- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The U.S. space agency launched Sunday the second of two
unmanned space missions to search the planet Mars for signs of water, a
key ingredient of life.
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- NASA's Mars Polar Lander lifted off from
Cape Canaveral under gray skies at 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT) atop a Boeing
Delta 2 rocket. The robotic craft was to separate from the rocket's third
stage about 42 minutes after launch.
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- The probe's sistership, the Mars Climate
Orbiter, was launched three weeks ago to observe the planet from an orbit
262 miles (422 km) high.
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- Together with European nations, NASA
hopes to launch unmanned craft to the red planet every two years.
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- Mars Polar Lander is due to touchdown
on the edge of the Martian south pole, a cap of frozen carbon dioxide,
Dec. 3. A robot arm will scoop up samples of Martian soil for analysis
in a mini-laboratory.
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- The main goal of the mission is to detect
traces of water, which would bode well for the theory that life could exist
on the planet.
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- The lander also carries a microphone.
Scientists are not sure what will be heard, but they hope to record the
howl of the Martian wind and the sound of machinery aboard the lander.
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