NASA's plans for the Mars Surveyor Orbiter 2 and Lander 2 missions, to be launched in 2001, include the collection of the first samples of Martian soil to be brought back to Earth on a later mission.
The Orbiter 2 and Lander 2 missions will follow the Mars Surveyor Orbiter 1 and Lander 1, to be launched in December 1998 and January 1999, respectively.
The Lander 2 will carry a small, advanced-technology, rover capable of travelling 100km (60 miles) across the Martian surface, compared with the 100m travelled by the Sojourner rover which landed in July 1997 during the Mars Pathfinder mission. No rover is planned for the Mars Surveyor 1 campaign, to be launched in 1998-9.
The Lander 2's rover will carry a payload called Athena, an integrated suite of instruments which will conduct in situ scientific analysis of the surface. It will also be able to collect and analyse core samples for possible later return to Earth by a future unmanned mission.
The Lander 2 will also carry an imager to take pictures of the surrounding terrain during the lander's rocket-assisted descent to the surface. It will provide images of the landing site for geological analysis and will aid planning for the initial operations and traverses by the Athena rover.
The Mars Surveyor 2001 Thermal Emission Imaging System high-resolution camera and thermal infra-red-imaging spectrometer will be on board the Orbiter 2 to map the mineralogy and morphology of the surface. The Mars Global Surveyor, which entered orbit in September 1997, has already returned spectacular images of the surface (see picture).
The Mars Surveyor Orbiter 2 will also be the first to use the atmosphere to slow down and directly capture a spacecraft into orbit, without the use of a retro-rocket burn. It will also carry a gamma-ray spectrometer, from the Mars Observer mission, which was lost in 1993.
Source: Flight International
