Mars Polar Lander

The Mars Polar Lander, also known as the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander launched by NASA on January 3, 1999 to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a region near the south pole on Mars. It formed part of the Mars Surveyor '98 mission. On December 3, 1999, however, after the descent phase was expected to be complete, the lander failed to reestablish communication with Earth. A post-mortem analysis determined the most likely cause of the mishap was premature termination of the engine firing prior to the lander touching the surface, causing it to strike the planet at a high velocity. **Use #MarsPolarLander and #MPL if you Use it! if you Have DeviantArt Account, and you Made a Scene with my Mars Polar Lander (MPL) Model and you're about to Upload the Scene Picture to DeviantArt, You Must Give Credits To Me under the Name Tye2000! ( Example @Tye2000 ) **