Various teams are expected to be sent to the planet; By 2011 there will be soil samples of it on Earth; Program Director: There is nothing like it in the history of space
Avi Blizovsky
29/10/2000
The researchers of the American space agency, NASA, expect that by the year 2011 there will already be soil samples from Mars on Earth, which will be brought by a special team that will be sent to the planet for this purpose. The star's research will focus on the fields of climate, minerals and soil.
A NASA spokesman called the planned trips to Mars "unusual in the history of space." "The main goal is to find out if life ever existed on the planet, and if there is life there today."
Director of the "Mars Program", Scott Hubbard, said: "We have developed a journey plan for the exploration of Mars that is unparalleled in the history of space. It is designed to be high-quality, flexible and long-term, and to provide us with the highest chance of success."
The estimated budget of the space agency is about two billion dollars, which will be spent over the next five years. The budget will finance spacecrafts, some of which will circle Mars and some of which will land on it.
Last year, NASA lost two robotic spacecraft intended to explore Mars.
Two space probes will be sent to Mars in 2003 to find sources of water, the American space agency NASA told CNN. The vehicles are supposed to land on the planet in 2004, but agency workers are still looking for the right landing site.
"The thought that two vehicles will land at the same time on both sides of the planet excites us very much," says Scott Hubbard, director of the "Mars Project" at NASA.
The last spacecraft launched to the star in 1997 was lost. Three years later, the NASA people have high hopes for the new project: "After considering all the different conditions on the planet such as its position in relation to the Earth, the intensity of the sun's rays in the different areas and the time that will pass until we can land on it again, we decided to double the forces and send two vehicles to Mars". Adds Edward Wheeler, senior director of the space agency.
The cost of the mission reached, according to the original plan, 600 million dollars, but the addition of the second vehicle increased the amount to 800 million.
"The vehicle will have two arms that will be able to touch the various rocks. The moment he lands on the planet, he will rise, stand on his feet and look around", says Steven Squires, the landing planner. "It will move around the planet, and 10 cameras mounted on it will reveal to us any information we want. All images and sounds will be transmitted to us live. If the vehicle discovers a new detail or gets into trouble, we can help it in real time."
During the 90 days that the vehicles will be on the planet, they will search for the last evidence of the existence of water sources. They will be based on images that prove, according to scientists, that until recently water was stored in the upper layer of Mars.
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~309749062~~~77&SiteName=hayadan
