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Mars Orbiter's Decade-Long Mission Probably Over
Los Angeles (AFP) Nov 21, 2006 The unexpectedly long 10-year-old mission of the Mars Global Surveyor probe is most likely over after contact with the orbiter was lost earlier this month, NASA said Tuesday. Scientists said they suspected a damaged solar panel had left the craft unable to communicate with Earth following its successful decade-long sojourn around the Red Planet. "We are facing the likelihood that the amazing flow of scientific observations from Mars Global Surveyor is over," said Fuk Li, Mars Exploration program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We are not giving up hope, though." NASA said another probe, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, had pointed its cameras towards the Surveyor on Monday but found no sign of the craft. Surveyor was launched in November 1996 and began orbiting Mars in late 1997. It has beamed back some 240,000 images of Mars' surface since its mission began, providing invaluable insights into the planet's geography. "Mars Global Surveyor has surpassed all expectations," said Michael Meyer, NASA's lead scientist for Mars exploration at NASA headquarters. "It has already been the most productive science mission to Mars, and it will yield more discoveries as the treasury of observations it has made continues to be analyzed for years to come." The spacecraft began its mapping phase in April 1999. The original plan was to examine the planet for two years but because of the value of the information collected by the spacecraft, NASA extended its mission four times. The spacecraft scoped landing sites for the two NASA rovers that landed on the planet in 2004 as well as sites for future landings of the Phoenix and Mars Science Laboratory missions. It also tracked atmospheric conditions during aerobraking by later orbiters and it served as a relay link for the rovers while providing mapping information about their surroundings. NASA officials said they would continue efforts to regain contact with the spacecraft and determine exactly what happened to it.
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Mars Global Surveyor Mission Ends In Triumph
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 22, 2006NASA's Mars Global Surveyor has likely finished its operating career. The spacecraft has served the longest and been the most productive of any mission ever sent to the red planet. "Mars Global Surveyor has surpassed all expectations," said Michael Meyer, NASA's lead scientist for Mars exploration at NASA Headquarters, Washington. |
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