Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!ll-xn!cit-vax!elroy!david
From: david@elroy.UUCP (David Robinson)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: StarDate: November 13 The Last Picture from Mars
Message-ID: <2496@elroy.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 14-Nov-86 03:25:59 EST
Article-I.D.: elroy.2496
Posted: Fri Nov 14 03:25:59 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Nov-86 06:05:11 EST
References: <1400@utastro.UUCP>
Organization: Image Analysis Systems Grp, JPL
Lines: 38

In article <1400@utastro.UUCP>, dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) writes:
> November 13  The Last Picture from Mars
> Four years ago on today's date Viking 1 sent back the last picture from
> Mars. 
...
> One by one over the years the orbiters and the other Viking lander fell
> silent.  But for six long years Viking 1 faithfully continued to return
> its data to Earth.  On today's date in the year 1982 a picture came in
> on schedule.  Dark shadows on the ground indicated that perhaps a dust
> storm was underway.  The next transmission never came.
> Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab in California worked for several
> months to try to get a signal.  Perhaps the lander's batteries failed
> -- or perhaps an error in a computer command misdirected an antenna.
> We probably won't know for sure until someone from Earth visits Viking
> 1 -- now standing silent on the plains of Mars.

It is known how it died.  The lander was having battery troubles
which is not unexpected for a piece of equipment designed to last
less than a year.

The expert on the software system of the lander who had since moved
on to other projects was called in to try some fancy programming
to try and help out the ailing batteries.

Because of one of many possible explainations a wrong command was sent
to the lander and the antenna (its only link to earth) is now pointed at
the ground!  They tried a variety of things including blasting the lander
with high intensity radio waves hoping a reflection off of the ground
would be picked up.  But all failed.  The lander is officially dead but
still a tremendous success in the history of NASA.



-- 
	David Robinson		elroy!david@csvax.caltech.edu     ARPA
				seismo-------!cit-vax!elroy!david UUCP
				ihnp4!cithep/
Disclaimer: No one listens to me anyway!