PASADENA, CALIF. - Edward C. Stone, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the NASA center has already begun to tackle the more than a dozen recommendations made public today by the panel investigating the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter.
"We agree with the findings in the report and with all the recommendations and we are implementing them," Stone said in an interview with space.com.
JPL, located in Pasadena, Calif., was responsible for the Climate Orbiter, which vanished Sept. 23 as it entered orbit around Mars. An initial review of the loss indicates spacecraft contractor Lockheed Martin Astronautics supplied JPL with subtle yet crucial navigational data expressed in English units, which NASA confused for metric units.
The compounding of that otherwise small error sent the Orbiter an estimated 60 miles (96 kilometers) too close to Mars over the course of its journey from Earth, causing it to either burn up or spin off into orbit around the sun.
"We kept propagating things out, but it turns out we didnt know where we were," said Norm Haynes, former director of the Mars Exploration Directorate at JPL.
Stone said the error should not shake the publics confidence in JPLs ability to successfully design, build, launch and manage a large number of missions, part of the "faster, better, cheaper" mantra that has marked Daniel Goldins tenure as NASA administrator. The issue was one of insufficient oversight, including peer review.
"We know it works, it was just a case in this one area, with one navigational activity, [that] it wasnt enough," Stone said.
That blunder has prompted NASA to redouble its efforts to ensure that a similar fate does not befall the Climate Orbiters sister mission, the Mars Polar Lander.
The two missions had a combined price tag of $328 million. The Lander is expected to set down on Mars on Dec. 3.
Stone said that in recent weeks both JPL and Lockheed have added dozens of employees to the mission to bolster the checks and balances that were insufficient in the case of the Climate Orbiter.
"If I look at Mars Climate Orbiter, we should have been able to do the mission with the budget and the schedule we had," Stone said. "That we couldnt, that means we have to put in some additional peer review. That doesnt mean you have to double or triple the mission team, you just have to reallocate the resources you have."
Already the extra eyes have paid off: The investigative panel has recommended JPL pre-heat the descent engines on the Polar Lander to prevent their malfunctioning because of extreme cold. JPL reports the solution should fend off any potential problem.
"I feel the actions were taking will certainly improve the chances and the likelihood of our landing," said Stone, who has led JPL since 1991. The veteran physicist first gained notice when he became chief scientist on the Voyager mission in the late 1970s and since been involved as principal or co-investigator on more than a dozen other missions.
And similar to the investigation that followed the loss of the $1 billion Mars Observer in 1993, both Stone and Goldin have said the Climate Orbiter report would not result in a witch hunt. A second report by the investigation board will be completed by Feb. 1.
"Were not looking to affix blame," Stone said, "were looking to improve processes."
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