Some of the most interesting pictures of the red planet taken to date are now available courtesy of the Lockheed Martin-built Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). The strange, layered terrain of the southern polar region of Mars represents a very different view of the planet than ever seen before. This region of Mars will be the landing site for the 1998 Mars Polar Lander currently under construction at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo.
February 13th, 1998
Exciting New Images of Mars Help Lockheed Martin Prepare For the Next Missions to the Red Planet Florida Today
December 5th, 1997
Mars Pathfinder evidence: Life on Mars? Florida Today
The Pathfinder robot uncovered evidence that Mars was once warm, moist and more like Earth than its forbidding surface might now suggest. All of this is “a shot in the arm for the possibility of finding evidence of life” on the Red Planet, said one researcher.
November 7th, 1997
Science Team and Instruments Selected for Mars Surveyor 2001 Missions Florida Today
Two robotic spacecraft scheduled for launch in mid-2001 to orbit and land on Mars will carry a descent camera, a multispectral imager, and a robotic rover capable of traversing tens of miles across the red planet’s rocky highlands.
November 5th, 1997
Mars Pathfinder Winds Down After Phenomenal Mission Florida Today
After operating on the surface of Mars three times longer than expected and returning a tremendous amount of new information about the red planet, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder mission is winding down.
October 31st, 1997
Mars Global Surveyor to Resume Aerobraking Florida Today
After a two-week hiatus, NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) flight team will resume lowering the spacecraft’s orbit around Mars beginning Nov. 7. The effort will proceed at a more gradual pace than before, which will extend the mission’s aerobraking phase by several months, and will change Global Surveyor’s final science mapping orbit.
October 7th, 1997
Mars Pathfinder finds Mars has crust, mantle and iron core Florida Today
Like the Earth, Mars appears to have a crust, a mantle and an iron core, signs that the planet may once have been warm, Mars Pathfinder scientists announced today. They got their first strong evidence that the planet is not merely a solid ball of rock by measuring the changes in radio signals from Pathfinder as Mars spins on its axis.
September 9th, 1997
Team on edge as Mars Surveyor nears goal Florida Today
You know all about Mars Pathfinder, which landed on the Red Planet in July and set the world abuzz by dispatching a small rover and sending back breathtaking pictures of a rusty, alien world. Now it’s the turn of its sistership – NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor – to put on a show.
August 9th, 1997
Pathfinder Results Generating New Picture of Mars Florida Today
NASA’s Mars Pathfinder spacecraft – a novel mission to send an inexpensive lander and roving prospector to the surface of Mars – has concluded its primary mission, fulfilling all of its objectives and returning a wealth of new information about the red planet.
July 18th, 1997
New book describes Mars’ hold on our culture Florida Today
The Red Planet is calling once more. And faithfully, as though we still worship Mars as a god, humanity is responding. Want proof? During the past two weeks many of us on this blue planet have:
July 13th, 1997
Mars Pathfinder captures the world’s imagination Florida Today
For some people, a spacecraft flying 310 million miles and beaming back pictures of an alien Martian world is just half the marvel of NASA’s voyage to the Red Planet. The other half is that the images can immediately pop up in their dens and bedrooms on home computers.