The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to enter orbit around
the Red Planet on Friday, March 10.
THOSE WACKY RUSSIANS! So anyways, I was reading up on news about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (or MRO for short) and its expected arrival at the Red Planet less than two weeks from now, and I found an interesting article online regarding all the spacecraft that have been sent to Mars since 1960. Needless to say, the Earth is batting a little above .500 when it comes to successful missions flown to the Red Planet. And who's the player who should be cut from the team? The Soviet Union-slash-Russia, of course. Back in its Commie days, Russia was pretty much launching probes left and right to Mars...with one intention being to one-up the USA by being the first to land a probe onto the surface of the planet (and Russia was successful by being the first to do so. Too bad that probe didn't last long on the surface). Of course, much like being the first to land a dude on the moon with Apollo, the Yankees prevailed by landing the first truly successful robotic lander with Viking 1 in 1976.
All I can say is, when we finally begin sending humans to the Red Planet, let's hope that they fly on a NASA (or the European Space Agency, I guess) launch vehicle. Wouldn't want our would-be, Mars-bound astronauts to find a one-way ticket to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by having them launch on a Russian rocket. Just kidding! Seriously though, Russia sucks at launching missions to Mars. But let's thank that country for helping us send our astronauts to the International Space Station while our beloved space shuttles remain grounded. 'Nuff said.
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