One year later rovers Spirit and Opportunity have exceeded all mission expectations and continue to make discoveries. The goal of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was to explore for a minimum of 90 days to search for evidence of past water activity.

"One Year on Mars," a special two-hour live event to commemorate the mission, will be presented at JPL on Monday, Jan. 3, 2005, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST. The live event, along with additional taped programming and live-shot opportunities, will be aired on NASA-TV.

At 2 p.m. EST, a news briefing will detail discoveries made in 2004, and the rover's outlook for 2005. Panelists:

• NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe
• Dr. Charles Elachi, Director, JPL
• Jim Erickson, MER Project Manager, JPL
• Dr. Steve Squyres, MER Principal Investigator, Cornell University,Ithaca, N.Y.
• Dr. Firouz Naderi, MER Program Manager, JPL
• Dr. Jim Garvin, Chief Scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington.

At 3 p.m. EST, the MER team will present "Mars Stories We've Never Told." This 60-minute live program will feature members recounting personal experiences of the past year. The program will end with the cutting of a rover "birthday cake."

Two additional rover programs will air on NASA TV on Monday. "Twelve Wheels on Mars" airs at 1 p.m. EST. This 60-minute program features professional storyteller Syd Lieberman, who spent several months with the MER team. "Two for Two" a 20-minute program about the rovers airs at 4 p.m. EST.

Live shot opportunities with Squyres are available from 4:20 to 7:00 p.m. EST. To book a window for a live shot, contact Jack Dawson at: 818/354-0040. News media must contact the JPL media relations' office in advance at: 818/ 354-5011 to arrange access to events.

NASA TV is available on the Web and via satellite in the continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. For NASA TV information and schedules on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

JPL has managed the Mars Exploration Rover project since it began in 2000. Anniversary multimedia features will be added Monday to rover information available on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mer

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov