Scientists Declare Mars Pathfinder ‘Dead’

Scientists failed in a bid to contact the Mars Pathfinder on Tuesday, declaring the craft officially “dead” 5 1/2 months after the end of a mission that produced the closest look at the Red Planet’s surface.

Team members at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena said goodbye to the lander and its little rover Sojourner 250 days after its dramatic landing on July 4--after getting no response to one last set of commands.

“The team has officially declared the time of death of the Mars Pathfinder lander at 1:21 p.m. Pacific Standard Time,” said flight director Jennifer Harris.

“To the world who watched us on July 4 and in the months afterward, we say thank you for all your enthusiasm.”

The Pathfinder project had essentially ended Sept. 27, when NASA scientists abruptly lost communication with the lander, for reasons that have not been determined. By that time the lander had exceeded its original mission by about eight weeks and the rover had traversed the rock-strewn terrain for 11 times longer than its planned one-week operation.

Scientists had only expected Pathfinder to “live” in the hostile Martian environment for 30 days. The team continued to send signals to Pathfinder at regular intervals until Tuesday.

No new attempts will be made and scientists will devote their time to poring over the 2.6 billion bits of scientific information, 16,000 images and 15 complete chemical analyses of rocks and soil sent back by the craft.