Experts from 20 countries are working on the Russian Mars '96 craft. These spacecraft are to be followed, scientists hope, by unmanned launches every two years as part of NASA's Surveyor program. A Japanese orbiter is scheduled to go up in August 1998, to study Martian upper-atmospheric physics. Scientists hope finally to learn what the planet is made of, to map its surface through the changing seasons of the Martian year, and to penetrate the inhospitable topsoil in search of traces of organic matter or water that would indicate life once existed on the planet. Or indicate life exists even now, perhaps deep underground.
Most scientists hold little expectation of that.
But the thrill of science is discovering what was unknown. Already, humankind is discovering the advantage of interplanetary exploration via international cooperation. 2 Searchable in the Basic Index and in the Additional Indexes. Region does not display in predefined formats. Not available in File 146.