Aren't we about to land a couple of probes on Mars?

[theophilus]

Hey, aren't we (and maybe Europe or Japan) about to land on Mars with some robots? I
haven't been hearing much about this. I think ours are supposed to be getting there on
January 4. Are you guys seeing much in the media about this? If not, why not? I would appreciate
your input. I don't have nearly the time I need to watch news, etc. I come here for updates.
Thanks.

[markus]

1. Next Summer

Here's the JPL mission page, with the Exploration Mars Rover missions at the bottom;

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/

[theophilus]

3. Thanks for the page. I should have already looked, but

They were launched last summer and the page you gave says the first lands on the 3rd
of January. That is right around the corner. My question is: Are we hearing as much about
this as we should? Are they afraid of another failure? Is there some hidden agenda against
science in this administration (a rhetorical question)? Are we headed for another dark age? Are
we already there? OR ....... Have I just not been paying enough attention to the major news
channels?

[phaseolus]

7. The Bushies *do* have a particular science agenda, but...

...I haven't seen anything that would make me believe they're covering up unmanned Mars probes. I read about these last summer, and watched videos of the probes' launches with my space-nut 6 year old son.

There's a bunch of fascinating stuff going on that just doesn't get all that much news coverage. For instance, that unmanned probe that's spending a year at L2 collecting solar wind particles, returning to Earth next year. I think that kind o' stuff is interesting but I'm probably in the minority....

The problem with the Bush administration & science has been documented elsewhere, notably in Mother Jones mag a year or two ago. Members of scientific advisory panels are vetted to make sure they're in lock-step ideological conformity with the entire right-wing groupthink, whether or not it has anything to do with science. American Lysenkoism.

[Zero Gravitas]

9. the corporate media

the media doesn't give much attention to space missions, but there;s plenty if info out there online if you are interested in this sort of thing. I'm very excited about these two rovers, hopefully both will land OK and I can't wait to see the images they send back.

[cirej2000]

6. Maybe that's where Osama is hiding

They can't seem to find him on Earth...does Newsweek have a Mars Lander?

[stevedeshazer]

10. Not correct

NASA's two probes were launched LAST summer. They will land three weeks apart, the first on January 3, the second on January 24, 2004.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=619B8206-8184-4EB0-9689BC6FC52826C6

The Europeans are scheduled to land their Mars probe on December 25, next week!

http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/physics_astronomy/report-24237.html

[thinkahead]

2. Yes - End of December

the European rover will arrive - and then in January two American rovers will arrive. There is also a Japanese rover en route.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

[OneTwentyoNine]

4. Bush announcement tomorrow......

Not to be upstaged by JFK one little bit,tomorrow on the 100th anniversary of powered flight Bush will announce:

"That we will fly a man to the sun and safely return him to Earth by the end of this decade"

David

[HereSince1628]

5. The Japanese abandoned their mission last week

It was off course and an attempt to at course correction apparently didn't work.

Rumor is it was shot down by LGM. Wolfowitz says the lack of evidence for little green men is actually evidence they are HIDING.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Beagle 2 due to land on Christmas Day

the British lander which is carried by the European Mars Express orbiter.

Ready made headline - "The Beagle Has Landed". Will any newspaper not use it?