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Mars Probe Loss Leaves 2001 Lander in Lurch
By Irene Brown
Special to space.com
posted: 02:38 pm ET
29 September 1999
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Mars_probeThe loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter has thrown a monkey wrench into plans for another Mars mission set for launch in 2001. The 2001 lander will have its own orbiter to serve as a communications link to Earth, but if it -- like the Climate Orbiter -- should fail, the lander would be left with no way to radio its science findings to Earth. Thats because the backup plan was to use Climate Orbiter. "Its definitely something were thinking about," said Carl Pilcher, NASAs director of solar system exploration. Climate Orbiters counterpart, the Mars Polar lander, is equipped with a transmitter to communicate directly with Earth. Because of the loss of the climate orbiter, NASA plans to use the direct communications link with the lander, which is scheduled to arrive on Mars on Dec. 3. The 2001 lander, however, currently does not include a transmitter for direct radio communications. With two orbiters expected to be on hand to serve the lander, managers opted to pass up the transmitter and include more scientific gear. Now, however, that may change. "Were starting to look at our options," said a Washington University researcher Ray Arvidson, who is leading coordinated science observations for the 2001 lander . "Right now, were missing a backup communications system for the lander." The 2001 lander includes a rover, similar to the Sojourner rover flown on NASAs highly successful Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997, for geology studies. The lander will conduct experiments to test how the planets natural resources could be made into rocket fuels, a requirement for any future human expeditions to Mars. The lander and rover are scheduled to launch on April 10, 2001 and arrival on Mars on Jan. 22, 2002.
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