Assessment of Mars Science and Mission Priorities (2003) / Chapter Skim
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1. Introduction
1. Introduction
Pages 5-8
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From page 5... ...
However, with the failures of the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander missions in 1999, the Surveyor program came to be seen as unworkable, and in the time since those failures the strategy for Mars exploration has been systematically rethought and its more ambitious goals have been scaled back. A new Mars Exploration Program (MEP)
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From page 6... ...
Climate models, which are currently adapted from terrestrial general circulation models, are becoming increasingly important, yet they will require much additional observational data, particularly of surface-atmosphere energy and gas fluxes, for model validation and verification.~° The geodynamical investigations often study controls on the obliquity of Mars, and the variability of that parameter, which is so crucial to the planet's climate history and the prospects of life on it. Theoretical studies of the interior attempt to model Mars's core, the composition and viscous behavior of the mantle (the latter controls the tectonics of martian crust)
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From page 7... ...
Despite discoveries of environmental extremes compatible with life, we have only limited knowledge of microbial diversity, the conditions under which such species live, and how interactions between microbial forms modulate planetary change. Ground-based astrobiology supplies a clear rationale and direction for the selection of landing sites on Mars, allows for the proper design and interpretation of in situ experiments, and provides the basis for life detection and planetary protection.
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From page 8... ...
Farmer, "The Seasonal and Global Behavior of Water Vapor in the Mars Atmosphere: Complete Global Results of the Viking Atmospheric Water Detector Experiment," Journal of Geophysical Research 87: 2999-3019, 1982.
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