NASA and Lockheed have collaborated successfully on several Mars missions. Their reputation was tarnished last fall when a math error caused the $125 million Climate Orbiter to burn up in the Martian atmosphere. The implication that the Polar Lander’s landing area was selected with a similar lack of care has got to sting, but NASA’s Richard Zurek says every precaution was taken. “No landing area is without some hazards,” he says. “I’m still confident we went to the right site.” With two more Mars missions set to launch in early 2001, scientists have little time to decide if avoiding a repeat of last year’s disasters requires a change of strategy or just a change of luck.
