[John H K]

Was it one of the Voyagers or Galileo where the primary comm antenna NEVER worked?

I was reading a site listing all the interplanetary attempts...was dumbstruck at the VAST number..dozens and dozens...of Soviet Mars or Venus probes that never left earth orbit (their scheme was to orbit first and then leave).

On one there was a timer set to fire the burn for Venus or whatever a certain number of minutes after orbit. But the technician set it for DAYS not minutes. Do'h!

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Was it one of the Voyagers or Galileo where the primary comm antenna NEVER worked?

That was Galileo. I had never seen a spacecraft taken apart and put back together as many times as that one. Mr. Peel and I would sometimes go over and watch their progress -- he swears the poor craft was suffering from metal fatigue before it ever got off the ground.