Yes we sure have our failures....I hear the compass went out....they can't tell N from S once they pass the 50K marker on other side of the moon!:-)
Seriously....there have been a number of folks on the 'conspiracy' nets who believe that intelligent life is shooting down our probes. Well we know for sure one failure was due to human error of inches and centimeters. What could 3 million dollars do to clothethis years homeless or those mentally ill walking the streets.....maybe some good nutrition would get them in better spirits...priority! Take care of our own, then if there is some left over...go ahead and try for outer space, but methinks it will only bring more questions than answers. What could we possibly gain from knowing whether or not there was once life on Mars. We make so many errors on this planet (ie ozone, pollution, over opulation). If there is intelligent life out in this galaxy or another, chances are it wants nothing to do with us!
Bob