The Mars Program Independent Assessment Team (MPIAT) 65-page report is now available at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/marsreports/

It requires the free Adobe Acrobat reader.

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

March 28, 2000

NEW MARS MANAGEMENT AND FLIGHT PROJECTS OFFICES CREATED

A new office devoted to management of future Mars missions is being formed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, along with another new office that will oversee the implementation of space science flight projects, JPL Director Dr. Edward C. Stone announced today.

Stone said the changes are being made to provide strengthened institutional support for implementing JPL's space science missions, and to bring added focus to the Laboratory's management of exploratory missions to Mars planned for coming years.

"The formation of these offices is directly responsive to the recommendations of the Young investigation report," said Stone, referring to the newly released findings of the Mars Program Independent Assessment Team, led by Thomas Young. The heads of both new offices will report directly to the director of JPL.

A new manager for the Mars Program Office is expected to be named in about a week, Stone said.

A new JPL Space Science Flight Projects Directorate, to be headed by Thomas R. Gavin, will manage the implementation of space science projects, including those of the Mars Program. Gavin, currently deputy director of JPL's Space and Earth Sciences Programs Directorate, was previously spacecraft system manager for the Cassini mission, now en route to Saturn. Gavin's other experience at JPL includes management responsibility for the quality assurance and mission reliability of the Galileo mission, currently orbiting Jupiter. His newly formed directorate will be responsible for all non-Earth orbiting flight missions. Under the Laboratory's previous management structure, these projects were carried out under the Space and Earth Sciences Program Directorate.

Mission operations management for space science missions will be the responsibility of JPL's Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate, headed by Gael Squibb. Previously, operations for Mars missions and a few others were managed by the Space and Earth Sciences Directorate. Now, the Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate, which also manages NASA's Deep Space Network, will be responsible for all deep space missions in flight, Stone said.

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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March 29th, 2000 - Issue #207
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ENGINE SHUTDOWN LIKELY CULPRIT IN MARS LANDER CRASH

Two review boards report that a software glitch likely caused the loss of the Mars Polar Lander (MPL). When the landing legs of the MPL deployed at 130 feet above Mars, sensors in the legs may have sent signals telling the computer it was already landed, shutting down the engines. However, the deeper problem was attempting ambitious missions with too little, leaving little chance of success.

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March 29, 2000

2001 MARS LANDER MISSION CANCELLED

A Mars lander scheduled for launch next year has been cancelled. That lander had a design similar to the Mars Polar Lander. The companion orbiter mission will proceed.

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NASA ORDERS SWEEPING CHANGES AFTER MARS FAILURES

In the wake of two costly -- and embarrassing -- failures last year, NASA is restructuring its Mars exploration program, indefinitely delaying a planned 2001 landing mission amid sweeping management changes to improve communications, oversight and engineering expertise.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/0003/29marsreports/

NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC

March 28, 2000

MARS PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT OUTLINES ROUTE TO SUCCESS

An in-depth review of NASA's Mars exploration program, released today, found significant flaws in formulation and execution led to the failures of recent missions, and provides recommendations for future exploration of Mars.

NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin appointed Thomas Young, a seasoned space-industry executive, to independently assess current and future Mars programs. The Mars Program Independent Assessment Team (MPIAT) started work on January 7, 2000, and delivered its final report to the Agency in mid- March.

"I congratulate Tom Young and his team for a superb report," Goldin said today. "They have rigorously scrutinized both successful and unsuccessful missions, shining a searchlight into every corner of the incredibly complex endeavor of deep space exploration. He and his team have delivered an extraordinary report and I thank them on behalf of NASA and the American people."

"Speaking for the team, I would like to express my appreciation for the spirit of cooperation that we enjoyed at NASA Headquarters, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and at Lockheed Martin," Young said. "The managers, scientists and engineers we spoke with were candid and frank in their presentations and in their answers to our questions. Everyone worked toward the same goal: finding ways to make the Mars program successful.

"One of the things we kept in mind during the course of our review is that in the conduct of space missions, you get only one strike, not three. Even if thousands of functions are carried out flawlessly, just one mistake can be catastrophic to a mission," Young said. "Our review confirmed that mistakes can be prevented by applying experienced oversight, sufficient testing, and independent analysis."

The team's charter was to review and analyze successes and failures of recent missions to determine why some succeeded and some failed; examine the relationship between and among NASA Headquarters, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the California Institute of Technology and industry partners; assess the involvement of scientists; identify lessons learned from successes and failures; review the Mars Surveyor Program to assure lessons learned are utilized; oversee Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 failure reviews; and evaluate the risk management process.

The report concluded the most probable cause of the failure was the generation of spurious signals when the lander legs were deployed during descent. The spurious signals gave a false indication that the spacecraft had landed, resulting in a premature shutdown of the engines and the destruction of the lander when it crashed on Mars.

Without any entry, descent and landing telemetry data, there is no way to know whether the lander reached the terminal descent propulsion phase. If it did reach this phase, it is almost certain that premature engine shutdown occurred, the report concluded.

NASA's Office of Space Science will develop an integrated strategic response to the findings and recommendations of the report. NASA Chief Engineer W. Brian Keegan also will coordinate an integrated Agency response to the recent reviews of NASA program management practices.

In addition, today, Dr. Edward Weiler, the Associate Administrator for Space Science, announced the cancellation of the planned Mars 2001 lander awaiting his approval of a new overall Mars "architecture" plan. Weiler also will make management changes in the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters and work with the California Institute of Technology to institute effective change at JPL, clearly articulating lines of authority, clarifying roles and improving communication between all organizations involved. In that regard, Weiler today appointed Scott Hubbard as the Mars Program Director at NASA Headquarters. Hubbard is now Associate Director for Astrobiology and Space Programs, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.

The MPIAT report findings included:

The MPIAT report found common characteristics among both successful and unsuccessful missions:

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March 28th, 2000 - Issue #206
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MARS PROGRAM REPORT TO BE PUBLISHED TODAY

NASA is releasing a much-anticipated report on the mismanagement of its Mars missions. The report describes inadequate testing, unseasoned workforce, and poor communication. NASA lost two spacecraft sent to Mars last year, including the Mars Climate Orbiter, which burned up due to a mix up of metric and imperial units in its construction.

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NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

MARS PROGRAM INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT TEAM BRIEFING SCHEDULED

The Mars Program Independent Assessment Team's report will be discussed during a news briefing on Tuesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST), at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The news briefing will be carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. The report will be accessible online Tuesday, March 28 at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST) from the NASA homepage at: http://www.nasa.gov

NASA chartered the Mars Program Independent Assessment Team, led by Thomas Young, to independently assess current and future Mars programs in light of the recent loss of several spacecraft at Mars. During the briefing, Young, a retired Lockheed Martin Corp. executive vice president, will present the team's findings and recommendations. NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science, Dr. Edward J. Weiler, will address NASA's response to the findings and recommendations. The report of the Mars Polar Lander Failure Review Board, chaired by John Casani, will be released concurrently with the Young team's report.

NASA television is on GE-2, transponder 9C, located at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is on 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz.

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2000 March 27
http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/0327/

Report: NASA Knew Mars Polar Lander Fatally Flawed

NASA engineers reportedly knew of a potentially fatal flaw in the design of the Mars Polar Lander (MPL) spacecraft prior to its launch, but that problem was hidden by managers, a UPI report published Tuesday claimed.

NASA, however, vigorously denied the report Wednesday, going to unusual steps to announce that the allegations in the UPI article are untrue.

The UPI article, written by veteran space journalist James Oberg, claimed that engineers found a problem with the descent engine that would have been used to land the spacecraft on the Martian surface during tests of that engine prior to launch.

The descent engine on MPL used hydrazine propellant which was passed through a metal catalyst bed that caused the hydrazine to decompose and ignite. However, engineers reportedly found in preflight testing that, at the cold temperatures the spacecraft would be exposed to during its flight to Mars, the hydrazine would either not reliably ignite or combust uncontrollably, possibly triggering an explosion.

The UPI report, citing an unidentified source familiar with the MPL investigation, said that someone in middle management simply changed the conditions of the test, warming the catalyst bed until the hydrazine burned as required.

The change in the test's conditions was made without the approval of project management. "That happened in middle management," UPI's source was quoted as saying. "It was done unilaterally with no approval up or down the chain of command."

While having no immediate comment on the UPI article, NASA officials early Wednesday vigorously denied claims that test conditions were altered. "NASA categorically denies this charge," space agency officials said in a press release rebutting in detail the UPI article. Officials said that investigations into the MPL failure have not turned up any evidence of testing irregularities as alleged.

"In fact," the NASA release added, "members of the [MPL] review teams are using words like 'bunk,' 'complete nonsense,' and 'wacko,' to describe their reactions to UPI's charge."

NASA went to extraordinary lengths Wednesday to deny the report. In addition to the press release, a rare response by NASA to any published article, Brian Welch, director of media services for the space agency, sent a letter to UPI calling the publication of the article "unfair" and "unprofessional". "We believe UPI owes its readers a retraction," Welch wrote in the letter to UPI news director Dan Olmstead.

This is not the first time concerns about the descent engine were made public. An investigation into the Mars Climate Orbiter failure uncovered a concern in early November that the descent engine might not operate as planned if the catalyst bed was not warmed. At that time NASA officials said any problems with the engine would be avoided by turning on propellant heaters several hours before arrival.

If the UPI's story about the descent engine problem is correct, though, one outside observer believes strong action is warranted. "If this is true, someone should be indicted," said Keith Cowing, editor of the NASA Watch web site.

While the report investigating the MPL failure has not yet been released, rumors in recent weeks have focused on problems with the spacecraft's three landing legs, not the descent engine. According to those reports, flexing of the legs as they locked into their extended position may have fooled the spacecraft's computer into thinking the spacecraft had landed, and thus turn off its descent engine, even though the spacecraft was nearly 2 km (1.2 mi.) above the surface.

Both the report on the MPL failure investigation and a separate report from an independent panel looking to NASA's overall Mars exploration program were supposed to have been released in mid- March. The independent panel's report will be released this Tuesday.

The independent report in particular is expected to be especially critical of NASA, recommending schedule delays and additional expenditures. An article in the March 10 issue of the journal Science compared the report to the Rogers Commission investigation of the shuttle Challenger accident.

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March 27th, 2000 - Issue #205

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MARS SURFACE TOO RUGGED FOR LANDERS

Photographic data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor show that most regions of Mars of scientific interest are too rugged for the landing craft NASA has been sending. Plantary geologist Ken Edgett has been studying the photographic record of the Surveyor for more than two years.

http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/astronomy/news/2000/solarsys/20000325.html

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March 14th, 2000 - Issue #196

REVIEW PANEL CRITICIZES MARS PROGRAM RISKS

In the wake of the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter botches, a review panel may be putting the nail in the coffin for the "bigger, cheaper, faster" philosophy that drove the Mars program. The review blames the focus on "faster" and "cheaper" missions at the expense of successful risk management.

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SLOPPY MANAGEMENT BLAMED FOR MARS ORBITER LOSS

An independent review board blames the loss of NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter last year on sloppy project management, a lack of agency oversight, poor communications and shortsighted engineering. To avoid similar mishaps in the future, the board called for NASA to adopt a "mission success first" approach.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/0003/14mcoreport/

Two Mars Review Panel Reports Released Today

March 13, 2000

NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin praised the work of two review panels whose reports on NASA project management issues are being released today, noting that they have "done the Agency and the Nation a great service." The Phase II report by the Mars Climate Orbiter Mishap Investigation Board, led by Marshall Space Flight Center Director Arthur G. Stephenson, and the Faster, Better, Cheaper report by former Jet Propulsion Laboratory project manager Anthony Spear, are part of a top-to-bottom review of Agency programs Goldin chartered within the past few months. An additional report, from the Mars Independent Assessment Team chaired by Thomas Young, will be available by the end of March. That assessment and findings will be considered in planning for future Mars exploration missions.

The reports release today are available at either of these URLs: http://www.nasa.gov/
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/news/reports.html

NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC

March 13, 2000

ADMINISTRATOR PRAISES WORK OF REVIEW TEAMS

NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin today praised the work of two panels reporting on NASA project management issues, noting that the teams "have done a great service to the Agency and to the Nation."

The Phase II report by the Mars Climate Orbiter Mishap Investigation Board, led by Marshall Space Flight Center Director Arthur G. Stephenson, and the Faster, Better, Cheaper report by former Jet Propulsion Laboratory project manager Anthony Spear, are part of a top-to-bottom review of Agency programs Goldin chartered within the past few months.

The two reports released today join the work of another review panel, the Shuttle Independent Assessment Team, led by Ames Research Center Director Dr. Henry McDonald, which looked into Space Shuttle processing issues. That report was released March 9. An additional review, by a team under former Lockheed Martin executive Thomas Young, is due to NASA this week, and after a short period of study will be publicly released later this month.

"These teams have performed magnificently," Goldin said. "They have zeroed in on problem areas and have provided a roadmap for improving our performance in the future. The American people have said loud and clear they desire a government which costs less and does more. NASA has heard that message and embarked on a fundamental cultural change over the last several years.

"We knew this change would not be easy. We knew we would have problems," Goldin said. "We pushed, we monitored, and we initiated these reviews to find the areas which need correction. These reviews make clear there is no turning back from our overall goal and have identified where we can and must do better."

Goldin has asked NASA Chief Engineer W. Brian Keegan to lead an internal group of experts in considering the reports as a whole and developing an integrated set of responses. "I have asked the Chief Engineer to work with the heads of each of the major NASA Enterprises and the NASA field centers to develop an across-the- board approach to implementing these recommendations. Specific actions will be defined by mid-summer," Goldin said.

Among the report findings, Goldin noted the following:

Goldin said copies of all the reports will be provided to NASA managers to share with their employees to help incorporate the lessons learned into NASA management practices. "NASA has an incredible team of employees and contractors," Goldin said. "They are the best in the world at what they do, and I am proud to be a part of that team."

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