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Mars Exploration RoversNASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers were launched earlier this year. They will land in Jan. of next year to begin searching for answers regarding the history of water on Mars. Primary among the mission's scientific goals is to search for and
characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water
activity on Mars. The spacecraft will be targeted to sites that appear to have
been affected by liquid water in the past. |
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Athena Science Payload onboard MERThe rover has a full toolbox, equipped with all the tools it needs to search for signs of ancient water and climate. Pancam (a camera) and Mini-TES (an infrared spectrometer) will survey the scene around the rover and look for the most interesting rocks and soils. Three more instruments -- a Microscopic Imager and two spectrometers, the Mössbauer and the APXS -- can be placed against these rock and soil targets to learn about them in greater detail. The Rock Abrasion Tool (a.k.a the RAT) can then be used to scrape away the outer layers of a rock to see what lies beneath. |
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2001 Mars Odyssey2001 Mars Odyssey launched on April 7, 2001, and arrived at Mars on October 24, 2001. Odyssey's primary science mission is to map the amount and distribution of chemical elements and minerals that make up the Martian surface. The spacecraft will especially look for hydrogen, most likely in the form of water ice, in the shallow subsurface of Mars. It will also record the radiation environment in low Mars orbit to determine the radiation-related risk to any future human explorers who may one day go to Mars. The name "2001 Mars Odyssey" was selected as a tribute to the vision and spirit of space exploration as embodied in the works of renowned science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. Evocative of one of his most celebrated works, the name speaks to our hopes for the future and of the fundamental human desire to explore the unknown despite great dangers, the risk of failure and the daunting, enormous depths of space. |
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Mars Global SurveyorMars Global Surveyor became the first successful mission to the red planet in two decades when it launched November 7, 1996, and entered orbit on September 12, 1997. The mission has studied the entire Martian surface, atmosphere, and interior, and has returned more data about the red planet than all other Mars missions combined. Among key science findings so far, Global Surveyor has taken pictures of gullies and debris flow features that suggest there may be current sources of liquid water, similar to an aquifer, at or near the surface of the planet. Magnetometer readings show that the planet's magnetic field is not globally generated in the planet's core, but is localized in particular areas of the crust. New temperature data and closeup images of the Martian moon Phobos show its surface is composed of powdery material at least 1 meter (3 feet) thick, caused by millions of years of meteoroid impacts. Data from the spacecraft's laser altimeter have given scientists their first 3-D views of Mars' north polar ice cap. |