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From disappointment to optimism

The past and future of NASA missions to Mars and UA

Within the past year, NASA has seen its share of failures - costly failures.

Between the Mars Climate Orbiter crash in September and the Mars Polar Lander disappearance in December, NASA has lost more than $300 million worth of equipment.

But NASA was not the only group hit hard by the failures.

Scientists from the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory contributed a $4.4 million Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer - which would have tested the Martian surface's elemental composition - to the failed Mars Polar Lander mission.

"All the lost hours with your family - it makes you wonder if it was for nothing," said Samuel "Hop" Bailey, UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory project manager. "It makes you question why you are doing it."

While scientists are still unclear as to what caused the failure of the Lander mission in December, it was just one part of a rocky road for UA involvement in NASA missions to Mars in the 1990s.

In 1991, UA scientists contributed a gamma-ray spectrometer - designed to map the surface of Mars and give scientists a better perspective of soil substances of the Red Planet - to the Mars Observer mission.

The Observer exploded as it entered Mars' atmosphere.

Success has not entirely eluded UA space scientists, however.

A UA team developed the camera system for the famous 1996 Mars Pathfinder mission, which delivered color pictures from the Martian surface.

While Bailey said it was difficult to deal with recent failures, his team has always worked for the future.

"I went through a week where I was a disaster. But we were working on the gamma-ray spectrometer at the time, so we went forward," he said.

Final adjustments are being made for NASA's next mission, the $320 million Mars Surveyor 2001, expected to launch next April.

The mission will feature a $14.4 million UA-built gamma-ray spectrometer - the scientists' second chance at achievement.

The instrument is expected to detect for the presence of sub-surface water on Mars, which is essential to possible future of colonization on the planet.

"We are quite confident that things will be okay," Bailey said.

Mary Hardin, public information officer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said scientists are planning for success.

"Our teams are incorporating lessons learned from previous missions," Hardin said. "We need to understand that space missions are a risky business."

Hardin added that more scientists are working on Surveyor than previous missions.

A technique known as "aerobraking" could increase the chances for success.

"The Orbiter will dive into the atmosphere and let friction drag slow it down," he said. "It will get captured and then gradually circularize its orbit (around the planet)."

NASA scientists originally planned for an orbiter and lander to be part of the Surveyor mission, but recently scrapped the completed $120 million lander portion.

"If they wanted to fly it, they would have to reconfigure the payload," Bailey added.

He said that he is hopeful UA could participate in a future launch of the Lander, which could occur in 2003.

Once the gamma-ray spectrometer is delivered this summer, Bailey plans to take a break from the grind of the lab.

"I'm going on vacation with the family," he said.

Blake Smith can be reached at Blake.Smith@wildcat.arizona.edu.