GUIDE LOST
Mariner On Wrong Fix (N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) WASHINGTON, Dec. 8. American’s Mariner IV Mars probe had again lost sight of its guiding star, Canopus, space scientists said tonight. The scientists also said a solar plasma probe, one of eight experiments, had started sending unintelligible messages. Five other experiments were functioning normally, they said. Mariner has previously lost and regained contact with
Canopus on several occasions since it was launched on November 28. The scientists said a dust particle no bigger than onefifth of an inch in diameter, passing within 2ft of Mariner’s sensor, could have made it lose its fix on the bright star. Radio commands would be sent later in an attempt to make the spacecraft refix on Canopus. Mariner is now more than 1,675,000 miles from earth. It is expected to reach Mars next July.
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Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30619, 9 December 1964, Page 21
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137GUIDE LOST Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30619, 9 December 1964, Page 21
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