Searching for a lost craft. (Astronomy).A recent analysis of images of the Red Planet may have located a lost spacecraft on Mars, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a Department of Defense (DOD (1) (Dial On Demand) A feature that allows a device to automatically dial a telephone number. For example, an ISDN router with dial on demand will automatically dial up the ISP when it senses IP traffic destined for the Internet. ) agency. NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. , however, isn't so sure. On Dec. 3, 1999, NASA lost touch with the Mars Polar Lander The Mars Polar Lander was part of the NASA Mars Surveyor '98 program, which consisted of two spacecraft launched separately, the Mars Climate Orbiter (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter) and the Mars Polar Lander (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander). spacecraft (SN: 3/4/00, p. 159). Controllers presume the craft crashed onto the Martian surface. However, pictures taken of the probable landing site by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) was a US spacecraft developed by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. It began the United States's return to Mars after a 20-year absence. spacecraft had not shown signs of the craft or its protective shell, heat shield, and parachute. A more recent analysis of Surveyor images by DOD's National Imagery and Mapping Agency may have revealed signs of the downed lander and its shell. The analysis isn't easy because the smallest object that Surveyor's camera can image is only slightly larger than Polar Lander, some 2 meters across. NASA remains wary, cautioning that electronic noise from Surveyor's camera could confound analysis of the images. New pictures, which Surveyor is expected to take later this year, should bring the search effort into sharper focus.--R.C. |
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