Why haven't you called? Mars rover fails to phone Earth in over a year and now Nasa fears it is lost for ever - 30th Mar 2011

It has been a little over a year since it failed to awake from winter hibernation.

Now Nasa scientists are facing the increasingly likely prospect that they will never hear from the stuck Mars rover Spirit again.

The U.S. space agency's mission controllers last heard from Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on March 22, 2010.

Despite the dismal outlook, they will continue to make last-ditch efforts to communicate with the rover.

If there's still no contact in the next month or so, Nasa will scale back its listening campaign for Spirit and focus on its healthy twin, Opportunity.

Program manager John Callas, at the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, admitted that the fact Spirit has not called home suggests that something is more seriously wrong than just a power issue.

The solar-powered rover became bogged in a sand trap in 2009 during a routine drive. Despite efforts to wiggle free, it remained stuck and could not tilt itself towards the sun as the Martian winter approached. Read More