So long, Surveyor
By Ron Cowen
After 8 years of relaying pictures, topographic maps, magnetic field data, and compositional information from above the Red Planet, NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft appears to have called it quits.
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The satellite hasn’t been heard from since Nov. 2. Scientists speculate that a solar panel on Surveyor can no longer pivot properly. This malfunction would prevent the craft from generating enough power to communicate. A search by NASA’s most recent émigré to the planet, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, couldn’t locate Surveyor, says Mars program manager Fuk Li of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.