Scientific Method / Science & Exploration  NASA rover to get
Martian memory wipe  Robots, the Red Planet, and a memory wipe,
and it's not the next blockbuster.  An alien world,
extraterrestrial exploration, and memory wipes on Mars sound
like the makings of a Hollywood movie. Instead, it's a major IT
project.  After a decade of exploring, the Opportunity rover's
computer system will get a reboot to reformat its flash memory
and eliminate its reliance on malfunctioning memory cells. In
the last month alone, the rover has had to reset its systems a
dozen times, a process that can take a day or two, according to
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.  "Worn-
out cells in the flash memory are the leading suspect in causing
these resets," John Callas, project manager for NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Project, said in a statement. "The flash
reformatting is a low-risk process, as critical sequences and
flight software are stored elsewhere in other non-volatile
memory on the rover."  The rover, more