The lander probably then crashed to the ground at a velocity of 50 miles per hour. The failure of the Mars Polar Lander followed the destruction of the Mars Climate Orbiter last September when engineers got their English and metric units mixed up. A decade of budget pressures has left NASA with a third fewer workers than seven years ago. The conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, favors abandoning U.S. involvement in the International Space Station and the privatization of satellite launches and the space shuttle program. Listen to an National Public Radio story on how NASA's cost cutting poses risks.
Inflation is the general increase in the price spent on goods and services.
If approved by Congress, this would be the first budget increase for NASA in seven years. Learn More Visit mywave Riverdeep's student area, to see an interactive feature on Life in Space. For a more dramatic description of the Mercury astronauts and the early days of NASA, read Tom Wolfe's novel, The Right Stuff. Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited. All rights reserved.