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Mars rovers to hunt water, life

Posted on: Saturday, 7 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA will send out the first of two rovers to Mars on Sunday, looking for signs of water and possibly life.

The second rover is scheduled to be launched later this month, and both are expected to reach the planet next January.

Previous missions showed that there was water on Mars in the past, but NASA scientists want to find out how long the water was there and in what amounts.

"If we have any hopes of finding and answering the questions -- 'Is there life on Mars? Was there life on Mars?' -- we have to not only show that water existed on Mars but that it persevered for long, long periods of time," said Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science.

Of approximately 30 attempts to reach Mars, only 12 missions have succeeded. Of nine attempts to land there, only three have succeeded.

Four years ago, NASA launched two spacecraft to Mars but both failed, forcing NASA to revamp its Mars program. The current rover program has cost $800 million.

"It's not a trip to the beach on a Sunday afternoon," Weiler said. "Landing on Mars is very, very difficult ... It's a graveyard for many spacecraft."

The 4-foot, 9-inch rovers will operate like robotic field geologists. They will move around on six wheels that support a platform of solar panels. An arm extending from the front of the rover holds a microscope, spectrometers that can identify minerals and a tool that can scrape away rock to expose its interior.

A mast rises from the solar panel platform holding a panoramic camera whose images will help scientists decide which areas to explore.

The two rovers are scheduled to land on opposite sides of the planet, said Cathy Weitz, a NASA scientist with the rover program.

The first rover will land in a valley that is believed to have been eroded by flowing water. The second will land near the planet's meridian, where scientists believe there is a mineral associated with water called gray hematite.

"When you look at Mars today, it's cold. It's dry. It's barren. It's not the kind of place that would be suitable for life," said Steve Squyres, principal investigator for the rover program. "Yet when you look from above, you see this compelling evidence that once upon a time conditions were different."

The Red Planet is proving to be a popular destination for space exploration this month because Earth and Mars are as close as they will be in a long time. Besides the NASA rovers, the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter with its British-built Beagle 2 lander was launched Monday from Kazakhstan.

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