When NASA announced its intention to send two rover exploration vehicles to Mars on its previously announced 2003 space shot, it introduced the ambitious venture with a two-minute computer-generated video that dramatizes the mission with startling clarity and accuracy. The video is the work of Dan Maas, a 19-year-old undergraduate at Cornell University enrolled in the university’s College Scholar program for independent interdisciplinary study.
August 10th, 2000
NASA releases video made by Cornell undergraduate Dan Maas to dramatize plans for two-rover space mission in 2003 Cornell University
July 27th, 2000
NASA chooses Cornell to lead science effort for Mars exploration mission in 2003 Cornell University
Cornell University has been selected by NASA to provide the scientific instruments and lead the science team for the next mission to the surface of Mars. The space agency announced today that a rover mission will be launched on June 4, 2003, and the spacecraft will land on Mars on Jan. 20, 2004. The mission, which will carry a large roving vehicle to the surface of Mars, was chosen by Edward Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science, after an intensive two-month study of the two competing candidates, the rover and a scientific orbiter.