UPI has issued a followup story which includes the following; "Welch conceded that the UPI article's description of a second design flaw involving landing sensors was accurate. Preflight testing failed to notice that when the craft's landing legs opened, they could accidentally trigger a sensor which was designed to notice when the legs hit the martian surface. As a result, the sensor might have shut down the craft's braking rockets while it was still far off the ground."
The source of this story, James Oberg, is a well known and reputable writer. He worked for NASA for many years and supports them. I find it hard to believe that he would write a story as volatile as this if he was not sure of his sources.
Quoting from his article "And in a March 9 internal memo from JPL director Ed Stone, which UPI has obtained, space workers are warned that "the days ahead may at times be difficult."
As first reported on NASA Watch On November 8th NASA did indeed know that there could be a problem with the thrusters. Here is an excerpt of the press release; "The NASA investigation board, chaired by Art Stephenson, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., found that cold temperatures could affect the performance Mars Polar Lander's descent engine, which begins firing at about 2 kilometers (about 10 miles) altitude during the descent to Mars surface. As a result of the finding, a team of engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has developed procedures to warm up the engine system prior to firing. In addition, the team has analyzed descent engine performance at a range of temperatures to assess its predicted performance upon arrival."
The report on the Mars Polar Lander to be relased shortly will no doubt tarnish NASA's reputation in the short term. The repercussions of the last two failed Mars missions could set back the exploration of the solar system 5-10 years. While perhaps it is time for some serious reorganization at NASA we must not let these setbacks stop us. NASA's budget is small and has been shrinking for some time. If the U.S. is to lead the world in space exploration then a stronger committment is required by government.
Slashdot Mirror
The full story can be read here.
Can we infer that the whole truth is now slowly coming out? Did the original article serve as a catalyst to get to the truth? More to follow.
Quoting from his article "And in a March 9 internal memo from JPL director Ed Stone, which UPI has obtained, space workers are warned that "the days ahead may at times be difficult."
As first reported on NASA Watch On November 8th NASA did indeed know that there could be a problem with the thrusters. Here is an excerpt of the press release; "The NASA investigation board, chaired by Art Stephenson, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., found that cold temperatures could affect the performance Mars Polar Lander's descent engine, which begins firing at about 2 kilometers (about 10 miles) altitude during the descent to Mars surface. As a result of the finding, a team of engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has developed procedures to warm up the engine system prior to firing. In addition, the team has analyzed descent engine performance at a range of temperatures to assess its predicted performance upon arrival."
The report on the Mars Polar Lander to be relased shortly will no doubt tarnish NASA's reputation in the short term. The repercussions of the last two failed Mars missions could set back the exploration of the solar system 5-10 years. While perhaps it is time for some serious reorganization at NASA we must not let these setbacks stop us. NASA's budget is small and has been shrinking for some time. If the U.S. is to lead the world in space exploration then a stronger committment is required by government.
Marc Boucher