All this expertise will be lost with cuts in JPL funding
In recent years there have been continual threats to JPL's annual budget of around $1.5 billion (of which Mars exploration is $300 million). President Obama this year wanted to cut JPL's budget by $300 million, although I think this was rejected by Congress. However, had these cuts gone through, it was quite likely that JPL would have lost many of the experienced personnel who make these Mars landings possible. Other ongoing missions would have lost funding as well.
It seems misguided that the administration would cut the highly successful JPL's budget by $300 million even as it lost $535 million building a shiny new manufacturing plant for the failed Solyndra, but that's our priorities these days.
