SETI public: Fw: NASA Rovers Slated to Examine Two Intriguing Sites on Mars

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From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 3:45 PM
To: ljk4_at_msn.com
Subject: NASA Rovers Slated to Examine Two Intriguing Sites on Mars

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

News Release: 2003-051
    April 11, 2003

NASA Rovers Slated to Examine Two Intriguing Sites on Mars

NASA has chosen two scientifically compelling landing sites for twin
robotic rovers to explore on the surface of Mars early next year. The
two sites are a giant crater that appears to have once held a lake,
and a broad outcropping of a mineral that usually forms in the
presence of liquid water.

Each Mars Exploration Rover will examine its landing site for
geological evidence of past liquid water activity and past
environmental conditions hospitable to life.

"Landing on Mars is very difficult, and it's harder on some parts of
the planet than others," said Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA associate
administrator for space science in Washington, D.C. "In choosing where
to go, we need to balance science value with engineering safety
considerations at the landing sites. The sites we have chosen provide
such balance."

The first rover, scheduled for launch May 30, will be targeted to land
at Gusev Crater, 15 degrees south of Mars' equator. The second,
scheduled to launch June 25, will be targeted to land at Meridiani
Planum, an area with deposits of an iron oxide mineral (gray hematite)
about two degrees south of the equator and halfway around the planet
from Gusev.

Which rover is targeted to a specific site is still considered
tentative, while further analyses and simulations are conducted. NASA
can change the order as late as approximately one month after the
launch of the first rover. The first mission will parachute to an
airbag-cushioned landing on Jan. 4, 2004, and the second on Jan. 25,
2004.

"A tremendous amount of effort has gone into evaluating possible
landing sites in the past two years, to maximize the probability of
mission success," said Peter Theisinger, Mars Exploration Rover
project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Images and measurements from two NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars
provided scientists and engineers evaluating potential landing sites
with details of candidate site topography, composition, rockiness and
geological context.

"Meridiani and Gusev both show powerful evidence of past liquid water,
but in very different ways," said Dr. Steve Squyres, principal
investigator for the rovers' science toolkit and a geologist at
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. "Meridiani has a chemical signature
of past water. Gray hematite is usually, but not always, produced in
an environment where there is liquid water. At Gusev, you've got a big
hole in the ground with a dry riverbed going right into it. There had
to have been a lake in Gusev Crater at some point. They are fabulous
sites, and they complement each other because they're so different."

Mars Exploration Rover site selection began with identifying all areas
on Mars that fit a set of engineering-driven requirements, said JPL's
Dr. Matt Golombek, co-chair of a landing-site steering committee. To
qualify, candidate sites had to be near the equator, low in elevation,
not too steep, not too rocky and not too dusty, among other criteria;
155 potential sites were studied. A series of public meetings
evaluated the merits of potential landing sites. More than 100 Mars
scientists participated in the meetings.

"These two landing sites have been studied more than anywhere else on
Mars. Both sites have specific scientific hypotheses that can be
tested using the instruments on board each rover. It should be a very
busy and exciting time after landing for the scientists analyzing the
wealth of new data from the ground," said Dr. Cathy Weitz, Mars
Exploration Rover program scientist at NASA Headquarters.

"Clearly there is tremendous interest in the science community in what
these missions can accomplish and eagerness to help see that the
rovers go to the best possible sites," said the National Air and Space
Museum's Dr. John Grant, the steering committee's other co-chair.

Once they reach their landing sites, each rover's prime mission will
last at least 90 martian days (92 Earth days). The rovers are
solar-powered, and in approximately 90 days, dust accumulating on the
solar arrays likely will be diminishing the power supply.

The twin Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft are at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center, Fla., in preparation for launch. JPL built the rovers and
manages the project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington
D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena.

Information about the Mars Exploration Project is available online at
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/ . For more information about NASA on the
Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov http://www.nasa.gov/ .

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