Mars Probe Probably Lost Forever

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Tuesday November 21, 2006 @02:57PM from the alas-poor-MGS dept.

David Shiga writes, "NASA's silent Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft is likely lost forever. The space agency attempted to take a picture of the 10-year-old spacecraft using the newer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, but did not detect it, either because its orbit has shifted since last contact, or because it isn't reflecting enough sunlight to be visible. NASA has now ordered its Opportunity rover to listen from the planet's surface for MGS's radio beacon. If that fails, the agency may call on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft to join the search. But MGS may already have run out of power and NASA officials are not optimistic about recovering it."

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Re:So what's the point in trying to see it, anyway by Anonymous Coward · 2006-11-21 16:57 · Score: -1, Redundant

Being able to see its orientation to know if the antenna and solar panels are still at functional angles. Confirming that it wasn't hit by space debris. Verifying that there's not been a propellant leak that caused it to lose the necessary control. These are all important things too. If you see a bunch of gas jetting off in to space it can give you a good hint that things ain't goin so well.