Lost spacecraft in Mars

Sad news from Mars. NASA scientists conceded on Tuesday that the 10-year-old Mars Global Surveyor is probably lost in space after the U.S. agency tried unsuccessfully for two weeks to contact the probe.

The spacecraft, the oldest of five NASA robotic explorers studying Mars, was circling the planet snapping high-resolution images and studying the climate in a mission that led to the first evidence that water once flowed on the planet's surface. One chance remained on Tuesday to recover the probe, which has been programmed to transmit a signal to NASA's robotic geology station, Opportunity, located near Mars' equator.

The 10-year mission, which was extended four times, cost a relatively modest $377 million.