JPL and the Space Age: The Breaking Point
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s success in landing the low-cost Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997 was viewed as proof that spacecraft could be built more often and for far less money — a radical cultural change NASA termed “Faster, Better, Cheaper.”
This era also coincided with the discovery of a Mars rock that hinted at the possibility of microbial life elsewhere in the solar system. NASA’s reaction was to envision a steady stream of missions to Mars — all done at cut-rate costs. In fact, the next challenge taken on by JPL was to fly two missions to Mars for the price of the single Pathfinder mission. Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander both made it to the launch pad, on time and on budget, but were lost upon arrival at Mars, resulting in one of the most difficult periods in the history of JPL.
“The Breaking Point” tells the story of the demise of these two missions and the abrupt end of NASA’s “Faster, Better, Cheaper” era.
Documentary length: 1 hour 47 minutes
-
38:37
Patriots With Grit
10 hours agoRestoring Our Republic: Taking Back Our Border | Kim Yeater, Eddie Cornell & Scotty Saks
57.4K9 -
51:54
TheTapeLibrary
22 hours ago $5.56 earnedDisturbing Haunting of a Witches' Prison | The True Story of The Cage
48.5K6 -
0:30
steveinman
1 day agoBrotherly Love
78.2K4 -
2:58:53
Jewels Jones Live ®
1 day agoVIOLENT RHETORIC | A Political Rendezvous - Ep. 92
91.5K52 -
1:13:17
Exploring With Nug
19 hours ago $8.64 earnedMissing Person's Remains Found In Virginia Well
78.9K52 -
2:00:56
Tate Speech by Andrew Tate
17 hours agoEMERGENCY MEETING EPISODE 76 - GYAL DEM
322K543 -
23:06
MYLUNCHBREAK CHANNEL PAGE
1 day agoThe Old World is in The Catacombs? - Part 3
80.2K35 -
LIVE
Right Side Broadcasting Network
5 days agoLIVE REPLAY: Pres. Trump Holds a Rally in Wilmington, NC on Jobs, Inflation, & the Economy - 9/21/24
2,589 watching -
47:18
Vigilant News Network
1 day agoShocking Details Emerge About Trump’s Would-Be Assassin and “Wife” | The Morning Catch Up
93.7K64 -
1:01:43
Michael Franzese
1 day agoDemocrat Party is Evil: The Border, Cover Ups, Fraud | Michael Franzese LIVE! Ep. 19
103K90