New analysis suggests that two faint signals thought to be from the Mars Polar Lander were likely terrestrial in origin, a Stanford University scientist said Tuesday. A 150-foot (46-meter) radio antenna at the Northern California university picked up the weak signals on December 18 and January 4, reviving hopes at the time that the errant Polar Lander remained alive. The $165 million spacecraft vanished December 3 after plunging into the martian atmosphere at the start of what was to have been a 90-day mission.
February 11th, 2000
Seeking an SOS from Mars Christian Science Monitor
At first, Ivan Linscott just didn’t think the odd signal amounted to much. The scientist had been using Stanford University’s 15-story-tall radio telescope to listen for messages from the wayward Mars Polar Lander. But the only data he had gotten back were one or two arcs that were all but obscured amid a Jackson Pollack tableau of multicolored specks.
February 8th, 2000
Mars lander eludes searchers on Earth
The latest attempt to detect a signal from NASA’s Mars Polar Lander has turned up nothing so far, but radio telescopes around the world will make another try this week, engineers said.
February 7th, 2000
Polar Lander Fails to Take International Call
NASA officials said Monday that yet another attempt to rouse a faint signal from the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander has failed, further dashing hopes the $165 million probe will ever be heard from again.
February 5th, 2000
Antennas around world listen for Mars signal Space Today
Giant dish antennas in Europe and North America were aimed toward Mars on Friday to begin another attempt to detect what may be a flicker of life from NASA’s Mars Polar Lander. It’s the largest effort to listen for a signal since Stanford University engineers announced last month that they received an extremely faint signal that could have originated from the $165 million probe.
February 4th, 2000
Mars Assessment Team Returns To JPL
The Mars Program Independent Assessment Team, appointed by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, returned to JPL in Pasadena this week to continue its review of the Agency’s program for the robotic exploration of Mars.
February 3rd, 2000
Quiet please, we’re listening to Mars
The mighty Jodrell Bank radio telescope will make a sensitive search for signals from the crippled Mars Polar Lander (MPL) on Friday – but scientists hope that journalists will keep their distance. Last week, an array of radio telescopes in Holland tried to listen for the errant Mars craft, but the posse of journalists who descended upon the Westerbork observatory to cover the story rendered the astronomers’ efforts useless because of the interference from their mobile phones and satellite uplinks.
February 2nd, 2000
Attempt To Hear Mars Lander Fails Arizona Wildcat
Engineers have another opportunity this week to contact NASA’s Mars Polar Lander, nearly two months after the $165 million craft disappeared while descending to the planet’s surface.
January 31st, 2000
Mars Polar Lander Remains Silent
Further attempts to listen for faint signals from the Mars Polar Lander have turned up no trace of the errant spacecraft, the $165 million mission
January 31st, 2000
The Silence Of Mars
Mission managers for Mars Polar Lander report that radio scientists at Stanford University have not detected a signal from the spacecraft in data they collected last week. Stanford will continue to analyze the data and it is still possible that more detailed analysis might reveal a signal.