NASA engineers got a half-hour of transmissions Friday morning from the Spirit rover and planned further communications to try to diagnose and possibly patch up their ailing robotic patient on Mars.
NASA heard from the six-wheeled rover for 10 minutes at about 4:30 a.m. and received data for 20 minutes about an hour later.
"The spacecraft sent limited data in a proper response to a ground command, and we're planning for commanding further communication sessions later today," Pete Theisinger, rover project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement early Friday.
Officials did not immediately elaborate on the signals. If they contain significant data, the transmissions would mark the first such signals in two days - a period of anxious waiting for scientists after normal communications halted Wednesday.
This is good news. I really can't describe how proud I am of the success NASA is having with this project. Even if they hadn't re-established contact with the rover I would have branded this mission a success.
And lets not forget that a duplicate spacecraft, Opportunity, will be landing on Mars shortly, so even if the current rover is out of service NASA can start all over again soon.