The Mars Polar Lander will ease to the surface of Mars Dec. 3 at a site some 310 miles (500 kilometers) from the planet’s south pole, NASA officials announced Wednesday. The landing site, which was chosen from a list of four potential locations, was chosen for its mysterious martian polar layered terrain. This surface, which scientists think may hold secrets about the climate and surface evolution of Mars, is very different from the ground that covers the planet’s mid lattitudes