Mars Surveyor 98 - NASA 's Mars Climate and Surface Research Program .
As part of the Mars Surveyor 98 program, two AMSs were launched - the Mars Climate Orbiter to study Mars from orbit and the lander — the Mars Polar Lander . Both stations did not fulfill their mission, having suffered an accident during braking at Mars. The main reason for the failure of the 1998 Martian mission, according to an independent commission, is insufficient funding and pressure on deadlines. According to an independent commission, the project was underfunded by at least 30% of the real need.
Flight History and Results
Mars Polar Lander was launched into space on January 3, 1999 using the Delta 2 launch vehicle . The 11-month flight to Mars passed without any comments. On September 23, 1999, the accident into orbit around Mars ended with the automatic interplanetary station Mars Climate Orbiter , the "brother" of the MPL, which was supposed to relay up to 90% of the data to Earth. On December 3, the MPL for the last time corrected its trajectory and entered the atmosphere of Mars. Neither the lander, nor the penetrators got into contact. Searches for the signal were conducted both from Earth and from the Mars Global Surveyor automatic interplanetary station for a month and a half, but to no avail.
Further plans for the study of Mars (program Mars Surveyor 2001 ) have been radically revised. Instead of the orbital vehicle and the landing station, it was decided to make a relatively small Mars rover - Mars Exploration Rover . The new program was a complete success, as part of it the famous Spirit and Opportunity were created and delivered to Mars.
Links
- Mars Polar Lander , Cosmonautics News, 1999 No. 1
- “MPL accident: lessons for the future” , “Cosmonautics News”, 2000 No. 5