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| THE MARS POLAR LANDER | |
 December 2, 1999 
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Traveling to the fourth planet from our sun, NASA's Mars Polar Lander will begin a three month adventure of mapping the Red Planet's weather patterns. |
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When the Mars Polar Lander touches down after its 11 month, 470 million mile journey, it will achieve many science firsts. Prior to even landing on the planet, the Lander will have already released two microlanders into the atmosphere which will burrow below the planet's surface and search for subsurface water ice. When the Polar Lander touches down on the surface, it will be near the southern polar cap of the planet, making it the first spacecraft ever to land so far south on Mars. Landing near the polar cap is ideal for studying volaties and climates, but also risky because the polar environment is more severe than any previous landing site. The Lander's primary mission is to measure and record the MARDI(Mars Descent Imager) will snap pictures of the spacecraft as it descends to the surface. Once the Lander is on the surface and the solar panels are deployed, the SSI (Surface Stereo Imager) camera will take over. The SSI will start to visually survey the polar environment. The camera is the same type used on the Mars Pathfinder, but the images are expected to be vastly different because of the polar location. The alternating bands of color on Mars' South Pole could indicate an unusual layered terrain with different mixtures of dust and ice. Like on Earth, layered terrain can provide geological clues of past climate changes. The Lander will visually map the dome of ice, dust, and minerals.
Another space first is the Mars Microphone. The microphone on the deck of the lander will make the first recordings of sound from another planet. Scientists will analyze record wind sounds on Mars and differences in audible weather patterns. The technology in the microphone is similar to the technology used in common hearing aids. Scientists on Earth will be able to analyze approximately 15 seconds of data each day. The Mars Polar Lander furthers an ambitious program by NASA to more fully understand Mars. Two separate space explorations to the Red planet are scheduled in 2001. |
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seasonal differences on the Martian planet for three months during its
summer season, including the temperatures of the surface and subsurface.
The Lander's secondary missions are to take pictures of Mars' Southern
Hemisphere and search for ice and dust. The goal is to discover whether
there are elements on Mars that can support life, or that indicate that
life on the Red Planet once existed. 
The
Lander will also examine the surface of Mars for water, carbon dioxide
and dust. The 3½-foot tall craft has a robotic arm to dig into
the planet, scooping soil samples and depositing them into Thermal and
Evolved Gas Analyzers (TEGA) that will heat the samples for analysis.
Inside temperatures will reach more than 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. TEGA
will then document concentrations of water ice, adsorbed water, carbon
dioxide, minerals and carbonates. Data collected from the TEGA will
be transmitted back to Earth via the Lander's antennas and the Mars
Global Surveyor. The Mars Global surveyor has been in orbit mapping
the Red planet since 1997.