August 1, 2000

The following Mars mission will be carrying a Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU) - each RHU contains 1.5 grams of Pu.

NASA announced yesterday that it has decided to send up to two rover missions to Mars in 2003. The missions will be a similar design to the Mars Pathfinder, using an airbag cushion to land on the surface. The rover will be much larger than Pathfinder's Sojourner, capable of traveling 100 metres a day, and equipped with a range of scientific equipment, including several cameras and spectrometers - the primary objective will be to find recent evidence of liquid water on the surface. The launch is scheduled for June 4, 2003, and it should arrive at the Red Planet January 20, 2004.

Original Source:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-119.txt -NASA Press Release

See also:
Will Nuclear Power put Humans on Mars?.
Missions to Mars: Nuclear-powered Probes In the Plans for Mars.

Internet Coverage:
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0007/27mars2003/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_855000/855358.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/07/27/mars.rover/index.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/438515.asp
http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story.mpl/content/interactive/space/news/2000/20000728.html
http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/072800k.htm
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars2003-00a.html
http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/07/27b.html