dmata@hpcuhb.HP.COM (David Mata) (11/12/88)
NASA will help Soviets Pick a Mars landing site.
Wall Street Journal Friday, November 11, 1988 (page b7a)
States that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has
agreed to help pick a landing site on Mars for a robot craft that
the Soviets will launch in 1994.
Samuel W. Keller, head of the NASA delegation that has been
negotiating with Soviet scientists, said the Soviets have slected
four possible landing sites after the U.S. provided detail maps of
the Martian surface. The Soviets have now asked for more data and
details on the candidate sites. These comments were made at a news
conference marking the end of a week of negotiations between the
representatives of NASA and a delegation representing the Soviet
Solar System Exporation Program. The two groups met to work out
areas of cooperation.
Valeriy L Barsukov, Head of the Soviet delegation said the
all four sites are within 30 degrees of the equator but declined
to be more specific.
NASA has accumulated a vast amount of data on Mars in the form
of detailed images and maps from the Viking spacecraft missions
between 1975 and 1980. The Viking program put two craft in the orbit
of Mars and two on the surface.
The Soviets plan to launch a spacecraft in 1994 that will orbit
Mars and drop a lander that will scoop up a soil sample and return
it to Earth.
Mr. Barsukov said that in picking a landing site the Soviets
are considering such issues as a search for water and life, getting
comprehensive samples of the geology and gaining insights into the
Martian evolution.
Other agreements met:
- Using the American Deep Space Network to help track and communicate
with the Soviet Mars probes.
- An exchange of scientific personnel for work on specific missions.
- An exchange of data on Venus (a planet extensively explored by both
countries. Mr Keller said the U.S.-Soviet studies are being combined
to produce four detailed maps.)
- An exchange of lunar material gathered by the Apollo program for
meteorite material collected by the Soviets.
- An exchange of scientific instruments for use on planetary probes.
Mr. Barsukov said that the Soviets feel that a manned Mars landing
is "inevitable" and will probaly occur in the middle of the next century.
But before a manned mission is attempted, Mr. Barsukov said there will
probably new manned flights to the moon, but declined to elaborate.