Artist's depiction of the Mars Climate Orbiter. Click on image for full size (18K JPG) Courtesy of NASA

Last Thursday was supposed to be a triumphant one for NASA, but turned out to be a disaster. The Mars Climate Orbiter was scheduled to begin its orbit around the Red Planet early that morning. However, during an engine firing that would have sent the craft into orbit, the probe travelled too close to the planet. Scientists are assuming that the spacecraft burned up during its descent.

"We believe the spacecraft came in at a lower altitude than we predicted," operations project manager Richard Cook said. "Depending on how low that was, it could be the total loss of the mission."

NASA did not have contact with the satellite during the firing, but was supposed to regain contact shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, the $125 million project appears to be lost. The probe was expected to study Mars' climate for one Mars year, or 687 days. Along with The Mars Polar Lander, the orbiter may have proven that water exists on the neighboring planet. Now, even the Polar Lander mission is in jeopardy.

This is just the latest setback in a series of errors and malfunctions that has plagued NASA's exploration of our fellow planet. In 1993, the Mars Observer was lost shortly before reaching Mars. A similar mission in the Soviet Union was also lost during a launch failure.

The failure comes during a critical time for NASA. Congress is currently battling over how much money the agency should receive next year. This latest disaster may hinder any chance of retrieving the $1 billion cut from the budget by the House of Representatives.

Artist's depiction of the Mars Climate Orbiter. Click on image for full size (18K JPG) Courtesy of NASA

Last Thursday was supposed to be a great one for NASA, but turned out to be a disaster. The Mars Climate Orbiter was scheduled to begin its orbit around the Red Planet early that morning. However, during an engine firing that would have sent the craft into orbit, the probe travelled too close to the planet. Scientists believe the spacecraft burned up in Mars' atmosphere.

The probe was expected to study Mars' climate for one Mars year, or 687 days. Along with The Mars Polar Lander, the orbiter may have proven that water exists on the neighboring planet. Now, even the Polar Lander mission is in trouble.

This is just the latest setback in our exploration of Mars. In 1993, the Mars Observer was lost shortly before reaching Mars. A similar mission in the Soviet Union was also lost during a launch failure.

NASA says the lose of one probe will not change any of their plans. More spacecraft will still be sent to the Red Planet.

Artist's depiction of the Mars Climate Orbiter. Click on image for full size (18K JPG) Courtesy of NASA

The Mars Climate Orbiter was sent to the Red Planet to study its weather. It reached the planet last Thursday morning, but there was a problem. The satellite went too far into Mars' atmosphere, and burned up!

NASA sent the orbiter to study the planet's weather for one Mars year, or 687 days. In December, another probe called the Mars Polar Lander will land on Mars to look for water. The orbiter was going to help the lander get to the surface. Now it will have to get there by itself.

Scientists have had many problems while studying Mars. The Mars Observer was lost just before reaching Mars in 1993. The Soviet Union had a launch failure that destroyed one of their probes too.