How We Got To Where We Are

The Goldin Days of Space Exploration, Space Foundation

“By the late 1990s, Goldin had inherited a flawed and discredited Mars exploration architecture that had produced a string of embarrassing disasters.”

Editor’s note: Elliot Pulham makes some very good points – and people should pause to recall how we got to where we are. The only major item I differ with Elliot on is the paragraph above. While Dan Goldin did “inherit a flawed and discredited Mars exploration architecture”, he also created one in response to what he was given. By the time MPL and MCO crashed he had been administrator for 6 years – well within the responsibility zone. These spacecraft were the agency’s response (under his leadership) to the Mars Observer failure. However, the American spacecraft orbiting and roving Mars today are an example of learning from one’s mistakes inasmuch as they represent how Goldin got the agency to overcome mistakes he (in part) led it to make in the Faster-Better-Cheaper era.