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. “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. 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. The mother ship successfully slipped into orbit around Mars and will study the atmosphere, but the fate of the lander was still unknown. 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 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.
NASA's Juno probe, in orbit around Jupiter, enters safe mode.