Scientists begin search for Mars Lander in earnest

Scientists begin search for Mars Lander in earnest
REUTERS

SAN FRANCISCO, DECEMBER 14: Scientists will try to learn later this week whether the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander landed on the Martian surface even though they have not been able to make direct contact with the spacecraft, a project scientist on the mission has said.

The Mars global surveyor, currently orbiting the red planet, will begin using its powerful camera on Thursday in an effort to locate the spindly, three-legged Lander, scientist Richard Zurek said yesterday.

``We believe it is on the surface of Mars,'' Zurek said at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). ``We're really putting some hope into seeing something on the surface itself.''

Zurek and a team of scientists had planned to present the first results from the mission at the AGU meeting. But they instead held a news conference to detail their attempts to keep contacting the missing Lander and emphasise the need for further missions to the red planet.

The 165 million dollars Mars Polar Lander was supposed to have landed on the planet's south pole on December 3 to probe the barren Martian surface for signs of water - which, if found, could have provided vital clues on whether life ever existed there.

But the Lander has not been heard from since it made its final approach toward the planet - so far failing to signal that it has landed safely on the Martian surface. Now scientists are ready to turn to the Mars global surveyor's camera for help in locating the spacecraft.

The search will focus on an area of a few square kilometres and scientists hope to find the Lander's 65-foot long parachute draped over the surface. Because the Lander is too small to show up in the images beamed from the satellite, the parachute gives researchers the best chance of finding the missing spacecraft and would provide important data for future missions, Zurek said.

``If you see the parachute is there, you know it separated from the cruise stage you know that it deployed the parachute and you also know you are very close to where the Lander is,'' he said.

But Zurek cautioned that pinning down the parachute was no easy task, although he said it was within the ``realm of possibility.

The best chance for success is if the parachute is spread along the Martian surface and not covered in dust or balled-up, he added. ``If it is spread out, we should be able to see it.''

It could take up to three weeks to gather a complete picture of the area and scientists should see the first images as soon as Friday.

The failure of the Mars Polar Lander, which disappeared along with two probes, is not the first high-profile snafu for NASA.

The Lander's sister ship, the Mars Climate Orbiter, was lost due to human error in September, and the two probes that accompanied the Lander to the red planet also failed to call home - adding up to a 265 million dollars loss for the latest Mars mission.