You've given up hope, and then there's been a report of a siting and your hopes are raised. Emotionally it's a little bit tough. I think in reality the chances are small, but we want to make sure. We have a responsibility to be sure, and that's why we're here. Detecting a signal, even if one is there, is no easy feat.
Space is noisy.
But we still manage to find quiet places, or at least moments in those quiet places, to listen. The transmitter on the lander has a broadcast power of about 14 watts, says Callas. Boding poorly for the mission is the fact that this week the sensitive Dish detected the weaker signal from the surveyor, but not the stronger signal from the lander. But the main problem is the weakness of the signal. It's extremely tiny.