 In late May and then again in early June 2003, two separate Mars Rovers will be launched on a 7 1/2 month journey to the surface Mars. The first Rover is expected to land on the Martian surface on January 2, 2004 and the second one on January 20, 2004. The Rovers will land using airbags similar to those used on the 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission.
Whereas the Pathfinder mission used a "base station" that contained several instruments, the Rovers, each having a mass of 150 kilograms, will carry all instrumentation with them and be able to venture up to 100 meters per day across the Martian. Their lifetime on the surface is expected to be at least 90 Martian days.
[Source: NASA JPL ]
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