[meteorite-list] Mars Rovers Near Their Launch Dates

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:33 2004
Message-ID: <200306031548.IAA06543_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1431264,00.html

Mars explorer robots near their launch dates
By Ann Schrader
Denver Post
June 3, 2003

LAKEWOOD - Roger Clark believes a site chock-full of a mineral
that gives Mars its reddish hue could be just the roaming place for
one of two rovers scheduled for trips to the Red Planet.

The U.S. Geological Survey scientist said the coarse-grained iron
oxide - called hematite - has been associated with water on Earth.
Researched have tried to confirm the presence of water on Mars for
years.

"Hematite doesn't indicate water," Clark said, "but in this one area,
interpretations (of satellite data) indicate a possible water origin."

Then again, "it could be a varnish coating like in our deserts on
Earth," he said. "Until we go there on the ground, we don't know."

After studying 155 potential landing sites, NASA decided in April to
send one of two Mars Exploration Rovers - or MERs - to check out
research by Clark and other scientists.

A British-built robotic spacecraft, Beagle 2, on Monday began its
mission to Mars. The craft will spend about two years searching for
signs of life on the planet

The Mars Global Surveyor has detected a broad outcropping of
hematite on a vast plain called the Meridiani Planum just south of the
Martian equator.

"The Meridiani Planum is pretty unique on Mars," Clark said. "It's
huge - hundreds of miles across - and minerally, it's different from
the rest of the planet. It's very smooth, and is a good place to land."

Steve Squyres, a Cornell University geologist who is a member of the
rovers' science team, said the Global Surveyor has detected a
chemical signature of past water.

In sort of a Goldilocks decision-making process, scientists winnowed
out sites that were too rocky, too steep and too dusty in favor of
those that had the right geological possibilities.

Both rovers are headed to areas to look for geological evidence of
past water and environmental conditions that could support life.

The first MER is scheduled to blast off no earlier than Sunday.

Its launch window, with two launch opportunities per day, closes June
19. The target is Gusev Crater, which is half a world away from the
hematite site.

Squyres said the crater has a dry riverbed running into it, and
theorizes it may once have been a lake.

The second MER has a June 25 launch date, with the window closing
July 15.

Both would arrive at the Red Planet in January.

After landing inside giant air bags, the rovers are designed to roll out
to take panoramic images that scientists would use to pinpoint likely
sites.

Each rover mission is expected to last at least three months.
Received on Tue 03 Jun 2003 11:48:17 AM PDT