Nov. 14, 1997 Two miniature science probes designed to penetrate
the Martian surface and analyze the water vapor content of the
planet's subterranean soil in 1999 have successfully completed a
crucial subsystem test deep in the New Mexico desert. This
successful check of the batteries and soil collection drill of
the mission known as Deep Space 2 (DS2) provides a "green light"
for subsequent integrated system tests next spring, said Sarah
Gavit, DS2 project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena, CA. The DS2 mission hardware will be launched
in January 1999, mounted on the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander. Both
missions will arrive on Mars in December 1999. DS2 is the second
scheduled launch in NASA's New Millennium Program, which is
designed to test new advanced technologies prior to their use on
science missions in the 21st century. DS2 will validate the
ability of small probes loaded with sensitive, miniaturized
instruments to analyze the terrain of planets and moons
throughout the Solar Syste