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Watch Out, Mars! Here We Come!

Call it Mars Mania. This Wednesday, November 6, the U.S. space agency, NASA, launches an unmanned probe, called the Global Surveyor, on the long journey to Mars. Ten days later, Russia will launch its own Mars orbiter. Then, two weeks after that, another U.S. vessel--Mars Pathfinder--blasts off. On board: a six-wheeled robot that will rove the surface of the Red Planet.

Why the Mars invasion? A new generation of spaceships has made the missions much cheaper and easier. Surveyor cost $135 million. The last Mars probe, launched in 1993, cost about $1 billion and was lost in space!

Scientists hope to find out about Mars' watery past and its chemical makeup--and maybe find a clue or two to Martian life.

Next: To The Rescue