Wheeled robots to explore Mars

CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA will launch two identical rovers in May and June. They are scheduled to land next January near the planet’s equator.
"The agency and the country need some really good news in space right now, and I view it as our job to give it to them," said Dr Steve Squyres of Cornell University, the chief scientist for the $800 million Mars Exploration Rover program.
The rovers wheeled robots mounted with a panoply of scientific instruments are part of NASA’s long-term plans to determine whether life ever existed on Mars, to study its climate and geology and to prepare for human exploration.
The two robots will look for telltale geological marks indicating that in the ancient past of Mars water played a role and possibly provided an environment suitable for life, NASA says.
The two laboratories on wheels are being prepared for flight in a special clean room at the Kennedy Space Center.
Each spacecraft will carry five scientific instruments to analyse the Martian environment. A panoramic 3-D camera will help scientists study the landscape, pick the most interesting rocks and soil.
The robots come with three types of spectrometers to determine the composition of what they find. (NYT News Service)