Artists conception of the Mars Polar Lander

October 26, 1999
Web posted at: 6:44 p.m. EDT (2244 GMT)

(CNN) -- NASA officials said Tuesday they have decided to stick with the first choice of landing sites for the Mars Polar Lander despite concerns about potentially hazardous terrain in the area.

The compact spacecraft is scheduled to touch down on the red planet December 3.

New images from the Mars Global Surveyor revealed surface hazards that forced the team to re-evaluate whether to go with the primary landing site or a secondary one.

"The backup site does have the smoothest section of terrain in the region," said Mars Polar Lander Project Scientist Dr. Richard Zurek.

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But scientists say it's a geological toss-up between the two sites when you consider the margin of error for the landing.

The targeted landing zone is an area 200 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide. In this case a tie favors the primary landing site, so they are sticking with the first choice.

NASA will continue to scrutinize the images coming from the Surveyor and is prepared to further fine tune the landing directives.

"Based on this information we may possibly change the primary site East or West by a few kilometers prior to landing," Zurek said.

The final course correction of the Mars Polar Lander, which will send the spacecraft on its way to the chosen landing site, is scheduled for October 30.