Posted: Mon, Jun 30, 2003, 7:37 AM ET (1137 GMT)
The NASA-ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft entered a blackout period late last week caused by a problem with the spacecraft's main antenna. Telemetry from SOHO's high-gain antenna ended at 7:50 pm EDT (2350 GMT) Thursday and is not expected to be reestablished until at least July 14. Project officials reported earlier this month that the motor used to move the antenna failed, preventing the antenna from maintaining its link to the Earth. Efforts to correct the problem have not worked to date, although engineers continue to work on ways to either get the motor working again or come up with alternate techniques to keep the antenna pointed towards the Earth. During the blackout period controllers will keep tabs on the spacecraft through a low-gain antenna on SOHO, but no scientific data will be returned and the spacecraft's instruments are in a safe mode. Those instruments and other spacecraft systems continue to be in good health.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  Sky and Telescope article
•  Baltimore Sun article