Posted by tourdemars to Nozomi at December 8, 2003 12:00 PM

The first Canadian scientific instrument to travel beyond earth's orbit is in danger of becoming lost in space this week as it limps toward Mars on board a Japanese spacecraft. "It's definitely a big disappointment; we've put a lot into this," said Alain Berinstain, Mars project leader at the Canadian Space Agency. "But if you compare it to our Japanese colleagues, they have a lot more at stake here than we do." Japan's problem-plagued Nozomi orbiter is one of four spacecraft currently en route to the red planet.