Two NASA spacecraft, Mars Global Surveyor [
http://mgs-www.jpl.…] and Mars Pathfinder [
http://mpfwww.jpl.n…], are presently approaching the red planet [
http://www.seds.org…]. Pathfinder is scheduled to land on July 4th and Global Surveyor due to enter orbit in September. Recent studies of the Martian climate [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], motivated by this impending invasion of spacecraft from Earth [
http://www.jpl.nasa…], have indicate that Mars weather is more chaotic than previously thought [
http://oposite.stsc…] - showing abrupt swings between "hot and dusty" and "cold and cloudy". These Hubble Space Telescope images [
http://oposite.stsc…] from March 1997 show the Northern Hemisphere in early Martian summer [
http://oposite.stsc…], with a receding polar cap and whitish water-ice clouds. The left image is centered on Ares Valles, Pathfinder's landing site [
http://mpfwww.arc.n…], while in the right image, towering Tharsis mountains [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (massive extinct volcanoes) can be seen poking through the clouds. Stretching to the eastern edge of the righthand image (at lower right) is the Valles Marineris [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], an immense canyon system. Martian weather reports [
http://nova.stanfor…] will play an important role [
http://mpfwww.arc.n…] in mission planning. Both spacecraft rely on the Martian atmosphere for braking maneuvers and Pathfinder's lander and rover are solar powered.
Explanation
Two NASA spacecraft, Mars Global Surveyor [
http://mgs-www.jpl.…] and Mars Pathfinder [
http://mpfwww.jpl.n…], are presently approaching the red planet [
http://www.seds.org…]. Pathfinder is scheduled to land on July 4th and Global Surveyor due to enter orbit in September. Recent studies of the Martian climate [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], motivated by this impending invasion of spacecraft from Earth [
http://www.jpl.nasa…], have indicate that Mars weather is more chaotic than previously thought [
http://oposite.stsc…] - showing abrupt swings between "hot and dusty" and "cold and cloudy". These Hubble Space Telescope images [
http://oposite.stsc…] from March 1997 show the Northern Hemisphere in early Martian summer [
http://oposite.stsc…], with a receding polar cap and whitish water-ice clouds. The left image is centered on Ares Valles, Pathfinder's landing site [
http://mpfwww.arc.n…], while in the right image, towering Tharsis mountains [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (massive extinct volcanoes) can be seen poking through the clouds. Stretching to the eastern edge of the righthand image (at lower right) is the Valles Marineris [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], an immense canyon system. Martian weather reports [
http://nova.stanfor…] will play an important role [
http://mpfwww.arc.n…] in mission planning. Both spacecraft rely on the Martian atmosphere for braking maneuvers and Pathfinder's lander and rover are solar powered.
Explanation
