The failure of Mars Polar Lander could not have come at a worse time. NASA is plagued by funding difficulties and the tensions over the survival of individual programs that inevitably results from this. The problems of the International Space Station are of Herculean proportions and Shuttle launches are sporadic events. NASA is clearly ailing, and the impact of any further problems is magnified.
January 10th, 2000
Mars Gets Independent Assessment
Sixteen experienced engineers, scientists and executives have been named by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to form the Mars Program Independent Assessment Team. The team held its initial organizational meeting at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC on Friday.
January 8th, 2000
NASA starts investigation of Mars Polar Lander Space Today
NASA’s investigation into its failed Mars missions began in earnest Friday with the naming of a 16-member investigation team and an initial round of briefings at space agency headquarters. In the coming weeks, team members will travel to NASA centers and to the Lockheed Martin Astronautics facility near Denver as they analyze two failed Martian probes and other missions.
January 7th, 2000
Report: Scientists knew Mars Lander could set down in deep valley
Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Thursday they knew they were proposing to set down the vanished Mars Polar Lander in a deep valley. They said they were still assessing what happened to the craft and had not determined why the Lander failed to communicate.
January 7th, 2000
NASA Unveils New Panel to Scrutinize Mars Missions
A former astronaut who flew on two of the most dramatic shuttle missions of the 1990s is among 17 members of a newly-named independent team of engineers, scientists and executives that will scrutinize NASA’s program to explore Mars.
January 6th, 2000
Mars lander may have broke apart
The vanished Mars Polar Lander probably broke apart in a canyon, The Denver Post reported today, citing scientists who suggested the landing site was the reason for NASA’s latest failure. The $165 million lander was supposed to touch down Dec. 3 for a 90-day mission to analyze the planet’s atmosphere and search for frozen water beneath its south pole. It has not been heard from since it started its descent after an 11-month cruise, and NASA has not offered a reason for the disappearance.
January 6th, 2000
Did the Mars Polar Lander Crash In A Canyon? NASA Says No
The finger-pointing has begun between NASA and Lockheed Martin Astronautics over the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander. The loss of a second spacecraft within three months seems to be stressing the relationship of the once-cozy marriage between the space agency and the aerospace giant.
January 6th, 2000
Lockheed Martin Announces Mars Polar Lander Loss Remains A Mystery
After comments from engineers inside Lockheed Martin Astronautics lighted an explosion of controversy about the loss of the Mars Polar Lander, the company publicly denied that there is any way to say what happened to the craft.
January 6th, 2000
Did mile-deep canyon swallow Mars Polar Lander? Nobody knows The Seattle Times
The vanished Mars Polar Lander could have tumbled down a canyon on the Red Planet, but investigators so far have uncovered no evidence supporting a single explanation for the disaster, NASA said today.