Mars Polar Lander Spacecraft

It's a scene that plays over and over in his mind: On the final leg of a mission to Mars, the spacecraft disappears with his experiments on board. It's no fantasy. In fact, three times UCLA planetary scientist David Paige has lost years of work and millions of dollars in equipment on three separate missions to Mars over the last decade. Throughout the weekend, the question lingered: Is he about to relive his worst nightmare?

Nearly six years after NASA's Mars Polar Lander vanished during a landing attempt on the Red Planet, a scientist said he had spotted what appeared to be wreckage of the spacecraft. The observation came during a reexamination of grainy black-and-white images taken by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor, which searched for the probe with no success in 1999 and 2000.

Despite its most ingenious efforts, NASA once again failed to rouse the Mars Polar Lander Sunday, making it more likely that an entire flotilla of U.S. Mars explorers--a $356.8-million project involving two major spacecraft and two auxiliary probes--has been lost at the Red Planet this fall.

The first of two rovers headed to Mars will be launched no earlier than June 8, NASA officials said, marking the second liftoff delay for the project. Jim Erickson, mission manager of the $800-million Mars Exploration Rover project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said Thursday that the spacecraft appeared to be in good shape for launch.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists controlling the Mars Polar Lander failed early this morning in what was considered the last, best hope for contacting the spacecraft. Beginning at 12:20 a.m. today, flight controllers tried to establish contact with the lander's UHF antenna using a signal relayed through the orbiting Mars Global Explorer. Previous attempts have focused on direct communication using the lander's medium-gain antenna, and controllers hoped the new approach would be successful.

Astronomers who spent the weekend sifting through radio transmissions from space say they have detected no signals from the missing Mars Polar Lander. But project leaders said Monday that they are still trying to contact the craft and have turned to astronomers worldwide for help. Scientists say that if the lander is still operational, they would not expect a signal back before Friday, and a clear indication might not come for several more days. The $165-million craft was lost Dec.

The Mars Polar Lander is officially lost--again. Hopes were raised late last month that the probe had signaled Earth--and a worldwide flurry of activity began to listen for and decode radio transmissions from space--but NASA officials have once again given up their search for the errant spacecraft. Stanford telescope operators thought they had detected a faint signal that could have come from the lander in January.

The first of two rovers headed to Mars will be launched no earlier than June 8, NASA officials said, marking the second liftoff delay for the project. Jim Erickson, mission manager of the $800-million Mars Exploration Rover project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said Thursday that the spacecraft appeared to be in good shape for launch.

The fervent hopes of scientists--including these planetary experts at UCLA--for a successful landing at the south pole of Mars were dashed when the $165-million Mars Polar Lander vanished without a trace Dec. 3 as it began its descent to the surface of the Red Planet. It was the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's second failed Mars mission of the year. In September, JPL's $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter disappeared as it began to orbit the fourth planet.

Nearly six years after NASA's Mars Polar Lander vanished during a landing attempt on the Red Planet, a scientist said he had spotted what appeared to be wreckage of the spacecraft. The observation came during a reexamination of grainy black-and-white images taken by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor, which searched for the probe with no success in 1999 and 2000.

NASA officials have delayed the launch of the first of two Mars landers by at least one week because of a problem detected in the cabling of both spacecraft. The launch was scheduled for May 30 and has now been pushed to June 6, said Pete Theisinger, the project's manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Tests on the Mars exploration rovers conducted at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Engines controlling the final descent of NASA's Mars Polar Lander might have shut off prematurely, sending the $165-million probe crashing to the surface, according to a new theory that is being investigated. Engineers have found a design flaw that could have caused the spacecraft's engines to switch off while the probe was still more than 100 feet above the surface. A fall from that altitude would have destroyed the spindly probe.

The Mars Polar Lander is officially lost--again. Hopes were raised late last month that the probe had signaled Earth--and a worldwide flurry of activity began to listen for and decode radio transmissions from space--but NASA officials have once again given up their search for the errant spacecraft. Stanford telescope operators thought they had detected a faint signal that could have come from the lander in January.

Astronomers who spent the weekend sifting through radio transmissions from space say they have detected no signals from the missing Mars Polar Lander. But project leaders said Monday that they are still trying to contact the craft and have turned to astronomers worldwide for help. Scientists say that if the lander is still operational, they would not expect a signal back before Friday, and a clear indication might not come for several more days. The $165-million craft was lost Dec.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission managers Tuesday sent another set of commands to Mars to investigate the possibility that a signal detected by a radio dish at Stanford University came from the Mars Polar Lander. The commands, at 10 a.m., will instruct the lander, if it is operating, to send a signal directly to the antenna at Stanford today about 1 p.m. The Stanford receiving station will listen during the window today to see if it picks up a signal that could originate from Mars.

NASA officials Monday said they had exhausted all possible means of contacting their ill-fated Mars Polar Lander and now have no hope of finding the craft or determining exactly what caused its disappearance. Expected to reach Mars on Dec. 3, the $165-million space probe was largely given up for lost a few weeks later after repeatedly failing to signal Earth.

Engines controlling the final descent of NASA's Mars Polar Lander might have shut off prematurely, sending the $165-million probe crashing to the surface, according to a new theory that is being investigated. Engineers have found a design flaw that could have caused the spacecraft's engines to switch off while the probe was still more than 100 feet above the surface. A fall from that altitude would have destroyed the spindly probe.

NASA officials have delayed the launch of the first of two Mars landers by at least one week because of a problem detected in the cabling of both spacecraft. The launch was scheduled for May 30 and has now been pushed to June 6, said Pete Theisinger, the project's manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Tests on the Mars exploration rovers conducted at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The fervent hopes of scientists--including these planetary experts at UCLA--for a successful landing at the south pole of Mars were dashed when the $165-million Mars Polar Lander vanished without a trace Dec. 3 as it began its descent to the surface of the Red Planet. It was the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's second failed Mars mission of the year. In September, JPL's $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter disappeared as it began to orbit the fourth planet.

Friday, Dec. 3, 1999-- Science officer's log, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., 12:15 p.m., Earth time. First chance for NASA engineers to receive contact from Mars Polar Lander, scheduled to touch down today at Martian south pole. All systems go. JPL to MPL: Come in, please, Polar Lander. Awaiting your signal. MPL: (No response.) JPL to MPL: Rise and shine, MPL. Confirm landing, please. MPL: (No response.) JPL: Phone home, MPL. Operators standing by. MPL: (No response.