Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                August 10, 2000
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

RELEASE:  00-124

NASA PLANS TO SEND ROVER TWINS TO MARS IN 2003

     The traffic on Mars is expected to double in the near future. 
NASA today announced plans to launch two large scientific rovers 
to the red planet in 2003, rather than the original plan for just 
one, said Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space 
Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. 

     Both Mars rovers currently are planned for launch on Delta II 
rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. The first 
mission is targeted for May 22, with the second launch slated for 
June 4. After a seven-and-a-half month cruise, the first rover 
should enter Mars' atmosphere January 2, 2004, with the second 
rover bouncing to a stop on the Martian surface January 20. 

     The rovers will be exact duplicates, but that's where the 
similarities end. Relatives of the highly successful 1997 
Soujourner rover, these 300-pound mobile laboratories may look and 
act alike, but they're going to decidedly different locations.

     "For the first time, science and technology have given us the 
capability to explore alien planets in ways that used to exist 
only in science fiction movies," said Dr. Weiler. "To have two 
rovers driving over dramatically different regions of Mars at the 
same time, to be able to drive over and see what's on the other 
side of the hill -- it's an incredibly exciting idea." Dr. Weiler 
added, "I think everyone on Earth who has ever dreamed of being an 
explorer on an alien planet will want to go along for the ride as 
we explore the surface of Mars."

     Scott Hubbard, Mars Program Director at NASA Headquarters 
said,  "For the past few weeks NASA has been undertaking an 
extensive study of a two-lander option. Hubbard added, "The 
scientific appeal of using the excellent launch opportunity in 
2003 for two missions was weighed carefully against the resource 
requirements and schedule constraints."

     "Our teams concluded that we can successfully develop and 
launch these identical packages to the red planet," continued 
Hubbard. "We also determined that, in addition to the prospect of 
doubling our scientific return, this two-pronged approach adds 
resiliency and robustness to our exploration program."

     "Mars is a beguiling place, and conducting a real mobile 
field-geology mission is always better when there are multiple 
perspectives," said Dr. Jim Garvin, Mars Program Scientist at NASA 
Headquarters. However, the landing sites have yet to be selected. 
"We are thinking about localities where there is evidence of 
surface processes involving what we might call 'past' water on 
Mars," Dr. Garvin continued. 

     "This includes sites where we have today mineralogical 
evidence that water may have produced unique chemical 
fingerprints, as well as places where it seems likely water 
'ponded' in closed depressions for enough time to modify the 
regional geology," added Dr. Garvin.

     During the next two to three years, engineers and scientists 
will conduct an intensive search for potential touchdown sites. 
Using the flood of data still coming in from Mars Global Surveyor, 
and that expected starting in 2002 from the Mars 2001 Orbiter, 
scientists will search for compelling landing zones with the 
fewest hazards and select the best candidates.

     "The goal of both rovers will be to learn about ancient water 
and climate on Mars," said Professor Steven Squyres, Cornell 
University, Ithaca, NY, and Principal Investigator for the rovers' 
Athena science package. "You can think of each rover as a robotic 
field geologist, equipped to read the geologic record at its 
landing site and to learn what the conditions were like back when 
the rocks and soils there were formed."

     Given the high priority NASA and the Administration assign to 
the Space Science program overall, and to the timely exploration 
of Mars, the Agency proposes that Space Science cover any 
additional costs of the first rover mission, and that the bulk of 
the cost for the second lander be reallocated from programs 
outside Space Science.

     The Mars 2003 Rover project will be managed at NASA's Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, for the Office of Space 
Science. Firouz Naderi is the Mars Program Manager at JPL, which 
is a division of Caltech.