Comments on: The "Mars Curse": Why Have So Many Missions Failed?

By: hunter rea

hunter rea — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:14:40 +0000

how many satelites tried to go to mars.

By: Vanamonde

Vanamonde — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:13:58 +0000

I'm confused. What does a false color image of a far off stellar nursery in infrared have to do with Mars?

By: parag

parag — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:31:21 +0000

watch new Telescope photos.

By: alokmohan

alokmohan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:22:37 +0000

caprricon1 mission is fiction.We may not jeer.But one thing nasa is discoverind water everyday..This appears funny ad.

By: john archibald

john archibald — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:00:15 +0000

no one has mentioned the vibration during launch of each mission or the retro-rocket stresses during mars atmosphere entry.it is also known that the changes in mars atmosphere are an unknown factor on arrival and may have been a contributing factor to malfunctions during aatmoaphere penetration.

By: Robert Surridge

Robert Surridge — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:37:58 +0000

In the ninth paragraph of this article the writer uses the phrase "re-enter the Martian atmosphere". I think this mistake/oversite helps illustrate the millions of potential errors there are in just conceptualizing the massive "reach" mankind is attempting in Martian exploration.

By: Ironbob

Ironbob — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:29:11 +0000

Tight mechanical tolerances lead to failure? Sorry but that statement makes NO sense at all and I don't think Chuck knows what he's talking about.

Either your design works at nominal or it doesn't. If anything a LOOSE mechanical tolerance would lead to a failure.

The best fit designs are thermal vac tested well beyond the temperature extremes on Mars. I suppose we can insert the old joke, "…but it's a dry heat" here.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:19:15 +0000

No to mention the Capricorn I mission!

By: Jerry Stone

Jerry Stone — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:42:43 +0000

Hard on the heels of the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter, the Mars Polar Lander went silent just prior descent and landing. A message apparently appeared later on a wall at JPL which said; "We have your satellite! If you want it back, send 10 billion in Martian money. No funny business or you will ever see it again."
Who says the Martians have no sense of humour?

Phoenix was so named because it rose from the ashes of the Mars Polar Lander. It's on its way at the moment and is due to land on May 25. Two months and counting …

By: Yael Dragwyla

Yael Dragwyla — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:58:12 +0000

The secret: Opportunity and Spirit are actually members of the Lovecraft Mythos — they gobbled up the Galactic Ghouls for a snack and then the Energizer Bunny, and they're still going and going and going and . . . MuAHahahahah!

By: Astrofiend

Astrofiend — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:19:23 +0000

Yeah, get it right! I mean, it's not rocket science is it? Oh, wait…

By: von Dawson's Express

von Dawson's Express — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:50:35 +0000

..and don't forget 'Mariner 8' and perhaps include the cancelled missions – the orignal 'Voyager' (Two enourmous probes on one Saturn V) and the cancelled manned missions…

By: Chuck Lam

Chuck Lam — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:18:52 +0000

I suspect many of the failures are related to mechanical tolerandces that are simply too tight. My experience is that tight tolerrances test OK in the lab, but go to hell in real conditions. In the case of the Mars failures, temperature extremes will grind the best fit designs to a halt if some temperature consideration is taken for granted or over looked..

By: Spencer

Spencer — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:30:10 +0000

Lets just hope that when Phoenix arrives in May, everything goes smooth. We wouldn't want another sad statistic, I'm sure the staff is using proper spherical coordinate calculations but as for Kirtchfiels Algorithms, I'm pretty sure Theo full of crap.

By: Theo

Theo — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:15:04 +0000

I wish NASA would admit that all their problems are the same. For some reason the **&##%** engineers still do not know how to accurately adjust the Framastat control and adequately secure it with the two Knibbling pins! As we all know if these items are not right the trajectory demanded by the Ralston spherical equations for trajectory can not and will not match the Kirtchfiels insertion algorithms and when that happens we all know the outcome!!
I know they will never admit to this since they never wanted these simple facts know. Now you know and the secret is now out and reveled for the first time ever!!!!

By: RobbiNewman

RobbiNewman — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 08:40:42 +0000

Opportunity and Spirit have wiped the carpet with the body of the ghoul.

La verdad es que se han enviado mÃ¡s misiones espaciales a Marte que al resto del Sistema Solar, pero Â¿por quÃ© casi las dos terceras partes de todas las misiones a ese planeta fallaron por una u otra circunstancia? [...] VÃa Ian O'Neill en Universe Today.

By: charles stokes

charles stokes — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:39:25 +0000

Unknown to Mortal Man==And any others–The USA-NOW-Has a VERY SECRET-Base on Mars–And on the MOON!!!It is now not a secret–I have told it!!Just ask anyone who works For the National Space Admistration!!

By: Hunnter

Hunnter — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:12:37 +0000

It is those damn Aliens!
Always shooting down our 1 billion or whatever Satellites!

In before America declares war on Mars.

By: Ariel R. Guerrero

Ariel R. Guerrero — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:23:38 +0000

Whoa! I can still remember the Mars Polar Lander and the guys at NASA shown on TV with big letters saying "MPL PHONE HOME!"