re command loss timer re galileo update in apr bnr ca agc bmdhh bnr ca alan carter writes in article apr kelvin jpl nasa gov baalke kelvin jpl nasa gov ron baalke writes on april a no op command was sent to reset the command loss timer to hours its planned value during this mission phase this activity is regularly reported in ron s interesting posts could someone explain what the command loss timer is the command loss timer is a timer that does just what its name says it indicates to the probe that it has lost its data link for receiving commands upon expiration of the command loss timer i believe the probe starts a search for earth sequence involving antenna pointing and attitude changes which consume fuel to try to reestablish communications no ops are sent periodically through those periods when there are no real commands to be sent just so the probe knows that we haven t forgotten about it hope that s clear enough to be comprehensible insisting on perfect safety is for people who don t have the balls to live in the real world mary shafer nasa ames dryden fred mccall dseg ti com i don t speak for others and they don t speak for me
