The Robotic Arm Camera (RAC) and Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) are two cameras which will fly on the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft during the Mars Surveyor '98 mission as part of the Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVACS) science payload package (Principal Investigator: David Paige, UCLA). The RAC was developed and built by the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy (MPAe) under the direction of H. Uwe Keller, and at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) at The University of Arizona (UA) under the direction of Peter Smith (UA). The SSI is a stereo, multi-spectral camera descended from the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP). The SSI was designed at the University of Arizona with contributions from the Max Planck Institute. The U of A is also responsible for another instrument in the MVACS package, the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA).

Mars Surveyor '98 will launch in early 1999 and will land near the Martian South Pole during the Martian late southern spring season. Its Primary Mission Goals are to

1. Characterize the surface environment, weather and geology
2. Search for near-surface ground ice by digging a trench
3. Determine the quantity of absorbed CO₂ and H₂O (water) in Martian soil
4. Observe and quantify the behavior of subsurface, surface, and atmospheric water
5.Determine the abundances of volatile-bearing minerals in Martian soil which may indicate the presence of ancient liquid water
6. Search for climate records in the form of fine-scale layering in near-surface materials.

Both the RAC and the SSI will assist in the accomplishment of these goals.

Visit the SSI's parent camera, the Imager for Mars Pathfinder