Exploratour - Mars Exploration
Mars Surveyor Program
Born as a result of the failure of Mars Observer (MO), the Mars Surveyor Program is designed to explore Mars with all the original measurements planned for MO, and a lot more, but with vastly cheaper spacecraft, more experimental and more risky in engineering and design.The program consists of 8 spacecraft to be launched about every 26 months. The launchings are designed to take advantage of periods when the Earth and Mars are closest together.