Answers from space
Mars Global Surveyor went silent in November 2006
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Thursday, 11, Jan 2007 12:54
A review board has been formed to investigate the reasons why Nasa's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) went silent in November last year.
At the beginning of November the spacecraft transmitted information that one of its solar arrays was not pivoting as commanded.
Since then contact has been lost and engineers believe that a malfunction in its solar panels would result in the surveyor not being able to generate enough power for it to function.
The internal Nasa review will also seek to recommend any processes or procedures that could increase safety for other spacecraft.
MGS is the longest and most productive spacecraft to orbit the red planet; its camera has returned more than 240,000 images of Mars to Earth during its ten years in space.
Yet when it was launched scientists anticipated that it would study Mars in orbit for just two years.
Tom Thorpe, project manager for MGS at California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the probe, said that its work has far surpassed any original expectations.
"It is an extraordinary machine that has done things the designers never envisioned despite a broken wing, a failed gyro and a worn-out reaction wheel," he said. "The builders and operating staff can be proud of their legacy of scientific discoveries and key support for subsequent missions."