SDO set out on a five-year mission, but mission scientists hope Nasa will extend the spacecraft's life by a few more years after 2015.
They go on to say that the spacecraft cannot detect life, even if it is there.
Last month, Mars One secured its first commitments from outside investors, and those funds will be used to finance the first conceptual design studies for the various hardware components, including the spacecraft and lander, life support systems, supply vehicles and communications systems.
Scientists don't expect that the spacecraft will detect life.
The suits effectively became personal spacecraft, equipped with life support systems, power, heating and cooling.
Measures taken to ensure the reliable operation of the spacecraft over the life of the planned mission are discussed.
Ground controllers have reestablished full radio contact with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), raising hopes of bringing the $1 billion spacecraft back to life.
But I've had good conversations with them on the need to make sure that the U.S. space program is the best on earth and that it will be an American spacecraft that discovers life on another world and achieves interstellar travel and explores an Earth-like planet around a nearby star.
Based on the IDEAS in-flight prototype (currently in phase D with a qualification campaign completed mid 2014) developed in the framework of the CNES MICROSCOPE project, the subsystem consists in the deployment of aero-braking membranes by an inflatable boom made of aluminium laminate at the end of the spacecraft's operational life.
In case the spacecraft encounter any life beyond our solar system, the Voyager probes each carry a golden record with a collection of sights and sounds from Earth, including 117 images and greetings in 54 languages, with a variety of natural and human-made sounds like storms, volcanoes, rocket launches, airplanes and animals.
Instead of relying on computer graphics, the team built physical models and miniatures, using some of the design techniques to be found on real-life spacecraft.
