Projects: Space Information
The Planetary Report
Volume XXII, Number 3, May/June 2002
Credit: NASA Haughton-Mars Project / K. Snook |
On the Cover
Pascal Lee, project lead and principal investigator
of the NASA
Haughton-Mars Project (HMP), and his brother, camp doctor Marco Lee (left),
donned mock spacesuits, made by Mars Society volunteers, to rappel down
a cliff face on Canada's Devon Island. They examined stratified rock
formations and collected samples along the way. The exercise, part of
the HMP's education and public outreach program, was aimed at sharing
the vision -- and the promise --
of human exploration of Mars. Although hard to see, the rope used by the
intrepid explorers actually extends down to the base of the cliff. Pascal
warns, "Don't
try this at home!"
From The Editor
We didn’t set out to make this a
mostly Mars issue. But among
the world’s planetary programs today,
missions to Mars are grabbing a lot of
attention. Even here at The Planetary
Society, Mars exploration is a major theme.
The Red Planet is the only place we know
besides Earth that might someday support
human habitation. As long as humans
still dream of flying to other worlds, Mars
will demand our attention.
But this is The Planetary Society, and we work to ensure that no one forgets
there are nine planets in our solar system, not to mention countless other
orbiting objects. We’ve fought long and hard to save the NASA mission
to Pluto and the Kuiper belt. With much help, last year we succeeded in keeping
the mission alive one more year.
But this year, the Bush administration has again canceled the mission. The
planned Europa orbiter mission is also gone. You can read Lou Friedman's report
on the situation in this issue's World Watch.
We have a lot of work ahead of us. We need each member’s support as
we fight to keep the planetary program broad and vibrant. So, while in this
issue, you may read "Mars, Mars, Mars,"
remember that The Planetary Society is about so much more.
— Charlene M. Anderson
Features
Mars Microphone Flies Again
Remember the Mars Microphone? Our first experiment
designed to listen for sounds on Mars crashed with the Mars Polar Lander
in 1999. But a great idea will endure beyond such setbacks, and ours
does live on. Our microphone team was contacted by scientists working
on the NetLander mission, led by France’s Centre
National d'Etudes Spatiales, who asked us to join their mission to Mars. We didn’t
hesitate to say yes. Greg Delory, a scientist at the University of California
at Berkeley, built our first Mars Microphone and is leading the development of
the eight microphones that will reach Mars in 2007. Here, he brings Planetary
Society members up-to-date on our pioneering project.
From the Earth to Mars
Part
Two: Robots and Humans Working Together
In our January/February issue,
Pascal Lee, leader of the Haughton-Mars Project in the Canadian High
Arctic, recounted some of the intriguing scientific work he and his team
have undertaken on Devon Island. He’s back to report on the team’s
efforts to understand what it will take for humans to explore Mars.
Student
Navigators Train with the Best
We've just completed the second
leg of our continuing Red Rover Goes to Mars project, which is giving students
around the world opportunities to learn what real Mars exploration is like.
This time, our contest-winning Student Navigators traveled to the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, where they operated a test rover being used by Mars scientists
to practice for the upcoming Mars Exploration Rover mission. Stay tuned:
we're
working on new contests and activities, which we'll
announce in the coming months.
DEPARTMENTS
Members’ Dialogue
World Watch
Questions and Answers
Society News
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