Nov. 17, 2006 — The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is on special assignment to hunt for a lost sister ship.
Problems with NASA's 10-year-old Mars Global Surveyor surfaced nearly two weeks ago as the satellite was repositioning its power-generating solar arrays. Since then, ground control teams have been able to pick up just one weak signal from the troubled spacecraft.
The lone message conveyed that it was putting itself into an emergency standby mode.
"The spacecraft is quite capable of autonomous control even if it doesn't hear from Earth," said project manager Tom Thorpe, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
It's capable, providing it has power, that is.
NASA hopes to learn this week if Global Surveyor is positioning its arrays properly with detailed photographs taken by the new, sharp-eyed Mars Reconnaissance Orbiters, or MRO.
An initial test was planned for Wednesday night, with high-resolution imagery slated to follow on Friday. During the photo shoot, the satellites will be about 150 kilometers, or 93 miles, apart. MRO should be able to see details as small as about 10 centimeters, or 4 inches, in diameter, Thorpe added.
"We have a good chance of recovering it still," Thorpe said.
NASA also may try to use its ground scouts, Spirit and Opportunity, to pick up a beacon signal from Global Surveyor. That linkup would not be suitable to support Global Surveyor's science agenda, but it at least might give flight controllers a general idea of how the spacecraft is orientated.
In addition to the two orbiters and two rovers at Mars, NASA operates the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. A new rover is scheduled to be launched to Mars next year.
Global Surveyor took the first pictures of Martian channels and gullies that many scientists believe were carved long ago by water flowing over the rocks. Though it has far surpassed its design lifetime, the spacecraft is fully booked for investigations about Mars' climate and seasonal transitions.
NASA remains optimistic that Global Surveyor can be resuscitated, but flight controllers have exhausted nearly all of their options. MRO's pictures could very well provide visual proof of Global Surveyor's demise.
"The team may soon get to the point where they realize they may not get this one back," said NASA spokesman Guy Webster. "You have to remember that Mars Global Surveyor is 10 years old. It has already fulfilled far more than what was expected."
