Nasa has resurrected its Mars reconnaissance orbiter, which went into a protective safe mode for one month in late August following a computer glitch.

The safe mode, although stalled the orbiter’s science observations, safeguarded the $720m mission from further damage.

During the month-long resurrection process, which began on 30 November, Nasa engineers tried to find the source of the probe’s computer rebooting malfunctions instead of making the orbiter active within a few days.

To resurrect the Mars orbiter from the back-to-back computer reboots, which could have sent the satellite offline, JPL engineers beamed the four-year-old orbiter a vital software upgrade.

Following the resurrection, engineers have sent new commands this week to check the spacecraft’s science operations, and plans to resume actual science observations by next week.

One of Nasa’s youngest spacecraft the Mars reconnaissance orbiter has been orbiting the red planet since it arrived at Mars in 2006, following its launch in 2005.

The satellite has completed its primary mission in late 2008, and is currently in the middle of an extended mission that runs through to mid-2010.