HONG KONG : NASA’s oldest operational planetary explorer has just had its mind wiped. Now, after an 11-year marathon, Opportunity faces redundancy under tightening budgets.
It’s something of an analogy of the modern human workplace: Older but eminently capable employees losing out to fresher, younger recruits.
In this case it’s the Mars Rover Opportunity versus the new(er) kid on the block, Curiosity.
Opportunity’s achievements are nothing to dismiss: The six-wheeled robot just finished travelling the distance of a 42km marathon in its epic journey to explore Endeavour Crater on the surface of Mars.
It completed it in record time.
The budget Mars Rover was never expected to last more than 90 days. But, some 11 years later, it’s showing signs of its age.
Opportunity has just survived major neural surgery. It’s had its mind wiped — and its memory restored.
It’s all part of NASA’s efforts to bypass a dodgy flash memory module which has plagued the little probe since December 2014.
Every night it has had to transmit all of its experiences back to Earth in order for them to be preserved. When night falls and its solar panels fail, all of its memory has been lost.
Tesla driverless system to use updated radar technology
WASHINGTON: Electric carmaker Tesla announced Sunday it was upgrading its Autopilot software to use more advanced radar technology. In a...
