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NASA's most powerful Mars orbiter has bounced back from some hard luck around the red planet this year, and scientists are eager to resume the orbiter's detailed observations of Mars in the new year.

After a series of glitches that began in February, mission managers put the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) into a protective "safe mode" in August. The spacecraft was resurrected earlier this month and resumed its science operations last week, much to the delight of Mars scientists, who have waited patiently for the orbiter to return to duty.

"It's good to have the instruments back on," said MRO mission manager Dan Johnston of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif. "This has been a long stand-down. Now we're ready to resume our science and relay mission."

Repeat resets

MRO's troubles began on Feb. 23, when the orbiter underwent a quick reset. It was followed by an event on June 4 that "was virtually identical to the first one," said Jim Erickson, the spacecraft's project manager at JPL.

Engineers still don't know exactly what caused those rapid resets. They initially thought that a solar particle or cosmic ray struck the probe.

READ MORE:    Space.com