The database or portions of data which are copyrighted by the Los Angeles Times may not be reproduced, stored in machine-readable form or transmitted by any means. In no event may there be any downloading to retrieval systems of business or governmental entities for subsequent search and retrieval uses. If all goes as planned, a mission to drop the first vehicle that can go wandering around in the dust of Mars' rugged surface will be boosted into space from Cape Canaveral early Monday. Eastern time aboard a Delta II booster rocket. The goal is to have the complex spacecraft bounce down onto the red planet on the Fourth of July, sort of a celebration of Independence Day.
Pathfinder is the last of three recent major missions aimed at Mars.
A photo reconnaissance spacecraft, Mars Surveyor, headed off into space a month ago and, despite a few hiccups, is going as planned. It should reach Mars in September. A Russian mission, Mars 96, was a quick disaster earlier this month. It left the launch pad on Nov. 16, but one rocket stage failed before the space probe could be fired out of Earth orbit toward Mars. Instead of heading off into space, the huge, complex spacecraft ended its mission somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.