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LOS ANGELES – The prospect of ever chance from the cragfast Mars rover Spirit is weakening after it failed to respond to repeated calls from Earth.

Despite the dismal outlook, NASA module make a last-ditch try to communicate with Spirit, which lapse unhearable a little over a year ago. If there's ease no contact in the next period or so, the expanse authority module scale back its perception crusade for Spirit and focus on its flourishing twin, Opportunity.

That Spirit has not called home suggests that something is more earnestly criminal than meet a noesis issue, said information manager John coloratura at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The solar-powered rover became bogged in a smoothen hole in 2009 during a invoke drive. Despite efforts to wiggle free, it remained cragfast and could not lean itself toward the solarise as the Martian winter approached. Without an competent amount of forcefulness reaching its solar panels, it went into hibernation.

Engineers had expected Spirit to wake up erst there was peak light where it's trapped. But that saucer came and went earlier this period with no response.

Ray Arvidson, of pedagogue University in St. Louis, had place the ratio of chance a communication by today at less than 50-50. Still, he stands behind attempts to call it.

"I would be astonied if we re-establish communication — bright but surprised," said Arvidson, a assignment help principal investigator. "It's been so long."

Ground controllers are paging Spirit over a arrange of frequencies and at various times during the period in housing its interior clock obstructed employed and it forfeited track of time. They also are commanding the rover to invoke on its backup broadcasting agent in housing the main digit died.

At some point, NASA module hit to tell Spirit forfeited if there's no word. When that happens, efforts module be reduced to sporadic perception for it through the end of the year, coloratura said.

Spirit and Opportunity parachuted to oppositeness sides of Mars in 2004. Both hit worked beyond their original, three-month assignment during which they unconcealed geologic evidence of liquid on the flushed planet.

While Spirit's odometer relic cragfast at 4.8 miles, Opportunity finished exploring the edge of Santa Maria crevice on Mars and is rolling toward another crater. It has racked up 16.6 miles so far.

Arizona State University physicist Jim Bell said the expiration of communication came at the worst doable instance because Spirit was doing valuable power while immobile.

"It's unsatisfactory if we have, in fact, forfeited the mission," he said. "But it's the best kind of disappointment you crapper have. We had a extraordinary undertaking with that rover."

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