MARS SURVEYOR 2001 LANDER PAGE

The Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander is scheduled for launch on April 3, 2001. It will land on Mars on Jan. 27, 2002, if launched on schedule. The 2001 Lander will carry an imager to take pictures of the surrounding terrain during its' rocket-assisted descent to the surface. The descent imaging camera will provide images of the landing site for geologic analyses, and will aid planning for initial operations and traverses by the rover. After landing, the long-range rover, carrying the Athena instrument payload, will be deployed for a 365-Earth-day mission to collect and store up to 91 rock and 13 soil samples using a mini-coring device. The 2001 Lander will also be a platform for instruments and technology experiments designed to provide key insights to decisions regarding successful and cost-effective human missions to Mars. Hardware on the Lander will be used for an in-situ demonstration test of rocket propellant production using gases in the Martian atmosphere.

Other equipment will characterize the Martian soil properties and surface radiation environment. The Mars 2001 Lander will give us valuable data about the radiation environment on the surface of Mars. Analyses of Martian dust and soil are necessary to understand any interactions with the systems currently planned that will supply the habitation and working environment for future human explorers.

Lander information - please click on the experiments below for more details.