Tim Furniss/LONDON
NASA has established three investigation panels to look into the failure of the Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) on 23 September.
NASA's $125 million craft was lost 5min after the firing of its orbital-insertion engine burn. The Orbiter was flying at up to 80-90km too low because the engine was programmed to fire using thrust data in imperial pounds instead of metric kiloNewtons (Flight International, 6-12 October). The craft is thought to have burned up, broken apart, or possibly to have hit the Martian surface.
A panel led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will study the requirements to support the Mars Polar Lander missions without the support of the MCO. A second panel, also at the JPL, will look at the technical details of the failure, while a third independent review panel will be convened at NASA's headquarters.
Mars has proved an elusive target for 20 spacecraft that have failed in their missions since 1960 - 16 Russian and four US vehicles. Russia has recorded one partial success, while the USA has had eight successful missions, including three soft landings.
The MCO was to have been the data relay satellite for the Mars Polar Lander, which is due to arrive on the edge of the Red Planet's south pole in December.
The lander will now have to transmit data directly to the NASA Deep Space Tracking Network and through the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor.
The Mars Polar Lander has made a 30s thruster burn, placing it on course for its landing site on 3 December. The lander will touch down in an area within a 20 x 200km (12 x 120 miles) strip of undulating multi-layered soil on the northern edge of the Red Planet's south pole.
Source: Flight International
