The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

detach as the main spacecraft began its descent. The penetrators,
called Scott and Amundsen, were to have struck
the Martian surface at about 200 m/s at the northernmost
boundary of the area near the south polar ice cap
referred to as the Polar Layered Terrain, about 200 km
from the landing site of the main spacecraft. Each would
have released a miniature two-piece science probe
designed to punch into the soil to a depth of up to 2 m
and search for subsurface ice.
Launch
Date: January 3, 1999
Vehicle: Delta 7925
Site: Cape Canaveral
Length: 3.6 m
Total mass, less penetrators: 575 kg
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
A NASA orbiter, to be launched in August 2005, that will
make high-resolution measurements of the surface from
orbit, including images with resolution better than 1 m.
The primary objectives of the mission will be to look for
evidence of past or present water and to identify landing
sites for future missions. The orbiter will also be used as a
telecommunications link for future missions.
Mars Scout
A new class of robot explorer that will be able to reconnoiter
Mars in any of a variety of ways—from orbit, from
the planet’s surface or subsurface, and by floating or flying
at low altitude over the Martian terrain. NASA
intends to use Mars Scouts to complement its core missions
by focusing on new discoveries, particularly any
revelations that might warrant rapid follow-up. The first
Scout could be launched between late 2006 and mid-
2007.
Mars Surveyor ’98
A two-part mission consisting of the Mars Climate
Observer and the Mars Polar Lander, designed to
accomplish at lower cost the mission assigned to the
failed Mars Observer. However, both of the Surveyor
’98 probes also failed, due largely to human error, which
prompted NASA to review and extensively revise its
plans for the future exploration of Mars.
Mars, unmanned spacecraft
See Mariner 3, 4, and 6–9, Mars, Mars 96, Mars 1969
A and B, Mars 2007, Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars
Exploration Rovers, Mars Express, Mars Global Surveyor,
Mars Observer, Mars Odyssey, Mars Pathfinder,
Mars Polar Lander, Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter, Mars
Marsnik 265
Scout, Marsnik, Netlander, Nozomi, Phobos, Viking,
and Zond 2. 24, 126 (See also the table “Chronology of
Mars Probes,” on page 266.)
Marshall, George C. (1880–1959)
A career Army officer who served as General of the Army
and U.S. army chief of staff during World War II. He
became secretary of state (1947–1949), then secretary of
defense (1950–1951), and he was the author of the European
recovery program known to the world as the Marshall
Plan; it played a crucial role in reconstructing a
Europe ravaged by the war that Marshall had done so
much to direct to a victorious end. In recognition of the
effects of the Marshall Plan and his contributions to
world peace, he received the Nobel Prize for Peace in
1953. It was fitting that a NASA center should be named
after the only professional soldier to receive the prize,
given NASA’s charter to devote itself to the peaceful uses
of outer space and yet to cooperate with the military ser-
235, 278 vices.
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
A major NASA field center located within the boundaries
of the Army’s Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville,
Alabama, which is responsible for developing new space
launch vehicles and propulsion systems. Its programs
focus on research, technology, design, development, and
integration of space transportation and propulsion systems,
including both reusable systems for Earth-to-orbit
applications and vehicles for orbital transfer and deep
space transportation. Marshall also carries out microgravity
research and is the home of the Neutral Buoyancy
Tank. The center was formed on July 1, 1960, by the
transfer of buildings and staff from what was then the
Army Ballistic Missile Agency. It subsequently played a
central part in the realization of the Jupiter C, Centaur,
Skylab, and the Space Shuttle programs, but it is best
known for its development of the Saturn class rockets
used to launch Apollo.
Marsnik
Two failed Soviet Mars probes launched on October 10
and 14, 1960. Marsnik 1 and 2 (also known as Mars 1960
A/B and Korabl 4/5) were the first attempted interplanetary
spacecraft and were similar in design to Venera 1
with an on-orbit mass of 650 kg. They were intended to
investigate interplanetary space between Earth and Mars,
study Mars and return surface images from flyby trajectories,
and study the effects of extended spaceflight on
onboard instruments. Both probes were lost during
launch when their third stages failed to ignite. At the
time, Soviet premier Khruschev was on a visit to the