Nov 8 1999
From The Space Library
Engineers discovered that exposure to 11 months of cold temperatures in outer space could cause the descent engine on Mars Polar Lander to malfunction. NASA had scheduled Mars Polar Lander to land on Mars on 3 December. Lander's companion craft, Mars Climate Orbiter had burned up as it entered its Martian orbit on 23 September. The investigative panel studying the cause of Orbiter's loss had uncovered the potential problem with Lander's engines. Because of the discovery, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) altered their plans, deciding to turn on the craft's descent engine heaters earlier than originally scheduled, to warm the engines to 46.4°F (8°C) before Lander's descent.
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