NASA wanted to assure its ability to examine the spacecraft in orbit for signs of damage.
Quotes about spacecraft (16 Quotes)
We have a tremendous amount of anxiety and concern. At the same time, I feel confident. We have a very good spacecraft that has been performing extraordinarily well. We have an excellent well-trained team that's ready to go forward.
Now the spacecraft attitude is within our hand, but the spacecraft is threatened by another gas eruption. That is why we have to perform the baking operation to exclude those gases from the spacecraft. The xenon gas left is sufficient for the return cruise to the Earth.
This is a monumental achievement for NASA JPL and the space community. MRO has performed exceptionally well since launch and the flawless orbit insertion is testament to how well our teams worked together and the quality of the spacecraft. Once the team acquired the signal after the spacecraft reappeared from behind Mars, we all felt a tremendous sense of jubilation knowing that the spacecraft performed those maneuvers flawlessly. NASA and JPL now have another healthy satellite in orbit around Mars.
I would not say that female cosmonauts are not welcomed in the Russian space program. I must say, however, that all spaceflight hardware, including spacesuits and spacecraft comfort assuring systems, were designed mostly by men and for men.
As time goes by, and I'm not telling you otherwise, we're less confident. At this point, though, we still have a lot of things we can try and we're doing that ... Everybody has the belief that we can still get a signal from the spacecraft.
We're extremely proud and excited to be partnered with NASA on this mission to Mars, adding to the fleet of spacecraft that are revealing the mysteries of our planetary neighbor. MRO has been performing extremely well over the past seven months and during this cruise stage and the team has been busy monitoring and calibrating many of the spacecraft systems and instruments as we prepare MRO for orbital insertion and its ultimate mission. The entire NASA, JPL and Lockheed Martin team is ready to perform this critical maneuver for MRO and we are looking forward to continuing this exciting voyage of space exploration and discovery.
The winners in life treat their body as if it were a magnificent spacecraft that gives them the finest transportation and endurance for their lives.
The first one, you would always expect this to be very low-capability, but the vehicle, the spacecraft, the people involved are capable of much more, and that is now what is being extended, but these are test flights.
It was kind of a neat idea. We don't know what we are going to hear, except I don't think we are going to hear Elvis. on the microphone included in the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, 1999
Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft ... and the only one that can be mass produced with unskilled labor.
This is a very exciting result. It's the first demonstration that animals can survive a reentry event similar to what would be experienced inside a meteorite. It shows directly that even complex small creatures originating on one planet could survive landing on another without the protection of a spacecraft.
You have to be there not for the fame and glory and recognition and being a page in a history book, but you have to be there because you believe your talent and ability can be applied effectively to operation of the spacecraft.
We have a crew onboard of over a million people -- their names are etched in a little silicon chip. As an astrobiology-type person, I'm intrigued by the thought that those names and that spacecraft will far outlive the Earth. When the Sun becomes a red giant and scorches the Earth, that spacecraft and those names will still be floating around the galaxy somewhere.
We mourn with you in this moment of grief. Our hearts go out to the bright young men and women who were on that spacecraft. For us in India, we felt that since one of them was an Indian-born woman it adds a special poignancy to the tragedy,
Unfortunately, recovering from something like a reset is a slow, lengthy process. You don't know what caused the problem, and the immediate concern is that whatever triggered it will do it again next time you try it. The thing you have to do is fire up each of the rover's capabilities one at a time, checking each one carefully and individually to see whether it would cause another reset or not. Standard spacecraft troubleshooting practicebut it takes time.