Learning That They Are Not Alone In Producing Failure After Failure...

...NASA breathes a sigh of relief as...

Japan Space Probe Fails Asteroid Landing

TOKYO (AP) - "A Japanese research probe failed to touch down on an asteroid Sunday after developing trouble just yards away from the surface, Japan's space agency said. The Hayabusa probe, which botched a rehearsal landing earlier this month, was on a mission to briefly touch down on the asteroid,..."

Seriously though, I was rooting for the Japanese probe to succeed and it's a bloody shame the thing went fubar. Hopefully they've learned from their mistakes and will soon give it another try. Many years ago I bet one of my brothers that in my lifetime a man would land on Mars, and I'd HATE to have to await his arrival in the GREAT BEYOND with a checkbook handy.