Word: martian
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Strange Wave. After it is captured, Mariner will be sent into a huge lopsided orbit tilted at an angle of about 65° to the Martian equator. Making a full circuit every twelve hours, the spacecraft will come as close as 750 miles to the Martian surface, then soar out to a distance of some 10,500 miles. During its expected three-month working life -longer if the power supply holds out-Mariner will radio back more than 5,000 television pictures, mapping at least 70% of the planetary surface. In addition, its two cameras will take the first relatively...
Packed with ultraviolet and infrared sensors, Mariner will also keep a continual watch on the Martian surface and atmosphere. Thus, for the first time, scientists will be able to observe on a day-to-day basis the mysterious changes that occur on the Red Planet, including the strange seasonal wave of darkening that was once regarded by astronomers as a sign of earthlike vegetation. Equally important, more may be learned about the Martian physical features discovered by earlier Mariners: moonlike craters, the virtual lack of a magnetic field and the extremely low atmospheric pressure (only one one-hundred-fiftieth that...
...E.S.T., on Saturday, Nov. 13, the U.S. entry in the Martian sweepstakes-a 1,300-lb. windmill-shaped instrument package called Mariner 9-will begin a series of crucial maneuvers. Acting on preprogrammed commands sent from the huge, 210-ft. Goldstone tracking antenna in California's Mojave Desert, Mariner's onboard computer will ignite the spacecraft's small liquid-fuel engine for a precise 15-minute "burn," reducing the ship's velocity from about 11,000 m.p.h. to just over 8,000 m.p.h. As it slows down, Mariner will be captured by Martian gravity, thereby becoming...
...less talkative about their two unmanned probes, Mars 2 and 3. But some U.S. observers have concluded from the size of the spacecraft-which weighed about 8,000 Ibs. more at lift-off than their American counterpart-that the Russians may be attempting an actual touchdown on the Martian surface, perhaps landing an automated Mars rover similar to their highly successful Lunokhod I, which roamed the moon for ten months. (The first U.S. Mars landing mission will not be launched until...
...Soviets and the U.S. are already fully aware of one dramatic Martian occurrence. Since the end of September, astronomers have observed a dust storm on the planet. Spreading at the rate of 20 or 30 m.p.h., the yellowish cloud now obscures much of the planet's surface and is one of the most severe blowups ever witnessed through terrestrial telescopes. Some scientists are delighted with this rare chance of witnessing close up one of Mars' puzzling storms, which seem to occur when the planet moves closest to the sun and the Martian surface heats up. Others are equally...