Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) today released the following statement on the successful landing of NASA’s Mars rover, Spirit:
“I want to applaud NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Dr. Stephen Squyers of Cornell and his team for a spectacularly successful landing on Mars. Like many Americans, I have been transfixed by the pictures and eagerly await three months of awe-inspiring exploration. This is truly an auspicious start to the New Year and an exciting first step in the next era at NASA.
“This mission is a reminder to us all of the amazing work that goes on at NASA and its partners. Everyone from the engineers involved in planning and design to Administrator Sean O’Keefe deserve an ovation for the hard work that went into this important mission.
“The successful landing was no accident. In the wake of previous failures, NASA’s space science program and JPL thoroughly reviewed their procedures and changed their ways of doing business. NASA is now reaping the fruits of those efforts, which were no doubt traumatic at the time. All of NASA should see that experience as a model. The Mars mission also demonstrates the continuing value of NASA’s science missions, which can provide enormous scientific benefits at a relatively low cost. I continue to believe that space science and earth science should be the agency’s top priorities.”
