European science satellite hit by glitch

A satellite designed to map Earth's gravitational field has been hit by a software glitch and is unable to send its science data back home, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Monday. The problem began to affect the spacecraft GOCE in late July, Mark Drinkwater, head of mission science at ESA's technical division, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), told AFP. "The satellite's not transmitting its scientific data because of this anomaly," Drinkwater said from Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Technicians were working on a patch and hope to install it by radio link next month, he said. More

(Source: AFP - Aug 24)