The longest and most productive mission ever sent to Mars appears to be over. NASA has not detected any signal from the Mars Global Surveyor since November 2, the most probable explanation being that the craft can no longer generate enough power to communicate with Earth due to problems with a solar panel. 

Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on November 7, 1996 and entered Mars orbit on September 11, 1997. It has returned more that 240,000 images of Mars back to Earth and made countless important scientific discoveries during the past ten years. If the surveyor is finally lost, NASA scientists can be consolled with the fact that the spacecraft has had a highly successful ten year mission and has exceeded all expectations. A job well done!

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Filed under: astronomy, nasa, science, spaceflight