Mars Global Surveyor : It's Dead, Jim.

Brian Gaff wrote:
Not heard the latest myself, but I'd not have thought a dodgy panel motor
was too much of a problem. I seem to recall that there were problems with
the arrays at the very start though.

Brian

Gene: I do wish there were a website where more recent information
could be found. After all, on Wed of this week, there was to be an
attempt to spot MGS and if that worked, on Friday a more accurate image
was to be attempted.

Did either of these work? I have no idea because the MRO website has no
info and the MGS site has no info either.

No info on sci.space.news and no real update here either. :-(

Anyone have an actual link to an official statement?

wrote:


Did either of these work? I have no idea because the MRO website has no
info and the MGS site has no info either.



They took the photos; they'll know if it worked early next week.

Pat

Brian Gaff wrote:
Not heard the latest myself, but I'd not have thought a dodgy panel motor
was too much of a problem. I seem to recall that there were problems with
the arrays at the very start though.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
Get over it.

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

I think the article from nasa on Tuesday, can be correlated with the
paper located at the site below, would give a high probability
indication that after a long successful mission the MGS damaged solar
panel eventually failed causing the recent communications failure.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mgs/mgs-20061121.html
Update, Nov. 21, 7 p.m. EST (4 p.m. PST): NASA's Mars Exploration Rover
Opportunity did not detect any signal from Mars Global Surveyor on
Tuesday during an attempt to get the orbiter to transmit to the rover.
The commands will be repeated Wednesday. ..Pasadena, Calif. - NASA's
Mars Global Surveyor has likely finished its operating career. The
orbiter has not communicated with Earth since Nov. 2. ...Preliminary
indications are that a solar panel became difficult to pivot, raising
the possibility that the spacecraft may no longer be able to generate
enough power to communicate. Engineers are also exploring other
possible explanations for the radio silence."

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sci/aerobrake/SFMech.html
"AAS 98-112
MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR AEROBRAKING AT MARS
M. D. Johnston, P. B. Esposito, V. Alwar,
S. W. Demcak*, E. J. Graat, R. A. Mase
"On September 12, 1997, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft was
successfully inserted into a highly elliptical capture orbit about
Mars. To establish the required mapping orbit, the MGS spacecraft must
supplement its propulsive capabilities by aerobraking. This paper
describes the aerobraking strategy developed for the MGS mission. This
description includes the aerobraking constraints imposed on the
trajectory design, the approach toward aerobraking trajectory control,
and the aerobraking flight profile that resulted from the planning
activities that occurred after launch. The initial aerobraking results
are contrasted to the planned baseline trajectory.
Additionally, this paper describes the aerobraking progress of the MGS
spacecraft made following a three week aerobraking hiatus that occurred
in October 1997. This hiatus was initiated in order to provide time to
evaluate the viability of continuing aerobraking with newly discovered
damage to one of the two spacecraft's solar arrays. The results of
the stand-down forced a major re-evaluation of the MGS mission and this
paper briefly describes the new mission outlook.
INTRODUCTION
This paper describes the aerobraking strategy developed for the MGS
mission. This description includes the aerobraking constraints imposed
on the trajectory design, the approach toward aerobraking trajectory
control, and the aerobraking flight profile that resulted from the
planning activities that occurred after launch. The initial aerobraking
results are contrasted to the planned baseline trajectory.
Additionally, this paper describes the aerobraking progress the MGS
spacecraft made following a three week aerobraking stand-down that
occurred in October 1997. This hiatus was initiated in order to provide
time to evaluate the viability of continuing aerobraking with newly
discovered damage to one of the two spacecraft's solar arrays. The
previously undetected damage was attributed to a failure that occurred
during the original solar array deployment sequence at launch. The
review concluded that it was safe to resume aerobraking albeit at much
lower levels of dynamic pressure. The results of the stand-down forced
a major re-evaluation of the MGS mission and this paper briefly
describes the new mission outlook."


Open sharing of information is crucial to improving everybody's
understanding of the universe around us.
Tom