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      THE INTERNATIONAL MARSWATCH ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
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                     Volume 6; Issue 1
                       Jun 1, 2003
                     Circulation: 1578

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(1) Welcome back
(2) Mars Explorer Rovers
(3) Mars Odyssey
(4) Mars Global Surveyor

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Hello all Mars observers!  This newsletter is to let you all know
that the International MarsWatch is up and running.  We got the
new site going on 31 March 2003 but the mail list took a bit longer
due to having to switch systems.  I used to run it on my local
workstation by hand, but due to policy changes here at Rowan, that
had to end.  We now have it running automagically via Majordomo, a
Perl program that handles the list subscriptions, dead addresses,
etc.  Getting it set up and my getting familiar with it in the midst
of the semester was not an easy task.  But here we are.  I will be
sending out a newsletter monthly, with additions as necessary if
things on Mars get "interesting".  If anyone has any information
they wish to contribute to the newsletter, just e-mail your friendly,
neighborhood editor (Dave: klassen@rowan.edu).

The new website can be found at http://elvis.rowan.edu/marswatch
(same address as last time; the old site is still around at
http://elvis.rowan.edu/marswatch/2001/ and is pretty much in its
final form).  I usrge all observers to use the ftp site and upload
any images they wish to contribute.  All the details can be found
at the site.  I also urge any of the professional astronomers out
there who have Mars observing programs to let us know what they
are so we can try to get as many coordinated observations as
possible.  Just drop me a line and I'll put it in the next newsletter
and on the site.

Clear Skies!
    Dave

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The next mission to Mars will be the Mars Explorer Rovers (MER), a
pair of large rovers that will bounce-land on the Red Planet and
be able to drive considerable distances as they explore the Mars
landscape.  You can read all about the mission, the instrumentation,
and schedule at the offical web site http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/ .
The current launch dates for the two rovers are 8 June 2003 and
25 June 2003 and you can watch them live via webcast!  Just go to
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/webcast/mer/ for more details.

Right now, the two rovers are known as MER-A and MER-B.  NASA held a 
contest to give the rovers more memorable names; the names have been
chosen from entries by more than 9000 students!  On June 7 at 12:30 
p.m. there will be a special announcement from NASA to introduce the
new names and the winning student.

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The Mars Odyssey orbiter has been doing a wonderful job mapping Mars.
It was launched 7 April 2001, arrived at Mars 24 October 2001 and
begin the aerobreaking task to put it into its current orbit.  It has
been working on its primary mapping/science phase since February and
will continue until August 2004.  There are three major experiments
on Mars Odyssey: MARIE (The Martian Radiation Environment Experiment),
GRS (The Gamma Ray Spectrometer), and THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging
System).

MARIE is measuring the local radiation around Mars and you can see
their data and results at http://marie.jsc.nasa.gov/ .  This site 
lets you plot the radiation dose over time.

The GRS is an instrument designed to look for subsurface water on
Mars among other elemental abundances.  You can read all about the
GRS at http://grs.lpl.arizona.edu/ .  One of the biggest discoveries
so far with the GRS is the abundance of subsurface ices on Mars.
Maps of the ice, and more information on how it is measured is
at http://grs.lpl.arizona.edu/results/presscon2/ .

THEMIS is mapping the entire planet in multiple infrared wavelengths.
Using nine thermal infrared "colors", the team members will be able
to measure the mineralogy of the Martian surface.  Aside from this,
we are also getting some wonderful, high resolution, images of the
planet.  You can read all about the instrument at http://themis.asu.edu/
and the latest images are at http://themis.asu.edu/latest.html.

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And just in case you thought it was all over, the Mars Global Surveyor
is still going strong!  It has complteted over 18,000 mapping orbits,
mapped the entire planet at standard resolution, and created a global
topography map.  Since Mars changes over time, the mission has been
extened to continue these efforts.  You can see all the latest images
at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/ .

One of the really interesting sights from the MGS camera is a look
back home.  Late last May, the team pointed the Mars Orbiter Camera
at Earth and took several images.  You can see the MGS/MOC images
at http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/05/22/index.html.  This
was only the third time such a look home was taken.  The first was
by Voyager 1 on Feb. 14, 1990 (see detailes at the JPL web site at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/vgr_fam.html ).  The second was by
Galileo (http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/earthimages.html ).

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Marswatch WWW site --- http://elvis.rowan.edu/marswatch

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Questions, comments, concerns, and contributions to:
David R. Klassen                             voice: 856-256-4500 x3273
Department of Physics & Astronomy              fax: 856-256-4478
Rowan University
201 Mullica Hill Road                        klassen@rowan.edu
Glassboro, NJ 08028                          http://elvis.rowan.edu/~klassen