European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 3, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday april 3, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 9 the three compare men megabits drives past the Montparnasse Maine Tower parisians May soon take a Long bus ride  Center background in Purl on i Urban raffle test monday. The eight who 81w-fool-Tonb vehicle has 191 seals. The extended length bus h a joint production of car maker Renault coach manufacturer heu Liez. And Nasa plans robot delivery of Mars rocks to Earth Pasadena Calif. Up Nasa scientists arc considering designs Tor a robot Span system that will land on Man retrieve Racks and return to Earth with evidence thai will reveal if life Ever existed in arc officials said his week. Researchers at the Jet propulsion lab oratory in Pasadena and the Johnson space Center in Houston Are developing preliminary scenarios fora Man Mission that will use new rockets expected to be available in the Middle to late 1990s. If the project is approved by National aeronautics and space administration managers and supported by Congress the two part system a Lander and Rover could arrive on the cold and Windy red planet before the turn of the Century at a site preselected for geological stability and Lor the possible treasure trove of underground geological secrets. The Mobile Rover portion of the sys tem equipped with a robotic Ami will travel Over the bumpy terrain picking up Rock samples the Lander portion will remain in one place but also will use its robotic Arm to plunge into the ground and retrieve Martian soil protected underneath the icy surface. Both sections will be reconnected byway of commands from Earth and will return with the first samples of the neigh Boring planet that was coloured red cons ago by the oxidation of Iron. I am really very excited about the Situa Tion we find ourselves in today said Geof Frey Briggs Nasa chairman of the Mars exploration steering croup at a briefing on the project for potential contractors. We be been thinking about this mis Sion for More than a decade and 1 think it s going to be a lot of fun As Well As productive he said. The thin Martian atmosphere and icy terrain grooved with deep valleys an towering volcanoes have intrigued Man kind for centuries he said. Briggs noted biologists and geologists Ivhon also Are participating in the project Hope to icam More about the history of the planet from the rocks soil and gases resumed to Earth during the Mission. Mars is accessible and hospitable said Michael car Rouie . Geological Survey and a member of the Mars study team. It s a geological  he said there was a potential for life particularly in the planet s Early history. Bui the prospects for life now Are very Low. Carr theorizes however that the 11 pounds of rocks and soil expected to be returned from the Distant planet will re veal i life Ever existed there. The conditions on Mars and Earth were really quite similar Carr said ofic red planet s history billions or years ago. Contained in the samples of any planet Are fragments of inc chemical Sand minerals that occurred throughout the planet s  he said scientists should icam More from the rocks and soil returned in the Mission than space researchers were Able to glean from flyby Sommars in the Viking and Mari Ner missions of the 1960s and 70s. Briggs said soviet space scientists Are planning a similar Mission in the Laic 1990s, and the National Academy of sciences highly recommends the Nas Mars Mission to help maintain . Leadership in space exploration. Durenberger s spying on Israel remark probed Washington