Posted: Tue, Nov 14, 2006, 8:03 AM ET (1303 GMT)
NASA is enlisting other Mars orbiting spacecraft to try and determine what has gone wrong with an aging orbiter that has not communicated with Earth for over a week. Controllers last heard from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) on November 5, three days after experiencing a problem with a motor that drives one of the spacecraft's solar panels. On Friday the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will take images of MGS when the two spacecraft pass about 150 km from each other in orbit; the MRO images will be able to resolve details as small as 10 cm across on MGS and help engineers determine what has gone wrong with it. NASA also plans to try to have MGS establish communications with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on the surface. MGS was launched ten years ago this month and long ago achieved its primary mission, but is still used for both science and communications operations. Project officials remain optimistic that MGS can be recovered, so long as the spacecraft still has power.

Related Links:

•  Reuters article
•  New Scientist article
•  BBC article
•  UPI article