Mars rover back to work after break

AP An undated file image released by NASA shows a self-portrait of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity.

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Curiosity had been on its own since early April, when Mars slipped behind the Sun from Earth’s perspective.

NASA’s Curiosity rover is back in business after a weeks-long communication gap caused by solar interference.

The rover had been on its own since early April, when Mars slipped behind the sun from Earth’s perspective.

Sun can disrupt communications between the two planets in this alignment, which is known as a Mars solar conjunction, so Curiosity’s handlers at Mission Control had temporarily stopped sending commands to the one-ton rover.

However, the heavens have shifted, bringing Mars and Earth back in touch and the Curiosity rover back within reach of its masters, SPACE.com reported.

“Can you hear me now? Conjunction is over. I have a clear view of Earth & am back to work!” NASA officials wrote on behalf of the rover via the Curiosity Twitter feed.

Curiosity landed inside the red planet’s huge Gale Crater in August last year, kicking off a two-year surface mission to determine if Mars has ever been capable of supporting microbial life.

The rover has already checked off its main mission goal.

Before conjunction, Curiosity collected samples from a hole it drilled 6.4 centimetres into a rocky outcrop called John Klein.

The rover’s analysis of these samples allowed mission scientists to determine that Mars was indeed habitable billions of years ago.

Curiosity’s post-conjunction plan involves drilling another hole nearby, to confirm and extend scientists’ understanding of the John Klein area, mission officials have said.

When that work is done, Curiosity will likely begin the 10 kilometres trek to the base of Mount Sharp, the mysterious 5.4-km-high mountain that rises from Gale’s centre.

Mars solar conjunctions occur every 26 months, so veterans of NASA’s Mars missions are used to dealing with them, the report said.