LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Scientists failed in a bid to contact the Mars Pathfinder on Tuesday, declaring the craft officially "dead" four months after the end of a mission that produced the closest look at the red planet's surface. Team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said goodbye to the lander and its little rover Sojourner 250 days after its dramatic landing on July 4 last year -- and shortly after getting no response to one last set of commands. "The team has officially declared the time of death of the Mars Pathfinder lander at 1.21 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (21:21 GMT)," said Jennifer Harris, flight director. The Pathfinder project had essentially ended on Sept. 27 of last year, when NASA scientists abruptly lost communication with the lander, for reasons that have not been determined. By that time the lander had exceeded its original mission by about eight weeks. Scientists had only expected Pathfinder to "live" in the hostile Martian environment for 30 days. The team continued to send signals to Pathfinder at regular intervals until Tuesday. No new attempts will be made and scientists will devote their time to poring over the the 2.6 billion bits of scientific information, 16,000 images and 15 complete chemical analyses of rocks and soil sent back by the craft. Team members said they were not really saddened by Pathfinder's failure to respond on Tuesday, because they considered the transmission a long shot. Scientists said Pathfinder paved the way for future interplanetary missions. It was the first in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's new line of "cheaper, better" space missions, including four more Mars landings culminating in the planned return of rock samples in 2005.