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The Nasa's reputation may be tarnished but in the long term a better Mars exploration programme will emerge from the Young investigation.
The agency must address the inadequate budgets, software, testing, staffing, experience, management and oversight that have been blamed for its Red Planet failures such as the Mars Polar Lander (MPL).
Was there life on Mars, is there life on Mars? That's not going to be answered in 5-6 years. It's going to take a decade  |
Nasa's Ed Weiler
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"Thousands of things can go right but one mistake can cause a failure," said the Mars Program Independent Assessment Team (MPIAT) leader, Thomas Young.
Wise words. Success is not guaranteed at the final frontier and some missions will inevitably from time to time. But an honourable failure is one thing - the mess behind the recent Mars missions is another.
Management changes
Nasa's Ed Weiler faced the stinging criticisms of the report. "Nasa's Office of Space Science will fully respond to the findings and all lessons learned," he said.
 The Mars Polar Lander should have touched down like this
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Dr Weiler also outlined significant managerial changes intended to improve morale and communication. "We do not want our best people to be afraid to raise issues," he said.
Reflecting on the back-to-back Mars failures Dr Weiler said: "We found the boundary and we have stepped back from it."
He said that Nasa wants a long-term Mars exploration plan to look for past and possibly present life on Mars and that meant looking for water on the Red Planet.
Future missions
"Was there life on Mars, is there life on Mars? That's not going to be answered in 5-6 years. It's going to take a decade," he added.
As reported by BBC News Online two weeks ago, all future Mars missions, with the exception of an orbiter due to be launched next year are on hold pending a thorough review of what science needs to be done at Mars and what is actually achievable.
"We want a plan that makes scientific sense," Dr Weiler explained. "We will put that against the budget and the launch dates will fall where they fall"
The MPIAT inquiry will result in a more science-focused emphasis on Mars missions exploration and more coherence between Nasa missions and programmes.
But it will also require Nasa to find more money and that will not be easy.
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