In article ,
(Greg Kuperberg) wrote:

In article ,
Herb Schaltegger wrote:
}In article ,
} (Greg Kuperberg) wrote:
} It was bad management, of course. (Although to be fair, Mars is a
} particularly unforgiving target.)
}More "unforgiving" than Mercury? Venus? Jupiter? Saturn? Uranus?
}Neptune?

Actually landing on Mars is harder than merely orbiting Venus
or even Jupiter, or than landing on the moon.

Your basis for this statement is suspect. And certainly you realize
that there have been at least one (marginally) successful landing on
Venus, don't you? Furthermore, your original statement didn't qualify
itself as limited to landings, just that ". . . Mars is a particularly
unforgiving target." And on that point, I'd have to remind you of
Vikings 1 and 2 and Mars Pathfinder; landing is difficult on any body
from orbital or interplanetary velocities. It is not, however,
impossible.

Your penchant for broad, unqualified generalizations is partly why the
sci.space long-term regulars don't take you very seriously.

Although interestingly they discovered a new difficulty of an inner
Jovian orbit mission: massive charged particle radiation.

--
Herb Schaltegger, Esq.
Chief Counsel, Human O-Ring Society
"I was promised flying cars! Where are the flying cars?!"
~ Avery Brooks