This landing site we believe will accomplish our scientific objectives. The first of those is to get down on the surface safely so we can get our data back. The second is to be on the polar layered terrain, to take a look at the possibility of finding physical evidence of repeated climate change and geologic history of the planet.
Dr. Richard Zurek, Mars Surveyor Project Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, CA.
We're looking for things that contain water or carbon dioxide, hydrates or carbonates - those things that form in standing water. There's no standing water on
Mars today - the temperatures and pressures are too low. Water [on Mars] behaves like carbon dioxide does on Earth - it goes from a solid to a gas and back again. But if we find evidence that these minerals are there, there must have been a pond.
Dr. Richard Zurek, Mars Surveyor Project Scientist at JPL
The primary [probe] experiment is a water experiment, a search for ice that is predicted to occur in the subsurface. We have a small drill that extends out from the side of the probe. It takes a soil sample. That soil is heated up and a laser will look for the presence of any water vapor that's given off from the
heated soil.
Dr. Suzanne Smrekar, Deep Space 2 Project Scientist at NASA HQ in DC.
The lander lifetime is really set by the seasons. There comes a time when it s total darkness. For a solar-powered lander, that is not good. Even before that time, it is going to get much colder. That is probably what will end the life of the mission. However, we expect first to see water ice frost because that will freeze out at higher temperatures. If the lander lasts long enough, we may see the first return of the seasonal carbon dioxide frost.
Dr. Richard Zurek, Mars Surveyor Project Scientist at JPL
You won't be able to see the probes from the lander. They are 50 km away which is over the horizon for our imager.
Dr. Richard Zurek, Mars Surveyor Project Scientist at JPL