Posted by Scott Johnson on December 28, 1999 at 15:07:31:
In Reply to: Future Mars Landings posted by David Smith on December 28, 1999 at 10:27:41:
> Why can't we put a satellite in orbit around Mars, and position it so
> it could monitor any future landings?
Actually the Mars Global Surveyor is a satellite orbiting Mars right
now. It does not have sufficient resolution though to find the
Mars Polar Lander. You would need a very sophisticated satellite
to get such resolution. This would be very expensive and since
NASA operates on a very small budget (about 0.8% of the total
US budget), it is not affordable.
Maybe you should take Ed's and my advice in previous threads and go to
the actually web page that discusses the Mars program.
Again, that page is
Scott
BTW -
The Mars program has been anything but a failure. Remember that
Pathfinder and the aforementioned Mars Global Surveyor are part
of this program also. The Pathfinder was a mission success
and the Mars Global Surveyor works just fine.
The Mars program that produced the Mars Polar Lander worked on
a philosophy of cheaper but riskier. It is believed that even
though you might have some losses it would still be cheaper
than spending a lot of money on one satellite and possibly
losing all the money (if it fails). Which way is better?
I think each individual has to decide this for themselves.