Patrick, here is the text from Shirley's Website: Donna Shirley was the manager of the Mars Exploration Program and the original leader of the team that built the Sojourner Rover. Donna, who retired from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in August 1998, has written a new autobiography, published by Broadway Books in June 1998, called "Managing Martians: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman's Lifelong Quest to Get to Mars -- and of the Team Behind the Space Robot That Has Captured the Imagination of the World". It's the story of her life from her childhood in Wynnewood, Oklahoma to managing the Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the Pathfinder and Sojourner Rover teams which carried out the Mars landing on July 4, 1997, and tells of the ongoing saga of the Mars Global Surveyor currently orbiting and imaging the red planet. The story of the journey of a girl from a small town who becomes first a pilot, then an engineer, then a member and finally a leader of teams exploring the solar system will keep you turning pages. I'm pretty sure she had the project at least through engineering/construction/testing/assembly/phases. I recall she did have issues with top management, I wonder if JPL and/or NASA have purposely kept her off the Web pages? Ooo, sour grapes! Tony Spear taking over "partway through the mission"? It looks to me like he was handed the whole thing after most of the work was already done. No mention of Shirley on the Website is not a very ethical (or truthful) position. A sin of ommission, at least. Credit should be given where it is due. Dig deeper, Patrick, I know you'd really hesitate to question what NASA tells you, but perhaps this is a good time...If Spear does speak at a meeting, I will definitely ask him publicly "what gives?" C.

That's odd. JPL's Pathfinder site lists Tony Spear at the Project Manager ( http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/bios/team/spear1.html ).

Could not find Shirley anywhere on the site so maybe Spear took over from her part way through the mission.

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