Search for Mars Polar Lander stepped up

SAN FRANCISCO, DECEMBER 14: Scientists will try to learn later this week whether the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander landed on the Martian surface even though they have not been able to make direct contact with the spacecraft, a project scientist on the mission has said.

The Mars global surveyor, currently orbiting the red planet, will begin using its powerful camera on Thursday in an effort to locate the spindly, three-legged Lander, scientist Richard Zurek said yesterday.

“We believe it is on the surface of Mars,” Zurek said at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). “We’re really putting some hope into seeing something on the surface itself.”

The Lander was supposed to have landed on the planet’s south pole on December 3 to probe the barren Martian surface for signs of water – which, if found, could have provided vital clues on whether life ever existed there.