The Mars Quads

Every 25 months the planet Mars moves into a position that favors launches of spacecraft from earth. Three weeks ago, the Russians took advantage of that opportunity by sending two unmanned ships toward the red planet. Last week, as the latest Mars "window" was about to close, the Soviets surprised the scientific world by launching two more Mars-bound robots. It is the first time either the U.S.S.R. or the U.S. has sent so many simultaneous probes to another planet.

As usual, Tass was guarded; it reported that the purpose of the latest probes--Mars 6 and 7--was to investigate the neighboring world and its environment as well as interplanetary space in general. The ships are carrying a Russian-French experiment called Stereo, which is designed to measure solar and cosmic radiation. The announcement also noted that those readings would be carried out in conjunction with the previously launched probes. To Western observers, this suggested that two probes may attempt a soft landing to shoot television pictures and gather data on the Martian surface while the other two go into orbit around the planet. The two orbiters might then be used to relay information to earth from the landers as well as carry out a program of atmospheric and photographic observations similar to those made last year by the U.S.'s highly successful Mariner 9. If the past is any guide, the Russians will say little else about their goals until early next year, when the quadruplets reach the vicinity of Mars.

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