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Polar Lander Heads For Mars
Cape Canaveral - January 3, 1999 - A Boeing Delta 2 rocket roared into space today carrying two Mars-bound spacecraft for NASA. The successful launch of Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 took place at 3:21 p.m. EST.

Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 are part of a series of NASA spacecraft that will make the journey to the Red Planet over the next few years. Last month a Delta 2 launched NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft, which will observe seasonal changes on the planet upon its arrival in October 1999.

Both the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 spacecraft, managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., move the agency closer to its goal of mounting a human expedition to Mars.

Mars Polar Lander will spend three months digging for traces of water beneath the frozen surface of Mars and will search for evidence of a physical record of climate change. A miniature microphone will permit scientists to record 10-second sound bytes of natural sounds from the planet.

Deep Space 2 is comprised of two microprobes designed to penetrate the surface of Mars and collect samples for testing water vapor content of the planet's subterranean soil. In addition, Deep Space 2 will validate the ability of small probes loaded with sensitive, miniaturized instruments to analyze the terrain of planets and moons throughout the solar system.

"We're proud to be a partner with NASA in these innovative planetary missions and in furthering science and technology," said Darryl Van Dorn, Boeing director of NASA and commercial programs. Delta has a 98 percent success rate for scientific and technology development launches since 1960.

Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 are the third in the current 10-launch series by Boeing for NASA's Medium-Light Expendable Launch Services. This year Delta rockets will carry NASA spacecraft Stardust, Landsat-7 and FUSE into space.

The Delta 2 is manufactured in Huntington Beach, Calif., with final assembly in Pueblo, Colo., and is powered by the RS-27A engine built by Boeing in Canoga Park, Calif. The Delta launch team at Cape Canaveral Air Station handles launch coordination and operations.

Alliant Techsystems, Magna, Utah, builds the graphite epoxy motors for boost assist. Aerojet, Sacramento, Calif., manufactures the second-stage engine, Cordant Technologies, Elkton, Md., supplies the upper-stage engine, and AlliedSignal, Teterboro, N.J., builds the guidance and flight control system. The spacecraft were built by Lockheed Astronautics, Denver, Colo.

Mars 98 Reports From Spacer.Com

  • Mars Polar Lander Ready For Deep Space 2
  • Arizona Team Gears Up For Mars Shoot
  • Planetary Society Calls For Vigorous Mars exploration Program
  • Kodak Gives Color To Mars
  • Third Mars Invasion Underway
  • Mars Here We Come
  • Second Mars Invasion Force Ready - Detailed JPL Univese Overview

    Mission Links

  • Mars Surveyor 98 - NASA portal site to Mars Missions
  • Planetary Society
  • Kodak's Motion Analysis Systems Division
  • Mars Color Imager
  • Mars' South Pole Mars Coverage at Spacer.Com

    Future Missions

  • Kirtland Recovers Penetrator Device
  • Europe Takes The Martian Express Lane
  • Robots To Colonize Mars
  • Mars Win Gives Goldin Political Leverage
  • GenCorp Wins Mars Test Deal
  • Mars Society Kicks Off August 13
  • A Red Mars Arising
  • Mars Base Needs Local Supply
  • NASA Tests Mars Rover

    Areography

  • Martian Brew Could Be Alive
  • Mars MicroProbe Vacuum Tests
  • Mars Society Kicks Off August 13
  • Crustal Microbes Could Signify Life
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  • Meteorite Contains No Biological Life

    Pathfinder

  • A Panorama Of Sojourners
  • NASA Bids Pathfinder Good-Bye
  • Pathfinder Reveals Role of Water
  • Pathfinder Science Summary
  • Pathfinder Mission Huge Success
  • Mars Pathfinder: Mission Overview

    Surveyor

  • Surveyor's Summer of Science
  • Aerobraking Resumes
  • MGS Safe After Battery RunDown
  • Surveyor's First Science Program
  • Surveyor In First Mapping Orbit
  • Surveyor Yielding Martian Science
  • AeroSurf Down To 13.2 Hours
  • Surveyor To Image Mars
  • Face Off on Mars April 6
  • New Mars Surveyor Images
  • Surveyor Braking Every 15 Hours
  • Surveyor Orbit Down to 19 Hours
  • Surveyor Speeds Up Aerobraking
  • Mars Duststorm Weakens
  • Duststorm Hampers Surveyor
  • Surveyor's Slow Slide Down The Gravity Well
  • Aerobraking Resumed




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