Word: lander
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...ambitious undertaking, but NASA has succeeded in meeting challenges like this in the past." Until the plane mission lifts off, NASA is putting its eggs in two more conventional modes of exploring the planet: Within the year, a polar orbiter will be surveying Mars and a lander will arrive to study what lies beneath its surface. Martians, beware: The Earthlings are coming, the Earthlings are coming...
...local atmosphere. Its orbit will position it perfectly to act as a relay satellite for any later ship that may land on the surface. That's a good thing, since three weeks or so after the orbiter leaves Earth, NASA will launch another spacecraft, the more ambitious Mars Polar Lander...
...spindly machine standing 3.5 ft. tall, the lander is set to arrive in December 1999, aiming to touch down near Mars' south pole, one of the few spots on the freeze-dried planet that is likely to contain some water. Just before reaching the Martian atmosphere, the lander will release a pair of tapered pods, each about the size of a basketball, made of brittle silica. Plunging ahead of the ship, the projectiles will free-fall to the surface and strike the ground at 400 m.p.h...
Only minutes after the probes hit the ground, the lander will follow, descending by parachute and braking engine. Bristling with cameras and sensors, it will study Mars' terrain and weather, snapping pictures both during its descent and on the surface. It will also carry a microphone to record for the first time the sound of the Martian wind. More important, the ship will be equipped with a robotic arm and scoop, much like the arms carried aboard the Viking landers in the 1970s. Unlike the Vikings, though, which were able to paw just a few feeble inches into the Martian...
...long all this otherworldly hardware will operate is uncertain. The probes, powered by batteries, should wink out within three days. The lander, with robust solar panels to keep it humming, could last three months. But even if the systems do not survive that long, their work could be profound. After all, scientists have spent years studying just the Martian skin; this will be their first chance to dig a little deeper...