NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which put itself into safe mode on June 8, is back up and running. The onboard computer detected a jammed reaction wheel and put the craft into safe mode until NASA engineers could determine the cause of the problem and fix it. A set of three reaction wheels maintains the craft's orientation in space without the need for thrusters.
Engineers fixed the problem by pressing a spare wheel into service. That wheel hadn't been spun since before MRO's launch in 2000, but it's working fine. NASA expects MRO to be back in full operation next week.
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