The Mars Polar Lander (MPL) lost by Nasa a month ago may have met its end in a catastrophic tumble down the sides of a canyon almost a mile deep.
January 6th, 2000
Crippled Mars Lander Could Be in Crater — NASA
The ill-fated Mars Polar Lander, last heard from on Dec. 3, 1999, as it started a descent to the surface of the Red Planet, may be lying crippled in a huge crater, the chief mission scientist said on Thursday. But Richard Zurek, the Mars Polar Lander Project Scientist, said the crater theory was just one of several scenarios being considered by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
December 31st, 1999
Aerial search turns up no trace of Mars Polar Lander
Scientists trying to track down the Mars Polar Lander reported this week that an initial search conducted last week failed to find any trace of the lost probe. Scientists at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego aimed a powerful camera on the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor at the lander’s intended touchdown site, but the images it captured showed no sign of the $165 million spacecraft.
December 28th, 1999
Second Mars Polar Lander Review Board Appointed
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory named its own review panel to look into the loss of the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 microprobes. The 12-member panel, led by John Casani, will examine the most probable root causes for the failure of the two missions, which piggybacked during the nearly year-long trip to their Dec. 3 arrival at Mars. The three spacecraft have not been heard from since landing and are presumed lost.
December 23rd, 1999
Bradbury Foretold Polar Lander’s Fate San Francisco Chronicle
It is clear now that the Polar Lander will not be sending back signals from Mars, the red planet. Something has gone wrong. The scientists don’t know what happened to the spacecraft, but a lot of us do know. The Martians got it.
December 22nd, 1999
MPL Search To End Soon
NASA is likely to call off in mid-January its search for the Mars Polar Lander. The 165-million-dollar lander and two mini-probes were to have searched for subterranean ice, but have remained silent since December 3, when they pierced the Martian atmosphere near the southern polar region.
December 16th, 1999
Lost and spaced? The Why Files
Gotten a phone call from the Mars Polar Lander? We hear the phone isn’t ringing at mission control at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, either. The $165-million spacecraft is dead — a steaming pile of high-tech junk on the south pole of the Red Planet for all we know.
December 15th, 1999
Probing lost Mars missions to learn what went wrong Christian Science Monitor
Stunned by the loss of two consecutive Mars missions, some American space scientists say NASA is setting its goals without adequate assessment of the risks. One way to help fix the problem: Consult more scientists.
December 15th, 1999
Mars Polar Lander Mission Status
Flight controllers for Mars Polar Lander have continued their attempts to communicate with the spacecraft so that they can be certain they have exhausted all possibilities before they conclude their search. While a recovery is still a possibility, the likelihood of hearing from the lander is considered remote at this point. In parallel with the communications attempts, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft will start taking high-resolution images of the landing site to search for signs of the lander.
December 15th, 1999
The Mars Polar Lander The Onion
Humor: Leading theories as to why NASA mysteriously lost all contact with the $165 million Mars Polar Lander.