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Science Friday > Archives > 2003 > June > June 6, 2003:
Hour One: Mars Missions

This week, if all goes as planned, two more spacecraft will be heading towards Mars. The European Mars Express, carrying the rover Beagle Two, launched Monday. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover, the first of two matching probes, is scheduled to launch Sunday. The two missions (named 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity') join several others currently in orbit around the Red Planet, as well as a Japanese orbiter, Nozomi (formerly known as Planet-B) currently en route to Mars.

In this hour of Science Friday, we'll get the rundown on the new missions to Mars. What are their objectives -- and what technologies will they use to achieve them? Plus, we'll hear about new geological results from the 'Mars Odyssey' mission. (see the images we'll be talking about here.)

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Guests:
Philip Christensen
Principal Investigator, Thermal Emission Spectrometer, NASA's Mars Odyssey
Professor, Planetary Geology
Arizona State University
Phoenix , Arizona

Colin Pillinger
Lead Scientist, Beagle II
Head, Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute
The Open University
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Albert Haldemann
Deputy Project Scientist, Mars Exploration Rover
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, California

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Related Links:
Mars Exploration: Home
Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Home
ESA SCIENCE: Mars Express
Beagle 2
Planet - B HOME PAGE (English)
Nozomi (Planet B)
Japanese space probe headed to Mars rendezvous
C&EN: TODAY'S HEADLINES - BACK TO MARS
The Mars Society - Main Site
2001 Mars Odyssey Home Page

This segment produced by Karin Vergoth

 


 

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