The Mars Center at NASA Ames Research Center will be open on Saturday, Jan. 24 from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. PST so that Bay Area news media representatives and the general public can view live televised coverage and commentary of the landing of the Mars Exploration Rover ‘Opportunity.

A news briefing is scheduled to be broadcast by NASA Television live from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. PST and will be followed by ongoing mission coverage and commentary from JPL. The landing of ‘Opportunity’ on the red planet is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. PST. The Mars Center will also be open as usual on Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. PST.

The new Mars Center is located in the large white tent that formerly housed Space Camp California at the main gate to Moffett Field. The Mars Center opened to the public Dec. 29 and will remain open through June 2004. So far, more than 20,000 visitors have come to the Mars Center, which features a dynamic array of interactive displays, exhibits and demonstrations designed to excite, inform and educate the public about the mysteries of the red planet. For information about the Mars Exploration Rovers, visit:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer

For further information about the Mars Center, visit:

http://www.arc.nasa.gov

NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS: News media representatives are invited to view live televised coverage and commentary of the landing of the Mars Exploration Rover ‘Opportunity’ on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. PST. The coverage will be broadcast live from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena on NASA Television and can be seen in the Mars Center at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. NASA Television can be seen on AMC9, Transponder 9C, 85 degrees west longitude, with vertical polarization at 3880 MHZ and audio at 6.8 MHZ. To reach the Mars Center, which is located just outside NASA Ames Research Center’s main gate, take the Moffett Field exit off U.S. 101. Follow the signs, proceed to the main gate and take an immediate right into the Mars Center parking lot.