Pathfinder set for July 4 Mars landing

NASA's robotic probe, Pathfinder, will land on Mars July 4. It is the first visit to the red planet in more than two decades.

The probe is carrying a camera designed, built and tested by a team of 40 German, Danish and U.S. engineers and students. Four University of Arizona lunar and planetary scientists work on the team, including Peter Smith, who heads the group.

The camera, called Imager for Mars Pathfinder, will position the spacecraft for landing by using the sun as a reference. It will also point an antenna directly at the Earth for high-speed communications.

The $5-million camera is equipped with two lenses that are spaced as far apart as human eyes. The lenses will enable the camera to send back stereoscopic images, which give the scientists a picture greater in detail.

The camera will take a panoramic composite of Mars' surface, giving the scientists and students their first glimpse of Mars since images were sent back from the Viking landers in 1976.

IMP will create the panorama of the probe's landing site by taking frame-by-frame pictures, using red, blue and green filters, of Mars' surface. This will create a wide, unobstructed view of the ancient Martian flood plain Ares Vallis. The procedure will take 1 1/2 hours.

Twenty four filters for color pictures will give scientists the opportunity to analyze everything from the makeup of surface rocks and minerals to the composition and magnetic properties of dust in the Martian atmosphere.

Pathfinder's larger 30-day mission will be to test engineering technologies, including its mini-landrover, Sojourner, for use in future scientific explorations of Mars.

Preventative medicine

The UA graduate program in public health received accreditation this month by the Council on Education for Public Health, becoming one of only 18 graduate programs nationwide in community health and preventative medicine.

The program's mission focuses on the needs of the Southwestern United States.

The mission emphasizes medically under-served rural and urban populations, including Hispanics, American Indians and other ethnic minorities.

"This program unites faculty, staff and students from the three state universities and prepares public health professionals for leadership roles in the identification of community health problems," said Dr. James Dalen, dean of the UA College of Medicine .

About 130 students are enrolled in the program, some of which are involved in internships in agencies throughout the state.

"About 71 percent of our graduates are employed in Arizona - working on public health programs that benefit the Southwest," said Dr. Carlos Campbell, interim director of the program and director of the Arizona Prevention Center.

Mosquito Awareness Week.

The American Mosquito Control Association has declared this week the first annual National Mosquito Control Awareness Week because of a growing concern for the increase in mosquito-transmitted diseases.

"Because we live in the desert, many people assume that mosquitoes are not a problem in Arizona," said Michael Fink, epidemiologist for the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Fink said back yards can serve as potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying encephalitis, malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever.

Bird baths, kiddie pools, dog dishes, planters, old tires, cans, buckets and other containers left outside can collect water and breed mosquitoes, he said.

"Mosquito-borne illnesses can be avoided by taking simple precautions to minimize risk of bites," Fink said.

Compiled from press releases.