Mars Polar Lander Loss

Mars has a long history of inspiring humans to ask questions and explore it by conducting fly-by missions, orbiting the planet, and actually landing on the surface. Mars continues to fascinate the leading minds of the world today by remaining mysterious about its past climate, geology, potential for life, and the ability of humans to perform manned missions there. The New Millennium Program is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) technology program with the primary goal of developing revolutionary technologies that require validation in space.
The Mars Polar Lander (MPL) was part of the Mars Surveyor program, managed by the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena. The MPL was built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics (LMA). Attached
Contact was lost with both the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 about a year after launch. An investigation found that it was mostly likely a false signal that the spacecraft had landed that shut down the main engines and caused the spacecraft to crash into the Martian surface.
This paper depicts the finding of the Report on the Loss of the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 Missions by JPL Special Review Board, and it explains what could have been done differently based on the lessons
Lockheed Martin senior management did not formally identify risks or deviations from acceptable practice. Also unfortunate, the project management team at Lockheed Martin appeared more focused on meeting mission cost and schedule objectives, and did not adequately focus on mission risk.
2.2 Lessons learned
Some of the recommendations based on the lessons learned from the report are as follows:
• A dedicated single interface at NASA Headquarters for the Mars Program is essential. This individual should have responsibility for all requirements (including human exploration) and funds. Also, Contractor (Lockheed Martin) responsibilities must include formal notification to the customer (NASA/JPL) of project risk and deviations from acceptable