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CNN Saturday Morning News
NASA to Launch Mars Probe
Aired April 07, 2001 - 09:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: What was that going across the screen?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Speaking of light, we've got -- you've got bugs coming across your camera there, John.
NELSON: You've got some -- you've got cucarachas, John, you better get them treated real soon.
PHILLIPS: It's just taking -- that's the road less traveled...
NELSON: That's right. Do anything long enough, and...
PHILLIPS: Oh, that's even better, the shot of John, he's free spring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NELSON: That was the last hour, that was the last hour when this bug crossed through the camera lens when we were talking to John Zarrella, couldn't believe it.
But a Delta rocket is poised on the pad at Cape Canaveral, ready to blast off this morning. And aboard is a near $300 million space probe, NASA's third attempt to solve the mysteries of the Red Planet.
PHILLIPS: And our bugless CNN's John Zarrella is also standing by at Cape Canaveral to bring us up to date on this mission. Hi, John, I'm sorry, we -- that was a first on CNN. We had to make the most of it, right?
NELSON: You'll never live this one down, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I tell you, Kyra, that -- Brian, Kyra, that's proof positive that there's -- unequivocal, there's life on Mars. We know now.
PHILLIPS: It's a sign.
ZARRELLA: I have to tell you, it's a spectacular day out here today. We got here very early this morning. Less than a 5 percent chance that NASA won't be able to get off the ground today. The sunrise was just beautiful, that big orange ball coming up over the launch pad. You can hear the birds there chirping in the distance, absolutely gorgeous morning.
The vehicle is ready, they're in the countdown. There are no technical glitches as the Mars Odyssey spacecraft is ready to lift off in, oh, just a little over an hour on its journey to the Red Planet, a six-month journey.
And to join us to talk about the significance of the mission is Jim Garvin. And Jim, you are, of course, the head of Mars Exploration scientist, and significance of this mission, two failed missions in the past, everybody's talked a lot about those. It's really critical that you get there this time and start doing the science again.
JIM GARVIN, MARS PROGRAM SCIENTIST: Absolutely, John, and we're absolutely delighted with this mission. This is our return to flight, and it's our return to reconnaissance in new ways. And we're after the unseen side of Mars, that even today, with the Global Surveyor, we don't get.
So this is a must for us, and we are just go for launch.
ZARRELLA: Tell us a little bit about it. I know that we've heard them say a lot that it's -- this is all about follow the water.
GARVIN: Well, our strategy is to understand environments on Mars that might have been the places life could have got a foothold on Mars. So we're following the best clues to those environments, and water is one of them. So we call our strategy follow the water. And this is part of the seeking part of that strategy.
And so Odyssey is going to look for water in ways that we haven't done before, higher-resolution views of the minerals that tell us water was there, and looking for this hydrogen, this stuff from which water is made.
ZARRELLA: And lastly, you're also going to be looking for landing sites for future vehicles, correct?
GARVIN: Absolutely. Odyssey will work with M.G.S. to help us target our 2003 Mars exploration rovers. These are five times the size of the Sojourner we all marveled over with Pathfinder. We're going back to Mars to the surface, landing in January '04.
ZARRELLA: Jim, thank you so much for taking some time to join us.
GARVIN: Thanks, John.
ZARRELLA: I know it's a big day for everyone here at NASA. Again, in about an hour, just over an hour, they will be lifting off, hopefully, Everything seems ready to go now, and the Odyssey, which of course is named after Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction writer who wrote "2001: A Space Odyssey." It will be on its own odyssey, a six- month journey to the Red Planet.
This is John Zarrella, reporting live from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and no bugs. NELSON: I was going to say, now that they got the bugs out, they'll be able to take this mission up. Thanks, John.
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