Broadcast: January 20, 2004
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This is Science in the News, in VOA Special English. I'm Sarah Long.
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And I'm Bob Doughty. This week -- the news from Mars ... and a report on President Bush's plan for space exploration.
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Plus a warning from scientists who study life, and its future, here on Earth.
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On Jan. 19 NASA said the Spirit rover had reached its first target on Mars, a rock the size of a football, to examine it.
Scientists are excited about the progress of Spirit, the American exploration vehicle on Mars. It landed January third to look for environmental conditions that could have supported life. Engineers and scientists cheered as the spacecraft sent its first pictures.
Spirit landed on target in the Gusev Crater, an area fifteen degrees south of the Martin equator. Scientists chose the Gusev Crater based on evidence that it may have been an ancient lake.
Hours after landing, the spacecraft began to send detailed pictures of the surrounding area.
VOICE ONE:
A NASA artist's version of Spirit landing.
Spirit traveled four-hundred-eighty-seven-million kilometers to reach Mars. It stayed in place on its lander for more than a week. NASA officials wanted to make sure all the equipment worked before they told the rover to drive onto the surface.
There was a delay. They had to turn the vehicle away from airbags that softened the landing but then blocked the desired path. Last Thursday the controllers again cheered as they declared that all six wheels of the rover were on Martian soil.
Special cameras and devices to identify minerals helped engineers and scientists decide which direction to send the rover first. Spirit has a robotic arm to collect rocks and soil to study them for evidence of water in the past.
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Spirit was launched from Florida last June. NASA launched a second spacecraft in July, called Opportunity. Opportunity will land on Mars in a few days if all goes as planned,. The landing area chosen is called the Meridiani Planum. It is on the other side of the planet from where Spirit landed. NASA officials say the two areas are very different.
Like Spirit, Opportunity weighs about one-hundred-eighty kilograms. The two rovers are expected to travel no more than forty meters each Martian day to search for evidence of water. A Martian day is about the same length as an Earth day. The exploration is supposed to continue for at least three months.
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On Earth, almost everywhere liquid water exists, so does life. Today Mars is cold and dry, with huge dust storms. Scientists say life cannot exist. But evidence from past landings suggest the red planet was once warmer. Experts say water could have flowed in lakes or even oceans.
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