Fact Sheet
Double the Run
NASA plans to land two rovers, like the one shown above, on Mars in January 2004. Although based on the design of the 1997 Sojourner rover, the new vehicles will be larger and more capable, traveling up to the length of a football field each day. Instruments will photograph their surroundings, measure the chemical composition of rocks and soil, and conduct microscopic observations of rock surfaces. Both rovers will land in sites that show signs of past water, such as dry riverbeds.
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