> Meanwhile in this universe well the GP said "landing", so that disqualifies your mention of the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Observer, and Deep Space 2

> Meanwhile in this universe well the GP said "landing", so that disqualifies your mention of the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Observer, and Deep Space 2 was carried by the Mars Polar Lander, so that really only counts as one loss. The statement was not "it's actually weird how US has only had success at landing on mars". It's still difficult to land things on another planet. The expense and the distance limit quick iteration. So...pretty successful, yeah.