA reports, Juno went into safe mode several hours before that flyby. This happened automatically -- it seems a software performance monitor prompted Juno to reboot its main computer -- and isn't necessarily a horrible sign. Safe mode is what's supposed to happen when the spacecraft senses something unexpected. It battens down the hatches: The spacecraft ensures that it's facing the sun to receive solar power, then turns off its scientific instruments and any nonessential components to protect them for several hours or days.

Juno was still about 13 hours away from its planned close encounter when it entered safe mode, so scientists think it unlikely that the spacecraft encountered any truly troublesome radiation that would cause permanent damage.

"We were still quite a ways from the planet's more intense radiation belts and magnetic fields," Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. "The spacecraft is healthy, and we are working our standard recovery procedure."

Unfortunately, the safe-mode procedure kept Juno from collecting any scientific data during Wednesday's flyby. The next chance for close-range data collection will come Dec. 11. At that time, depending on Juno's condition, NASA may again try to slip it into the new orbit. If the transition is successful, the orbiter will make close passes of Jupiter every two weeks instead of every two months.

The team is analyzing data from Juno's initial flyby in late August, which gave scientists their first tantalizing glimpse below Jupiter's roiling clouds.

NASA is optimistic that Juno will behave normally for the next flyby. But it's been a rough week for space robots across the solar system: On Wednesday, the European and Russian space agencies were able to insert a satellite into orbit around Mars as part of the ExoMars mission. But the mission's second goal -- touchdown of the Schiaparelli lander on the Red Planet's surface -- seems to have failed.</s>The U.S. space agency said the glitch followed an unrelated problem last week that prompted it to skip firing Juno’s braking engine, to steer the probe into a tighter regular orbit around Jupiter.

Juno's computer restarted after Wednesday's shutdown and the spacecraft was "healthy," NASA said in a statement.

Juno reached Jupiter in July for a 20-month study to learn how and where the giant, gas planet formed, setting the stage for the evolution and development of Earth and the rest of the planets in the solar system.

During Wednesday's flyby, scientists had planned to begin using Juno's instruments to peer beneath Jupiter’s thick clouds and map its gargantuan magnetic fields. But the loss of the ship's main computer, 13 hours before the close encounter, put the observation plans on hold until at least Dec. 11, when the spacecraft makes its next close pass by Jupiter, NASA said.

The cause of the computer outage is under investigation. NASA also is analyzing the unrelated propulsion system issue.

NASA had hoped to shift Juno into a tighter orbit around Jupiter so it could fly close more often. Those plans are now on hold.

Lead scientist Scott Bolton, with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, said the mission goals are not impacted by Juno's orbit, since critical measurements are taken whenever the spacecraft flies close to Jupiter.

"The worst-case scenario is I have to be patient and get the science slowly,” he told reporters during a webcast news conference at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Pasadena, California.</s>The space agency said Wednesday that Juno detected a problem, went into safe mode and shut off its cameras and instruments hours before it was supposed to pass over Jupiter’s dense cloud tops.

Juno rebooted its onboard computer and can communicate with Earth, but its activities are limited until engineers diagnose what went wrong.

“It’s too early to take a guess,” but the issue isn’t caused by the intense radiation belts surrounding Jupiter because the spacecraft was far away when it entered safe mode, said mission chief scientist Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

It’s the second setback in less than a week for the solar-powered Juno, which has been orbiting the giant planet since July on a $1.1 billion mission to explore its poles, atmosphere and interior.

Last week, mission managers decided to postpone an engine firing planned for Wednesday after a pair of valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system didn’t work as expected.

NASA said the two problems weren’t related.

The delay means Juno won’t swing close again to Jupiter until December. The spacecraft made its first close pass in August, beaming back pictures of Jupiter’s stormy north pole, which appeared bluer than the rest of the planet.

Scientists continued to pore over close-up images from the first flyby, determining that Jupiter’s magnetic fields and northern and southern lights were more powerful than expected.

The Juno mission was designed to fly closer to Jupiter than previous spacecraft, coming within 2,500 miles of the surface. Some three dozen close passes are planned during the 20-month mission.

Over at Mars, an experimental lander that was supposed to touch down on the red planet Wednesday lost contact with ground controllers at the European Space Agency. The mother ship successfully slipped into orbit around Mars and will study the atmosphere, but the fate of the lander was still unknown.
NASA's Juno probe, in orbit around Jupiter, enters safe mode.