The U.S. Mars exploration program

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Scientific paper

The U.S. has defined four primary goals for its Mars Exploration Program: (1) Determine if life ever arose on the planet, (2) characterize Mars' past and present climate, (3) determine the evolution of the surface and the interior, and (4) prepare for human exploration. Two orbiters, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey, are currently operating at Mars, and are expected to operate for several Mars years, continuing to gather scientific data and being available as relays for future landed missions. In the May/June time period of this year two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) will be launched to arrive at Mars in January and February of 2004. Each carries a Panoramic imager and IR Spectrometer for remote sensing, and Mossbauer and alpha-proton-X-ray spectrometers and a microscopic imager for in situ analyses. After MER, the next U.S. mission will be the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to be launched in 2005. It will carry an ultra-high resolution (30--60 cm), multi-color stereo imaging system to observe sites of special science interest at the outcrop scale and a hyperspectral imaging spectrometer to gather spectra in the 0.4 -- 4 micrometer range for mineral identification. An atmospheric sounder and a radar surface sounder are among several additional experiments. Next, a small, low-cost scout mission will be launched to Mars 2007. Four proposals of 25 submitted have been chosen for further study. For the last launch of the decade an advanced, 1500 kg rover is being studied that could last for 500 sols and travel tens of kilometers searching for evidence of life and past water activity.

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