The effort to hear from the Mars Polar Lander has gone global. On Friday NASA announced it has asked the Dutch, English and Italians for help in determining whether recently detected radio signals could have come from the errant spacecraft.
January 28th, 2000
NASA: Mysterious space whisper could be Mars Polar Lander
Managers of the Mars Polar Lander Team say a series faint radio signals captured by a dish antenna at Stanford University are offering some “tantalizing” circumstantial evidence that the spacecraft may be phoning home.
January 27th, 2000
Controllers Hold Breath for Mars Polar Lander’s Last Gasp
A last-ditch effort to find signs of the Mars Polar Lander is underway, but it will take more than a week of analysis before members of the mission team can determine whether or not the spacecraft has tried to contact Earth, the mission’s flight operations manager said Wednesday.
January 27th, 2000
Never Say Die
After receiving weak signals that may have come from Mars Polar Lander on Dec. 18 and Jan. 4, Stanford radio astronomers are again listening for murmurs from the missing spacecraft.
January 27th, 2000
Nasa waits on new Mars search
Nasa scientists say it will be the weekend at the earliest before they know if they have made contact with the Mars Polar Lander (MPL). Hopes of finding the spacecraft were raised this week after a review of data collected by a radio antenna at Stanford University showed a blip in the information record that just might have been MPL trying to contact Earth.
January 27th, 2000
Mars lander contacting Dish? – Stanford scientists listening for signs that NASA probe is still operating The Stanford Daily
In what could potentially be a stunning turn of events for NASA’s Mars program, Stanford scientists will determine today whether faint radio signals being picked up by the Dish are originating from the $165-million Mars Polar Lander, which was feared lost last month.
January 26th, 2000
Stanford dish to play ‘long shot’ on Mars Lander San Jose Mercury News
Stanford University scientists think they may have heard a faint whistle of life from the given-up-for-dead Mars Polar Lander. Researchers will be listening for a radio signal so weak that if it were a light, it would glow no brighter than a Christmas tree bulb plopped on the Martian surface, 184 million miles away.