by Kate Crofts
Daily Lobo
This August marked a significant occasion in astronomical history. Due to Mars' position, stargazers were able to view the red planet more clearly and more closely than they ever had before.
When Mars passed within 34,650,000 miles to Earth on Aug. 27, it became the closest approach in about 100,000 years, Larry Crumpler, research curator of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, said to a group of astronomy enthusiasts at the museum Saturday. Crumpler said stargazers can expect to see even more detailed images in the near future.
Crumpler, as part of a NASA research team, has been working on a new exploration project for Mars.
"Mars has been in the news a lot lately," Crumpler said. "And it's going to get worse in January when two big rovers land there."
The rovers, designed in part by Crumpler and his team, are each "about the size of a golf-cart" and are expected to land on Mars within two weeks of each other: the first Jan. 4, the second Jan. 25.
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"The history of any planet is in its rocks," Crumpler said.
Based on this, the research team intends on discovering the history of Mars in the images and information retrieved from the rover project.
To best collect the information, the rovers, named Spirit and Opportunity, are equipped with numerous collecting and recording devices.
"They can look at the fine-scale features of the rocks," Crumpler said. "There are nine cameras on each rover."
Crumpler said the team's ultimate goal is to determine the possibility of complex compounds ever existing on Mars, and perhaps even life. To do this, the rover team needed to locate sites with "evidence suggesting water existed there in the past," Crumpler said.
Armed with the high-resolution images provided by the 1997 Mars Global Surveyor project, researchers were able to scope out the best landing sites for the rover mission.
Evidence suggests these sites once had a river running through them, Crumpler said.
"The channel was wider, deeper and every bit as long as the Rio Grande," Crumpler said.
During the 90 days Spirit and Opportunity are operating on Mars, New Mexicans will be treated to direct involvement with the mission. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is "one of only three in the country with direct involvement," Crumpler said.
Beginning early 2004, there will be a Mars Rover exhibit, featuring real time images of the mission and active research participation.
While New Mexicans are waiting for the detailed Rover images, they can continue to view Mars at UNM's Lodestar Astronomy Center.
Even the less enthusiastic astronomers can appreciate the planet, Crumpler said.
"It's red. It's kind of cool to look at."
