After seeing the mission status report on Vyger, I'd have to revise my previous notion that I didn't accept it as an answer. Since it is still sending data, and we are still receiving it, and it is still carrying out its original mission (ie: it isn't doing it simply because it can't be turned off, but rather is doing it because we WANT it to do it regardless of our ability to shut it off). I'd have to say that I now DO accept Vyger as an answer. So the question is, when was it launched (1977) and is there something older in regular use (I would think so). But this also brought to my attention something I had previously not know. That Voyager 1 and 2 were both launched at the same time. I had always thought 2 was years after 1 (I thought 2 was late 70's, and 1 was early 70's). I'm not sure why I thought that, maybe it was because it took a different course and was more recently in the news sending back data about the outer planets. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>