Scientist Unfazed, Even if Work Is Lost in Space
By KENNETH R. WEISS, Times Education Writer It's a scene that plays over and over in his mind: On the final leg of a mission to Mars, the spacecraft disappears with his experiments on board. It's no fantasy. In fact, three times UCLA planetary scientist David Paige has lost years of work and millions of dollars in equipment on three separate missions to Mars over the last decade. Throughout the weekend, the question lingered: Is he about to relive his worst nightmare? Paige is in charge of a $22-million package of experiments aboard the Mars Polar Lander that has yet to phone home or answer queries from Earth since it hurtled into the Martian atmosphere midday Friday toward its planned touchdown near the south pole. NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory tried again Sunday--without success--to reach the $165-million spacecraft designed to unearth clues about how the once warmer and wetter planet grew so cold and dry, and whether it ever could have supported life.My Sardonic Thoughts
- 3 times in the last decade his experiments have been lost.
- In the last 10 years, I can think of 3 trips to Mars that didn't make it.
- Maybe we shouldn't let this guy send up experiements, if they are causing the trips to fail...
