January 23, 2004

Mars Mania

By RICHARD MONASTERSKY

Weary but ecstatic, university scientists grab their chance to explore the Red Planet

Philip R. Christensen hasn't slept more than a few hours each night in the past two weeks, but that's the way he likes it. As one of the top scientists on the latest Mars mission, he is reveling in all the data coming back from his "baby," the infrared spectrometer on board the vehicle.

Mars hasn't always been so kind to him and his intellectual progeny. In 1993, he watched 10 years of work

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