NASA schedules next Mars mission to launch in 2007

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A mission to the northern latitudes of Mars to study ice and soil will be launched in 2007, NASA said. The unmanned Phoenix lander, scheduled to touch down on Mars in 2008, will investigate whether subsurface samples of the planet contain organic molecules, NASA said Monday.

If it proceeds according to plan, the Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a $325 million renewed effort to study the red planet.

Two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched this summer to study whether the planet ever had enough water to support life. They are scheduled to land on opposite sides of Mars in January.

Japanese and European orbiters and a lander are due to reach Mars in late December or early January, and NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey currently are circling the planet and sending back images.

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