Outsourcing to a single contractor not only facilitated the streamlining of this baroque architecture, but sidestepped the stickyproblem of deciding which commands would lose authority over networks as others gained.
It suffered from short-circuits, faulty radio and power systems, an unreliable tape-recorder, asticky camera platform, and the loss of much of the gas that supplied its stabilising thrusters a problem overcome by repositioning its solar panels and main antenna so that they acted as solar sails, stabilising the probe via the gentle pressure of sunlight.