Nozomi Abandoned by Japan Space Agency

rufey writes "Space.com is reporting that officials at JAXA, Japan's space agency, were unable to fix the problems plaguing Nozomi and have therefore abandoned all efforts to get it to orbit Mars. The main problem is lack of fuel. Instead of surveying Mars, JAXA is planning on using the probe, as it orbits the Sun, for other things such as solar activity. This is just one of four Mars probes that are scheduled to arrive at Mars in the next 60 days."

Comments

iq/sanity tests for expenditure > 500mil please

[eyenot]

how do soooooo many people get jobs in aerospace, working in big old science departments funding by big old governments which send probes to venus and saturn, probes to the moons of jupiter and past pluto, probes to fast-moving comets, but they can't put a damn thing on surface or orbit of mars and the one time they did it was all screwed up? what the hell is the deal with mars?
are scientists throwing our money away on purpose just to have laughs over a nerdy gag that 'mars has little green men and huge monuments and we're not allowed to see it'?

Re:iq/sanity tests for expenditure 500mil please

[Red Rocket]

...but they can't put a damn thing on surface or orbit of mars and the one time they did it was all screwed up?

Exactly how many craft have you landed on Mars, screwed up or otherwise? If you think it's so easy why don't you do it yourself?

It's easy to be a critic and bash scientists and governments but it's a whole lot harder to actually design, plan, and execute these missions. These people are trying to do something important and extremely difficult. They need support, not armchair rocket scientists.