Space

DATE=01/22/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=MARS ROVER (L)

NUMBER=2-312167

BYLINE=DAVID McALARY

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTRO: The U-S space agency NASA has lost contact with its robot rover on Mars. V-O-A's David McAlary reports from Washington that ground controllers are trying to get its attention.

TEXT: Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California have not heard directly from the Spirit rover since early Wednesday.

That was when they received a simple tone acknowledging that the rover had heard from them. Mission official Peter Theisinger [TIE-zing-er] says that, since then, they have not received expected scientific and engineering data.

/// THEISINGER ACT ///

We now know that we have had a very serious anomaly on the vehicle, and our ability to determine exactly what has happened has been limited by our inability to receive telemetry from the vehicle.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Theisinger says the rover communicated indirectly late Wednesday through a U-S satellite orbiting Mars. He calls the event puzzling because the rover sent only a two-minute radio signal to the orbiter instead of an expected 12 or 14 minutes of data.

The NASA official says they do not know what may have caused the problem. Preliminary indications from the spacecraft suggest its radio is working and its solar panels continue to generate power.

Mr. Theisinger says it is unlikely that some Martian environmental event is to blame because the Spirit rover was built to endure the planet's tough radiation and weather conditions.

/// THEISINGER ACT ///

Yes, something could break. Clearly, something could fail. That is a concern we seriously have. It is very serious. But there was not any obvious correlative event. There is nothing like that.

/// END ACT ///

Spirit arrived at Mars nearly three-weeks ago to search for signs of water that would indicate the planet was once suitable for life. When the six-wheeled robot was last heard from, ground controllers were preparing to have it drill into its first rock to look for chemical signatures of water.

At first, the NASA team had believed that heavy thunderstorms around Canberra, Australia interfered with communication with the rover because one of the agency's big deep space dish antennas is located there. They have since discarded that notion.

The mission controllers say they will attempt to send several more calls to the Spirit robot. In the meantime, they are also preparing for the Sunday arrival of a twin rover on the other side of Mars. (SIGNED)

NEB/DEM/RAE/FC/KBK