Mars: A Century of Exploration

Some Problems

The first U.S. spacecraft to visit Mars following the Viking missions, was planned to be the Mars Observer. It was to map Mars and monitor its atmosphere, to better help us understand Martian geology and climatology. Unfortunately, 3 days before entering orbit around Mars, the spacecraft fell silent. It is suspected that a mechanical failure with a rocket caused the Mars Observer to explode.

The Mars Climate Orbiter was planned to arrive at Mars in September 1999. One of it's main missions was to study the distribution of water on Mars. An infrared radiometer would have scanned the atmosphere to profile its temperature, dust and water-vapor content, and clouds. It would have taken color pictures with a resolution of 40 meters and produced daily global images of the Martian atmosphere. Unfortunately, a units conversion error resulted in the probes' loss (it probably was crippled by dipping too low into the thin Martian atmosphere).

The Mars Polar Lander was expected to land near the edge of the Martian south polar cap. As it descended towards touchdown, it would have taken a series of pictures to see what the terrain near the ice cap is like. On Mars, the lander would have spent 4 months studying the climate and geology of Mars. A robotic arm would have dug half a meter or a meter into the surface and examined 100,000 years of the Martian geologic record. The lander also had a microphone to listen to the sounds of Mars.

The lander was to deploy two "microprobes." These miniature two-piece science probes would have punched into the soil to a depth of up to 2 meters. The microprobes' primary science goal was to determine if water ice is present in the Martian subsurface - an important clue in the puzzle of whether life exists, or ever existed, on Mars. However, after a successful journey to Mars, and a flawless entry into the atmosphere, the lander and probes were never heard from again.


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