NASA FINALLY SUCCEEDS IN MISSION TO MARS (1-2004)


In 1976, seven years after the first human beings walked on the moon, two unmanned spacecrafts, dubbed Viking 1 and Viking 2, landed on the surface of Mars. The Viking craft actually consisted of an orbiter and a lander. Together, the two orbiters and landers sent back a wealth of data and pictures.

Neither of the Viking landers were able to traverse the surface of Mars. They were parked where they landed for the duration of the mission. But what a mission it turned out to be; the landers were designed to last six months, but one of them remained viable for six years.

Except for the Apollo 13 glitch, NASA seemingly could do no wrong with its manned moon missions and its subsequent unmanned planetary explorations, including the brilliantly-successful Voyager mission to the outer Solar System. 

Then, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, NASA ran into a stretch of bad luck. A space shuttle exploded during liftoff, the Hubble Telescope had myopia, and earthbound scientists lost touch with some of their planetary probes. Others crashed or blew up.

But in 1997, NASA regained some of its early luster with the spectacular success of Pathfinder, the little Mars rover that rolled over the surface of the planet sending back the best series of photographs and data to date. It, too, lasted far longer than it was designed to last.

Since Pathfinder, however, NASA has again started having trouble finding success with its planetary missions and manned shuttle program. It lost another space shuttle, along with its seven-member crew. It has also been unable to successfully land another robot on Mars until just this month.

Finally, a larger rover, dubbed Spirit, made a flawless landing on the surface of Mars last week, and started sending back unique three-dimensional images of the Martian surface.

A twin craft, Opportunity, is scheduled to make a Mars landing later this month. Together, the two rovers, which are larger than Pathfinder, will look for clues of ancient life on Mars.

Scientists were elated at the early success of Spirit. They’ve been waiting since 1997 for another chance to remotely wander around the surface of the Red Planet. They are eager to determine, with a high degree of confidence, whether or not the planet once supported primitive life.

Eventually, NASA hopes to send a manned craft to Mars. It will be an expensive and dangerous mission. But if it succeeds, it is apt to yield far more information about our neighboring planet than a fleet of unmanned robots could produce.

But with a success rate of only one in four, sending a human to Mars anytime soon would be far too risky. NASA is going to have to improve its record, and foster the same degree of confidence it did during the Apollo program.

We haven’t sent a human to another world since 1972. Have we forgotten how? Have we lost confidence? We, as a nation, have certainly lost our drive for the manned exploration of space. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that space exploration programs have yielded far more returns on the investment than any other government program. Exploring space with robots is comparatively cheap. And although it’s more expensive to send humans, the returns on the investment, both tangible and intangible, would be remarkable.

We need to establish a new focus for the space program. We need a solid goal with a solid deadline, like we had in the 1960s.

I hope the early success of this latest mission to Mars is only the first step toward a return to the triumph and respect that NASA experienced during its heyday.