As NASA prepares to launch two rovers to the red planet next spring,
Dr. Firouz Naderi, director of the Solar System Exploration Program
Directorate and Mars Exploration Program manager at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, will present a pair of free, public lectures
about Mars exploration.

The lectures, entitled “The Robotic Exploration of Mars,” will include
discussions about the current Mars program, its goals and discoveries
and its innovative ideas for future robotic Mars missions. The
lectures will be presented Thursday evening, Dec. 12, at JPL, and
Friday evening, Dec. 13, at Pasadena City College.

Further investigation of the planet is even more compelling and
important with the recent detection of water ice beneath the martian
surface. Since water is the key to life, the main strategy of the
Mars program is to “follow the water.” To determine whether
conditions ever existed for the development of life on Mars, future
robotic missions will join the extremely prolific Mars Odyssey and
Mars Global Surveyor missions in providing a wealth of knowledge about
the planet.

Before humans can ever set foot in the red dust of Mars, we must rely
on robotic missions to reveal vital information about the planet.
NASA’s long-term plans for Mars include the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter, which will view martian landscapes at 20 to 30 centimeter (8
to 12 inch) resolution – good enough to observe rocks the size of
beach balls. Since many scientifically interesting areas on Mars are
potentially hazardous to spacecraft, NASA anticipates using “smart
lander” technology as early as 2009, when a roving long-range,
long-duration science laboratory mission is planned.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The lecture will also
be webcast live on Thurs., Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. Pacific time at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures/dec02.html and will be
archived online for later viewing.

The lecture at JPL, located at 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, off the
Oak Grove Drive exit of the 210 (Foothill) freeway, will be held in
the von Karman Auditorium. The Friday lecture will be held in Pasadena
City College’s Vosloh Forum at 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. For more
information, call (818) 354-0112 or see

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.html .

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.