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ds2_hope_gone_991206PASADENA, Calif. - A painfully familiar silence met the Deep Space 2 mission team as they awaited word from the twin microprobes early Monday. The team had hoped to hear signals transmitted by one or both probes to Mars Global Surveyor a day earlier, and stored aboard the orbiting spacecraft. Had they survived their impact on Mars at 3:15 p.m. EST on Friday, the probes would have spent the first 29 to 32 hours on the surface waiting to hear from the Global Surveyor. If they heard nothing, the probes were programmed to then enter a so-called "auto-transmit" mode. If that occurred, they would have transmitted for one minute out of every five to the satellite, which passes over their impact site at two-hour intervals. The Global Surveyor would have then beamed any such signal to Earth early Monday. Project Manager Sarah Gavit said if her team has not heard from either probe by Monday afternoon, they will have exhausted their opportunities to do so. However, the Deep Space 2 team will continue all week to listen for a signal from one or both probes. The $29-million mission is the second under NASAs New Millennium Program, which seeks to validate the worthiness of advanced technologies that could be incorporated in future projects. "Deep Space 2 is the riskiest thing NASA ever did on purpose," said David Crisp, the programs scientist.
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