Mission to Mars: A True Story
August 21, 1993
The Mars Observer is three days away from entering Mars orbit. Based on commerical Earth-orbiting comminications satellite, the Observer is the first craft to visit Mars since the Vikings in the 1970s. Its $813 million mission is to unlock the secrets of the red planet’s surface, its magnetic and gravitational fields, and its climate. Continue reading the story by clicking start in the flash player developed by Alastair Halliday below.
Multimedia
Download a PDF of the story.
Be creative: a black and white PDF for you to color.
– Flash Movie. Do not edit.–
Credit: Alastair Halliday
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.