The End of "LIFE" (And the Russian Mars Probe)

It’s another unexpected event in space exploration, always a risky business.  Rest assured that The Planetary Society will continue to press forward and seek answers to those deep questions: Where did we come from, and are we alone?

 -- Bill Nye
    CEO, The Planetary Society

I received this email a few days ago and now I read the Planetary Society's LIFE experiment, as well as the Russian probe Phobos-Grunt, came crashing down into the Pacific ocean yesterday (see my earlier piece).  It was a sad ordeal for the Russian space program, made worse by some Russians looking for someone to blame.  According to Canada's National Post, the Russians are looking at the internal causes of this failure. 

That's more encouraging then what we heard a few days ago where Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin indicated the West may have been to blame for the probe's problem.  Of course, not only did the probe contain a U.S. experiment (LIFE) but also a Chinese probe.  It was a truly international effort.  I hope we are getting past finger-pointing now, but it is not encouraging when the only country getting us to the International Space Station may think we are sabotaging their space program.