• Roving on the Red Planet

    ASU astrogeologist will discuss the impact of rovers on Mars FRANK STEPHENSON SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Soon after NASA landed its first remote-controlled rover on Mars in 1997, an avalanche of data fired back 94 million miles to Earth quickly began to revolutionize scientists’ understanding of the storied Red Planet. Today, after nearly two decades of collecting stunning photos of the planet’s landscape, along with a treasure trove of chemical analysis of Mars’ rocky soil, scientists have drawn such a sharp picture of Mars’ true nature that it sets the stage for a manned mission to the planet that NASA is planning to launch sometime in the 2030s. Exactly what…