From: clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones)
Subject: Re: Keeping Spacecraft on after Funding Cuts.
Reply-To: clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones)
Organization: Kendall Square Research Corp
Lines: 13
In-reply-to: prb@access.digex.com (Pat)

In article <1r6aqr$dnv@access.digex.net>, prb@access (Pat) writes:
>Voyager  has the unusual  luck to be on a stable trajectory out of the
>solar system.   All it's doing is collecting  fields  data,  and routinely
>squirting it down.  One of the mariners is also in stable
>solar orbit,  and still providing similiar  solar data.  

There are no Mariner craft from which we are still receiving data.  I believe
you are referring to one or more of Pioneers 6 through 9 (launched from
December 1965 through November 1968), which were put into solar orbits to study
interplanetary space.  I recall reading that at least one of them was still
functioning 25 years after launch.
--
Chris Jones    clj@ksr.com
