NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft returned to mapping operations Thursday with its high-gain telecommunications antenna in a fixed position.
On May 6, when Mars and the Earth are at favorable angles from each other, the spacecraft will return to a normal mapping mission that will use the antenna in its steerable mode to return continuous data to Earth.
The spacecraft is in good health and all the science instruments are turned on.
The flight team has conducted all planned troubleshooting tests to analyze the antenna hinge that stopped moving.
These tests have shown that there appears to be an obstruction that prevents the hinge from operating through its complete range of motion.
Flight controllers say they can conduct normal mapping operations through February 2000 when the Mars-to-Earth geometry will again prevent the antenna, with its limited range of motion, from pointing continuously at Earth.
The flight team is still performing additional reviews of the flight data to develop a plan of action if the obstruction has not been resolved and the spacecraft needs to use its antenna in a fixed position to complete the mapping mission.
