A time-honored engineering cliche states that you can make something better, you can make it go faster, or you can make it cheaper. In the early 1990s, in response to criticism of the growing costs of science missions, NASA avowed: "faster, better, and cheaper." It was a challenge to politicians, to industry, and to scientists, but above all to the agency itself. NASA's motto has come under considerable criticism after the recent catastrophic losses of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter, two stepping stones for the exploration of Mars. Were traditional engineers too conservative, or has NASA, and especially Dan Goldin, been too daring?
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