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Nasa`s rovers to explore signs of water on Mars
Cape Canaveral, June 07: Nasa will send out the first of two rovers to Mars tomorrow, scraping away rock and photographing images in an important mission in the elusive search for life on the Red Planet.
Cape Canaveral, June 07: Nasa will send out the first of two rovers to Mars tomorrow, scraping away rock and photographing images in an important mission in the elusive search for life on the Red Planet.
The second rover is scheduled to be launched later this month, and both are expected to reach the planet next January.
A focus of the trip is to find signs of water on Mars. Previous missions showed that there was water on Mars in the past, but Nasa scientists want to find out how long the water was there and in what amounts.
"If we have any hopes of finding and answering the questions -- 'is there life on Mars? was there life on Mars?' -- we have to not only show that water existed on Mars but that it persevered for long, long periods of time," said Ed Weiler, Nasa's associate administrator for space science.
Of approximately 30 attempts to reach Mars, only 12 missions have succeeded. Of nine attempts to land there, only three have succeeded.
Four years ago, Nasa launched two spacecraft to mars but both failed, forcing Nasa to revamp its mars programme. The current rover programme has cost US $ 800 million.
"It's not a trip to the beach tomorrow afternoon," Weiler said. "Landing on Mars is very, very difficult. It's a graveyard for many spacecraft."
The 4-foot, 9-inch rovers will operate like robotic field geologists. They will move around on six wheels that support a platform of solar panels. An arm extending from the front of the rover holds a microscope, spectrometers that can identify minerals and a tool that can scrape away rock to expose its interior.
Bureau Report
A focus of the trip is to find signs of water on Mars. Previous missions showed that there was water on Mars in the past, but Nasa scientists want to find out how long the water was there and in what amounts.
"If we have any hopes of finding and answering the questions -- 'is there life on Mars? was there life on Mars?' -- we have to not only show that water existed on Mars but that it persevered for long, long periods of time," said Ed Weiler, Nasa's associate administrator for space science.
Of approximately 30 attempts to reach Mars, only 12 missions have succeeded. Of nine attempts to land there, only three have succeeded.
Four years ago, Nasa launched two spacecraft to mars but both failed, forcing Nasa to revamp its mars programme. The current rover programme has cost US $ 800 million.
"It's not a trip to the beach tomorrow afternoon," Weiler said. "Landing on Mars is very, very difficult. It's a graveyard for many spacecraft."
The 4-foot, 9-inch rovers will operate like robotic field geologists. They will move around on six wheels that support a platform of solar panels. An arm extending from the front of the rover holds a microscope, spectrometers that can identify minerals and a tool that can scrape away rock to expose its interior.
Bureau Report