Dec 7 1999
From The Space Library
Mission controllers indicated that chances of ever contacting the US$165 million Mars Polar Lander were "remote at best," after they failed to detect a signal during their "last best chance" of communicating with the probe. NASA officials announced that the loss of Lander meant that NASA would need to drop the timetable for future Mars missions and rethink the entire Mars exploration program, including the scheduled launch of the next lander in 2001. NASA had already spent US$193 million on the planned 2001 launch. [[Edward J. Weiler], head of NASA's Office of Space Science, indicated that NASA would convene a panel of experts to diagnose the Mars Polar Lander failure and to suggest a "new architecture" for its Mars program. Although they had set no dates, members of Congress said that they planned to hold hearings about NASA's procedures and budget.
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