51¶¯Âþ

Parts of NASA’s cancelled Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander may get a second chance
to fly to Mars. NASA pulled the plug on the craft after it was already
completed. But last week Steve Matousek of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena said the agency would give it to any scientists willing to use it on
one of the small missions called Mars Scouts. NASA hopes to launch the first
Mars Scout in 2007, but has only funded 10 small preliminary proposals so far.
The agency is building a pair of Martian landers based on a different design for
a 2003 launch.