Water, the giver of life. From mighty elephants to minuscule bugs, every living thing on Earth needs it to exist. And maybe every living thing on cold, barren Mars as well.
December 12th, 1998
NASA successfully launches Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft Florida Today
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully launched the Lockheed Martin Astronautics-built Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft Dec. 11 at 1:45 p.m. EST on a nine-and-a-half-month voyage to Mars.
December 11th, 1998
Next mission to Mars set for Cape launch today Florida Today
Temperatures fall with the sunset on Mars, turning a day that never climbed above freezing into a bone-chilling night that can reach more than 100 degrees below zero.
November 23rd, 1998
Mini-MAV to be reviewed as possible Mars sample return vehicle Florida Today
NASA’s latest plan to seek signs of life on Mars revives a 40-year-old rocket that would vault Martian rock samples into space for an eventual ride to Earth – the first time pieces of any planet will have landed here.
November 10th, 1998
Mars Express wins unanimous support Florida Today
All 14 national delegations in the European Space Agency’s Science Programme Committee have backed the project to send a spacecraft to Mars in 2003. Support for Mars Express, as this exciting mission is called, is qualified by concern about the long-term budget of ESA’s science programme. At its meeting in Paris on 2 and 3 November, the Science Programme Committee made its approval of the implementation of Mars Express conditional on sufficient funding for the science programme and no impact on previously approved projects.
July 13th, 1998
Surveyor probing Mars as next missions approach horizon Florida Today
A year ago, the world was captivated by pictures of the desolate, salomon-colored surface of Mars beamed back from NASA’s Pathfinder probe. But if you thought the exploration of the Red Planet was over when the robotic lander and its tiny rover, Sojourner, died last fall, you’re wrong.
June 22nd, 1998
Hurry along please, for the Mars Express Florida Today
Any scientists wanting to send instruments to the surface of the planet Mars have until 3 July to offer a small lander that might be carried aboard the European Space Agency mission Mars Express. The selection of a lander, if any, will then be the last stage in defining the scientific payload of Mars Express, which is intended to go into orbit around the Red Planet at the end of 2003.
June 20th, 1998
Mars Society hopes to rally support for further exploration Florida Today
Their first meeting is being called the “Woodstock of Mars.” An organization known as the Mars Society is beginning to take shape around the world as scientists and space enthusiasts alike push for continued study of Earth’s neighboring planet.
May 25th, 1998
The Mars Microphone: Ready To Go Florida Today
Ever wonder what it sounds like on Mars? When the next lander in NASA’s program to explore the Red Planet touches down in 1999, we will all have the chance to find out. Onboard the Mars Polar Lander will be a small recording device, the Mars Microphone, whose job is to sample sound while the rest of the probe studies the soil, weather, and atmospheric dust.
February 13th, 1998
Mars ’98 payloads integrated as scientists view first close-ups of strange, layered polar terrain Florida Today
Swirling bands of eroded, layered rock, reminiscent of the edges of Alaskan ice sheets, and an array of light and dark mottled patterns blanket the frigid floor of Mars’ south pole, where NASA’s newly named Mars Polar Lander will touch down in late 1999.