BY THE time this column next appears, we will know whether NASA is sitting on top of the world or is back in the doghouse.
The space administration’s fate depends on a 1000-kilogram spacecraft known as Spirit that is supposed to land on Mars on 3 January (North American time). In truth, Spirit won’t so much touch down on Mars as bounce down, protected by a cocoon of airbags. It is a technique that the agency’s Mars Pathfinder probe successfully pioneered in 1997.
NASA officials like to play down the importance to the agency of a successful landing. They…
