Mars Polar Lander Found? - Pictures Options

[Sunspot]

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1509_1.asp

In December 1999 NASA's Mars Polar Lander (MPL) was supposed to touch down near the red planet's south pole. But shortly after it entered the Martian atmosphere, the spacecraft disappeared without a trace. Only now, 5½ years later, do scientists think they may have finally located the lander's wreckage and confirmed what went wrong with the mission. The full report, by planetary scientist Michael C. Malin (Malin Space Science Systems), appears in the July 2005 issue of Sky & Telescope, now in press.

More from MSSS:

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/05/05/index.html

[John M. Dollan]

The news story on this at spaceref.com stated that the candidate white dot would indicate that the lander reached the surface "relatively intact" after a 40 meter drop. I wonder what the definition of "relatively" would be in this case? Obviously enough damage would have been done to disable, at the least, the communications ability.

...John...