Japan plans to launch a probe to Mars in 1996, according to the Japanese
Space Activities Commission. Japan will become the third country to do so.
A new generation M5 rocket will be developed to launch the probe, known
as 鈥楶lanet B鈥�. It will measure magnetic fields and plasma particles as part
of a study of the composition of the Martian atmosphere.
Japan鈥檚 rocket and satellite programme has been dogged by technical
failures and development setbacks. This will be its first planetary probe.
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