THE TOP SCIENCE OF 1997

1 OUR FAVORITE MARTIAN All eyes were on Mars this summer as NASA's Pathfinder lander and its Sojourner rover beamed home spectacular pictures of the Red Planet and introduced Earthlings to rocks with names like Casper and Scooby Doo. Sniffing out the chemistry of both the rocks and the soil, the rover helped confirm scientists' suspicion that Mars was once a warm, wet place, possibly able to support life. After four months of work, the lander and rover succumbed to Mars' punishing cold. Now and then, however, when the sun is high in the Martian sky, the rover may stir, toddling...

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