The back-to-back losses are meager compared to the failure of the $1 billion 1992 Mars Observer (in that years dollars). The Mars Climate Orbiter and Polar Lander make up just 23.5 percent of that mission, which NASA scientists lost contact with in 1993.

Nor are the recent losses costly compared to the $400 million on average that NASA shells out for every space shuttle mission. Most years see at least six shuttle missions, though 1999 had only two.

Other less flashy NASA missions can cost far more than MPL, which garnered national media attention last week. For instance, NASAs Terra satellite, to be launched December 16, costs $1.3 billion, a full $1 billion over the cost of the two-mission Mars Surveyor in 1998. Terra will look at the earths atmosphere and oceans.

During the Cold War space race with the Soviet Union, NASA enjoyed unlimited costs for early Mars exploration efforts, with vastly more personnel.

Dr. Gerald Soffen, who was project scientist for Viking missions to Mars 1968 to 1979, said that during the first Viking landing on Mars, JPL had "1,000 people involved in the actual landing," from mission trajectory experts to spacecraft engineers. "It was a mob of people." But now, "you simply dont have as many people," which he said made things worse for recent Mars missions.

In some ways, cooperation with former enemies has proven more costly than competition. The International Space Station, with delays and cost-overruns in part attributed to problems with Russian and European space agencies, will cost about 250 times what the lost Mars missions have cost thats $60 billion.