Preparations for the January Mars landings by NASA’s two
mobile robotic geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, will be
discussed at a press briefing 1:00 p.m. EST, Dec. 2, 2003.

The briefing is in the NASA Headquarters Webb Auditorium, 300
E Street SW, Washington. NASA TV will broadcast the briefing
live with two-way media question-and-answer capability from
participating agency centers. Panelists will discuss
preparations to accomplish the challenging Mars landings.

Panelists:

  • Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science, NASA Headquarters
  • Dr. Charles Elachi, director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.
  • Peter Theisinger, Mars Exploration Rover project manager, JPL
  • Dr. Cathy Weitz, Mars Exploration Rover (MER) program scientist, NASA Headquarters.
  • Dr. Steve Squyres, MER principal investigator, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
  • Dr. Joy Crisp, Mars Exploration Rover project scientist, JPL

NASA Television is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band,
located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0
MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80
MHz. For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

For information about the Mars Exploration Rovers on the
Internet, visit:

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