Word: soils
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...drive through the Martian countryside should begin this Friday, July 4. At about 10 a.m. Pacific time, after a seven-month journey, NASA's Pathfinder spacecraft will deposit the robot car--dubbed Sojourner--on the Martian surface, marking the first time an American spacecraft has kicked up the Martian soil since the Viking landings in 1976. More important, it will be the first time that NASA has been able to move an unmanned vehicle from place to place on a foreign world. "I truly believe," says project scientist Matthew Golombek, "that Pathfinder will change our view of Mars...
...orbiter pair is set to be dispatched Marsward in 1998, with more to follow roughly every other year until 2004. Finally, in 2005, the program will culminate in a first-ever round trip: a probe that lands on Mars and flies back home, carrying a bit of local soil with...
Congress likes this kind of budgetary horse sense, and though Washington hasn't guaranteed NASA funds for even a stripped-down Mars program, the enthusiasm for Pathfinder on Capitol Hill bodes well. "An entire generation has grown up in the two decades since we last viewed the soil of Mars close up," says Congressman James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Committee on Science. "I can't wait for our kids to see those pictures." Whatever may happen to future missions, this week the kids should start to see plenty...
...Barnacle Bill" by scientists, in order to determine its composition. A neighboring rock nicknamed "Yogi" is next. Once Sojourner receives the steering signals broadcast by NASA late Monday, the scrappy little craft will amble over to the new rock at a speedy clip of one centimeter per second, studying soil characteristics along the way. NASA has yet to release any detailed information from Sojourner's chemical analyses, beyond a few hints about indications of past life on the Red Planet. But the agency is releasing a stream of striking panoramic shots taken by the rover and Pathfinder that provide convincing...
...rover named Sojourner (24.5 inches long by 18.7 inches wide) will then emerge to study the planet's geological characteristics. Pathfinder will land at the dry mouth of an ancient channel called Ares Vallis. The site was picked for its relatively flat surface and the variety of rock and soil samples it may present. While the mission has ambitious scientific objectives, a more crucial goal is to show the system can do the job faster, better and cheaper than the pricey missions of the past. And if it has an amusing way of making an entrance, can't hurt...