Pathfinder Computer Takes A Little Break

The computer aboard the Mars Pathfinder overloaded and reset itself early Monday for the second time in just over three days, interrupting the transmission of a panoramic scene.

No data was lost.

Transmission of the scene “takes a lot of processing power,” said Mary Beth Murrill, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She likened the data overload to what happens with a personal computer “when we ask it to do too many things at once.”

To prevent a recurrence, controllers will schedule activities one after another, instead of at the same time.