JPL - April 21, 1999 - NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft is no longer in contingency mode and this afternoon flight controllers have turned the entire spacecraft to point the high-gain telecommunications antenna toward Earth.
The spacecraft is now using that antenna to playback telemetry information that controllers believe will help them further diagnose what caused the hinge on the antenna to stop moving last Thursday night.
While no attempt has been made yet to move the hinge, engineers are hopeful the data that have been returned today will contain clues about what caused the hinge to stop moving. During the weekend controllers sent a series of commands to the spacecraft that turned off the hinge's motor. The spacecraft used its star scanner to find reference points in space and establish its orientation. The science instruments remain turned off.
It is expected that later in the week engineers will send commands to the spacecraft to move the hinge a small amount in order to better understand its condition.
Surveyor
Earth Invades Mars Special Report
Surveyor Reports At SpaceDaily
Mars Gets Backbone With New Antenna
A Blanket Of Frost Persists
Surveyor Ready to Begin Mars Mapping Mission
Sulphur In Them Dunes
Surveyor Reveals Extensive Volcanic History
Surveyor Completes AeroBraking
Surveyor Starts Final Aerobraking
Surveyor Starts Final Aerobraking
Surveyor's Summer of Science
Aerobraking Resumes
MGS Safe After Battery RunDown
Surveyor's First Science Program
Surveyor In First Mapping Orbit
Surveyor Yielding Martian Science
AeroSurf Down To 13.2 Hours
Surveyor To Image Mars
Face Off on Mars April 6
New Mars Surveyor Images
Surveyor Braking Every 15 Hours
Surveyor Orbit Down to 19 Hours
Surveyor Speeds Up Aerobraking
Mars Duststorm Weakens
Duststorm Hampers Surveyor
Surveyor's Slow Slide Down The Gravity Well
Aerobraking Resumed
Mars 98 Reports From Spacer.Com
Polar Lander Heads For Mars
Mars Polar Lander Ready For Deep Space 2
Arizona Team Gears Up For Mars Shoot
Planetary Society Calls For Vigorous Mars exploration Program
Kodak Gives Color To Mars
Third Mars Invasion Underway
Mars Here We Come
Second Mars Invasion Force Ready - Detailed JPL Univese Overview
Future Missions
Kirtland Recovers Penetrator Device
Europe Takes The Martian Express Lane
Robots To Colonize Mars
Mars Win Gives Goldin Political Leverage
GenCorp Wins Mars Test Deal
Mars Society Kicks Off August 13
A Red Mars Arising
Mars Base Needs Local Supply
NASA Tests Mars Rover
Areography
A Blanket Of Frost Persists
Sulphur In Them Dunes
Surveyor Reveals Extensive Volcanic History
Martian Brew Could Be Alive
Mars MicroProbe Vacuum Tests
Mars Society Kicks Off August 13
Crustal Microbes Could Signify Life
Dust Devils Kickoff Storms
Meteorite Contains No Biological Life
Pathfinder
A Panorama Of Sojourners
NASA Bids Pathfinder Good-Bye
Pathfinder Reveals Role of Water
Pathfinder Science Summary
Pathfinder Mission Huge Success
Mars Pathfinder: Mission Overview