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.
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.