Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC                    March 25, 1997
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1979)


RELEASE: 97-51

SPACE SCIENCE AND HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT ENTERPRISES
AGREE TO JOINT ROBOTIC MARS LANDER MISSION

    In a cooperative activity intended to advance scientific
knowledge and help lay the groundwork for a future decision on
whether to send humans to Mars, NASA's Space Science and Human
Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) enterprises have
agreed to jointly fund and manage two robotic missions to Mars due
for launch in 2001.

    "For the first time since the 1960s, NASA's space science and
human space flight programs are cooperating directly on the
exploration of another planetary body," said
Dr. Wesley T. Huntress Jr., NASA associate administrator for space
science.  "Mars is a challenging destination for any type of
spacecraft to reach, and it makes a great deal of sense for us to
pursue the maximum possible return of knowledge from any chance to
go there."

    "This joint effort is a sign that NASA is acquiring the
information that will be needed for a national decision, perhaps
in a decade or so, on whether or not to send humans to Mars," said
Wilbur Trafton, associate administrator for space flight.  "Early
in the next century, once the International Space Station is
deployed and operating, the question of our next major goal in
human space flight will come up.  This partnership is a major step
toward ensuring that we have the information needed to answer that
question."

    NASA intends to launch two separate spacecraft to Mars, a
small orbiter and a small lander, in March and April 2001,
respectively.

    The Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander will deliver a small, advanced
technology rover capable of traveling several tens of miles across
the Martian highlands.  The rover will be able to collect rock and
soil samples for later return to Earth by a future robotic
mission.

    Under the new internal NASA agreement, the 2001 Lander will
now 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 planet's soil properties and
surface radiation environment.

    "Before we can send humans into deep space, we need to
understand the nature of the space environment and its effect on
living systems," said Arnauld Nicogossian, M.D., acting associate
administrator for life and microgravity sciences.  "The Mars 2001
mission will give us invaluable information about the radiation
environment of space and the surface on 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.

    A companion mission to the lander known as the Mars Surveyor
2001 Orbiter will be launched in March 2001.  The 2001 Orbiter
will be the first to use the atmosphere of Mars to slow down and
directly capture the spacecraft into orbit, in a technique called
aerocapture.  The scientific objectives of the mission are to
conduct mineralogical mapping of the entire planet and
characterize its orbital radiation environment.  The 2001 Orbiter
also will carry a radio relay to support the lander and a possible
Russian robotic rover mission.

    The preliminary cost estimate for both integrated missions is
approximately $311 million, not including launch costs. An
integrated team of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena,
CA; the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; and Lockheed Martin
Astronautics, Denver, will develop the missions, led by JPL.

    Both of the 2001 missions are part of an ongoing NASA series
of robotic Mars exploration spacecraft that began with the
launches of the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter and the Mars
Pathfinder lander in November and December 1996, respectively.
Mars Pathfinder and its 25-pound rover, named Sojourner, will land
on Mars in a region called Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997.

                            -end-