Space Forum / Space Flight / December 2003

I am holding out hope the mission will still succeed, but meanwhile, I'm trying
to think of the possible reasons for failure, and what if anything could have
been done to prevent or recover from them. Interested in your rankings of these
possibilities or alternate most likely failure modes.

Software/programming failure akin to MCO, landing outside predicted area or
munged Mars atmospheric entry and burnup.

Lander never inserted for entry in right position and skipped out of
atmosphere, returned and burned or /and landed somewhere completely different.

Leak in onboard systems leading to explosion during  heating in Mars Entry
interface.

Malfunctioning deployment, pyros early, late, or none,  on parachute system, or
chute fouled or burned.

Balloon bags failed and g-load/impact out of limits.

Antennae fouled by parts of balloon bags, or balloon bags not all deflated and
causing fouling of deployment.

Landed against a large boulder and was flipped inverted when the clamshells
hinged open, which otherwise is self-righting assuming you're on a flat spot to
start with.

En-route solar flare damage to electronics undetected, internal clock not
re-set, or sequencer damaged.

Stuck in a rift, arroyo, crevice or chasm, only a 2-3 degree radio window
straight up in one direction, or unable to deploy at all in the crevice.

God hates Blur;-)

Other possibilities?