MARSIS
What is it? The ground-penetrating radar system on the European Space Agency鈥檚 Mars Express orbiter.
Goal MARSIS could find out whether there are pockets of liquid water up to a kilometre below the Martian surface.
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Status Though Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet for a year, MARSIS has yet to be deployed. Computer simulations have raised concerns that its long, flexible radar mast could whip around on the way out and damage other instruments. Analyses are ongoing, and MARSIS won鈥檛 begin work before March.
MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER
What is it? Largest spacecraft ever to orbit Mars.
Goal Over two years NASA鈥檚 MRO will map 1 per cent of the planet down to an unprecedented resolution of 30 centimetres. The orbiter will also be able to detect subsurface water, ice and layered structures, and study Martian mineralogy, climate and weather. With its detailed images, MRO will provide the information needed to pick landing sites for future missions.
Status Due for launch in August 2005, arriving at the Red Planet in 2006.
PHOENIX
What is it? NASA鈥檚 polar lander.
Goal Phoenix will have the most impressive suite of laboratory instruments ever sent to another planet. It will be able to dig up to half a metre into the soil and study samples in great detail. By gradually heating the samples it will drive off different compounds for identification.
Although Phoenix cannot look for life directly, it may find water or ice in the soil, and will be able to detect a variety of complex organic molecules that might be strong indicators of life 鈥� or at least of the chemical building blocks that make life possible. It will also carry a high-powered optical microscope and an atomic force microscope to inspect any traces of live or fossilised organisms in the soil.
Status To be launched in 2007.
MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY
What is it? Another NASA twin-rover mission 鈥� bigger, longer-lasting and more powerful than Spirit and Opportunity.
Goal The craft will be the first with precision landing capability, able to zero in on an area as small as 20 kilometres across, less than a third the area of any previous Mars landing zone. For the first time, planetary scientists will be able to target a specific area of high interest without worrying about landing on unsuitable terrain, something that has previously ruled out many promising sites. MSL鈥檚 rovers will carry an even more powerful collection of scientific instruments than Spirit and Opportunity. The final selection, announced last month, includes the most sophisticated mass spectrometer ever sent to another planet, which could pin down the origin of methane.
Status Launch is planned for 2009.
EXO-MARS
What is it? ESA鈥檚 next Mars orbiter and lander.
Goal The Exo-Mars rover is designed to look for evidence of life and to seek out promising locations for a future manned base. The rover will carry over 40 kilograms of equipment, including a drill capable of boring 2 metres into the ground and a mobile chemistry lab. As well as imaging rocks and soil, the rover will crush samples and test their reactivity. The rover will carry 鈥渓abs-on-a-chip鈥� which will test for complex organic molecules associated with terrestrial life. It will even test any amino acids it finds for 鈥渓eft-handedness鈥�, which on Earth is a sure-fire sign of life.
Status Launch is planned for 2009.
