Engineering Means having to deal with failure Missions to Mars as an example of try, try, try again…

Launch (Mariner 4): November 28, 1964 Flyby (Mariner 4): July 14, 1965 Mass: 261 kilograms (575 pounds) NASA built 10 of the Mariners between 1962 and 1973 Science instruments: Camera with digital tape recorder (about 20 pictures), instruments studying cosmic dust, solar plasma, trapped radiation, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, radio occultation and celestial mechanics Flyby missions

Orbiters (and landers) Launch (Mariner 9): May 30, 1971 Arrival (Mariner 9): November 13, 1971 Mass: 998 kilograms (2,200 pounds) Science instruments: Wide- and narrow-angle cameras with digital tape recorder, infrared spectrometer and radiometer, ultraviolet spectrometer, radio occultation and celestial mechanics instruments Mariner 9 was the first successful satellite To orbit mars

Launch: August 20, 1975 (Viking 1); September 9, 1975 (Viking 2) Arrival: June 19, 1976 (Viking 1); August 7, 1976 (Viking 2) Mass: 2,325 kilograms (5,125 pounds) with fuel Science instruments: High-resolution Camera, Atmospheric Water-vapor Mapper, Surface Heat Mapper, Occultation Experiment Landers Viking 1 and 2 ( )

2001 Mars Odyssey Launch: April 7, 2001 Arrival: October 24, 2001 Mass: 758 kilograms (1,671 pounds), fueled Science instruments: Thermal Emission maging System (THEMIS), Gamma Ray pectrometer (GRS), Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE)

2003 Mars Exploration Rovers Launch: June-July 2003 Arrival: January 2004 Science instruments: Panoramic Camera, Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer, Mössbauer Spectrometer, Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, Microscopic Imager

Launch: June-July 2003 Arrival: January 2004 Science instruments: Panoramic Camera, Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer, Mössbauer Spectrometer, Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, Microscopic Imager List of missions to Mars MissionCountry Launch Date PurposeResults[Unnamed]USSR10/10/60 Mars flyby did not reach Earth orbit [Unnamed]USSR10/14/60 Mars flyby did not reach Earth orbit [Unnamed]USSR10/24/62 Mars flyby achieved Earth orbit only Mars 1 USSR11/1/62 Mars flyby radio failed at 65.9 million miles (106 million km) [Unnamed]USSR11/4/62 Mars flyby achieved Earth orbit only Mariner 3 U.S.11/5/64 Mars flyby shroud failed to jettison Mariner 4 U.S.11/28/64 first successful Mars flyby 7/14/65 returned 21 photos Zond 2 USSR11/30/64 Mars flyby passed Mars but radio failed, returned no planetary data Mariner 6 U.S.2/24/69 Mars flyby 7/31/69 returned 75 photos Mariner 7 U.S.3/27/69 Mars flyby 8/5/69 returned 126 photos Mariner 8 U.S.5/8/71 Mars orbiter failed during launch Kosmos 419 USSR5/10/71 Mars lander achieved Earth orbit only Mars 2 USSR5/19/71 Mars orbiter/lander arrived 11/27/71 no useful data, lander destroyed Mars 3 USSR5/28/71 Mars orbiter/lander, arrived 12/3/71 some data and few photos Mariner 9 U.S.5/30/71 Mars orbiter, in orbit 11/13/71 to 10/27/72 returned 7,329 photos

Mars 4 USSR7/21/73 failed Mars orbiter flew past Mars 2/10/74 Mars 5 USSR7/25/73 Mars orbiter, arrived 2/12/74 lasted a few days Mars 6 USSR8/5/73 Mars orbiter/lander, arrived 3/12/74 little data return Mars 7 USSR8/9/73 Mars orbiter/lander, arrived 3/9/74 little data return Viking 1 U.S.8/20/75 Mars orbiter/lander, orbit 6/19/ , lander 7/20/ Combined, the Viking orbiters and landers returned 50,000+ photos Viking 2 U.S.9/9/75 Mars orbiter/lander, orbit 8/7/ , lander 9/3/ combined, the Viking orbiters and landers returned 50,000+ photos Phobos 1 USSR7/7/88 Mars/Phobos orbiter/lander lost 8/88 en route to Mars Phobos 2 USSR7/12/88 Mars/Phobos orbiter/lander lost 3/89 near Phobos Mars Observer U.S.9/25/92orbiter lost just before Mars arrival 8/21/93 Mars Global Surveyor U.S.11/7/96 orbiter, arrived 9/12/97 currently conducting prime mission of science mapping Mars 96 Russia11/16/96 orbiter and landers launch vehicle failed Mars Pathfinder U.S.12/4/96 Mars lander and rover, landed 7/4/97 last transmission 9/27/97 Nozomi (Planet-B) Japan7/4/98 Mars orbiter, currently in orbit around the Sun Mars arrival delayed to 12/03 due to propulsion problem Mars Climate Orbiter U.S.12/11/98Orbiter lost on arrival at Mars 9/23/99 Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 U.S.1/3/99 lander/descent probes to explore Martian south pole lost on arrival 12/3/99 Mars Odyssey U.S.4/7/01Orbiter currently conducting prime mission of science mapping Missions to Mars, continued.

Success rate of all missions (to 2004) 30 missions 30 missions 3 countries (US, USSR/Russia, Japan) 3 countries (US, USSR/Russia, Japan) 12 successful missions 12 successful missions 38% success 38% success 68% failure (and more that were successful, but failed to complete all of their mission) 68% failure (and more that were successful, but failed to complete all of their mission)

What did they have? Ph.D. (doctors of science) Ph.D. (doctors of science) The best engineers in the world The best engineers in the world A lot of $$$ A lot of $$$ Governmental support Governmental support Decades of work going into some of the missions Decades of work going into some of the missions

So if you don’t feel like you are being successful, just remember that we aren’t NASA or the European Space Agency So if you don’t feel like you are being successful, just remember that we aren’t NASA or the European Space Agency We are building with toys (LEGO) We are building with toys (LEGO) We are brand new at this (whereas a doctor of science will have gone to college for at least 8 years. We are brand new at this (whereas a doctor of science will have gone to college for at least 8 years.