Mars Rover Narrowly Escapes Potentially Fatal System Error

2023-11-30 00:42:24

A Close Call with the Mars Rover: How Disaster Was Narrowly Avoided

In the realm of space engineering, sometimes the thin line between success and failure hinges on the smallest of details. Chris Lewicki, an engineer with a futuristic vision, shared a personal account on his website that reads like a dramatic narrative from our own archives – the story of how a simple test nearly doomed a Mars Rover worth convertible to £358 million to become nothing more than cosmic waste.

Lewicki's reflection centers on his experiences at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where, back in 2003, a ticking clock marked just two weeks before the Mars Rover named Spirit was to be sent off to Florida for its impending launch.

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The spacecraft was in its final hours on Earth, requiring utmost scrutiny. With its intricate design and hefty price tag, Spirit was indeed a pinnacle of NASA ingenuity, demanding an error-free state before it could commence its journey to the Red Planet.

"No pressure," Lewicki dryly remarked, recounting the late hours of a Wednesday where he found himself double-shifted. The task at hand was to validate the Rock Abrasion Tool's (RAT) motor integrity on Spirit's robotic arm, a crucial step not to be underestimated.

Rather than dismantling the motor after each test series, which wasn't feasible, Lewicki and his team resorted to monitoring the motor's electrical performance – a decrease in electrical current was a positive indicator, while any irregularities spelled trouble.

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The process was not unfamiliar to Lewicki. His varied project roles had equipped him with the knowledge necessary to navigate the labyrinth of the spacecraft's intricate wiring. Moreover, his responsibility for drafting motor connection and control guidelines made him the prime candidate for the job at hand.

Even for an experienced engineer, the task was routine. With the support of a cabling expert, all equipment was connected, and a pulse-check on a reference motor indicated that everything was ready for the real test on Spirit's RAT motor.

The best practice to detect the minutest motor imperfections called for juicing up the motor with maximum power, meaning an utmost need for precision – any wrong wiring could unleash disastrous outcomes.

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Then it happened; a pulse was sent to the motor, and the response was not as anticipated. The data didn't match a functioning motor, nor a broken one – it was something else altogether, something alarming.

Lewicki's thoughts sprinted towards an explanation, and with a sinking feeling, he traced the cables back from the test equipment to the spacecraft. The discovery was chilling: the power hadn't reached the motor, it had been mistakenly rerouted directly into the spacecraft, due to an error with the breakout box he had set up.

"Ooooohhhh ssshhhhiiiiitttt." And just like that, Spirit stopped transmitting; the rover, it seemed, was lifeless. With the launch just two weeks away, the situation was dire, but Lewicki wondered if a simple reset might breathe life back into Spirit.

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A power cycle was attempted, yet yielded no heartbeat from the rover. Spirit was unresponsive.

Lewicki, tormented by the prospect of being responsible for such a colossal blunder, prepared for the worst as he went home that night, his thoughts shadowed by the potential consequences of his actions.

The next morning at JPL, amidst the attempts to salvage the situation, an epiphany struck: a crucial multimeter, which Lewicki had disconnected for the testing, had been serving as a link in the rover's ground telemetry power circuit. In removing it, he had inadvertently cut off Spirit's ability to communicate.

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Reconnecting the multimeter was the moment of truth. To the awe of the team, telemetry began flowing once again – Spirit was operational; it had never been fried in the first place.

Debates ensued on the readiness of the rover for space travel, but ultimately, history would showcase Spirit's triumph. Lewicki not only retained his job but also led the continued testing – undoubtedly with a new perspective and wisdom born from a mistake unlikely ever to be repeated.

Lewicki's career trajectory soared, culminating in his position as flight director for the mission. In Roving Mars, author Steve Squyres praised the "scary smart and poised" young Lewicki, the perfect fit for overseeing the Mars landing – a poignant rebound from the night he nearly doomed Spirit.

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