The planetary science and engineering communities have been offered the
unprecedented opportunity to conduct an extensive, long term
exploration of Mars, with these objectives:
observe the current climate of Mars
determine whether Mars had a warm, wet climate in the past
look for evidence that life developed on or beneath the
surface during that time
determine the nature and locations of resources that might be
utilized during human expeditions to the planet.
The presence of water is a primary
theme that cuts through all of the objectives.
The challenge associated with this opportunity is
to implement a program of exciting science and public appeal at
relatively low cost. A further opportunity and associated challenge
is the desire by NASA and the science community to return samples
from the planet as part of the 2005 mission.
A key element of Mars exploration, one that has tremendous public
appeal, is the presence of rovers on the surface that would operate
autonomously and cover long distances of at least several kilometers.
In effect, these vehicles would be doing field work: surveying sites,
making key measurements, and even caching samples for return to Earth.
Views of the surface as seen by the rovers could be posted on the
World-Wide Web on a continuing basis, an approach that would have
enormous potential for involving the public in the exploration and
discovery processes.
We have a great deal to learn about autonomous
rover operations. Much will be learned from laboratory experiments.
Experimental field deployments to Mars-like sites on Earth will also be
crucial for understanding how to implement rover missions. Given the
desire to return samples as part of the 2005 mission, it is highly
likely that rovers will be key components of missions associated with
the 2001 and 2003 opportunities. Given the short amount of time until
rover operations on Mars, there is an urgent need to expedite the
field deployment experiments.
The background material on these pages lays
out scenarios and requirements for deployments in the next year to a
Mars-analog
site (or sites) in the Mojave Desert.
