For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON—NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is publishing its first 3-D cover in August—a landmark issue containing 3-D color images of the surface of Mars and the wreck of the Titanic in separate features.

Pull-out glasses allow readers to experience what it is like to actually stand on the dusty red planet or next to the ghostly remains of Titanic two miles (three kilometers) under the sea.

The never-before-seen 3-D images of the wreck of one of history’s greatest marine tragedies were shot by NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC photographer Emory Kristof using paired video cameras on a 50-hour expedition at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The images of Mars were specially processed by the National Aeronautics & Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey to provide NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine with the most stunning images yet produced from the Pathfinder mission which captivated the world in July 1997. The pictures sent to Earth from cameras on Pathfinder’s lander and its tiny rover, Sojourner, were the stars of what was one of the most widely monitored events in history, with billions of people marveling over the images on the Internet and through worldwide media.

“For the first time, our readers will have the opportunity to enjoy in 3-D some of the most extraordinary images ever made both on the bottom of the sea and millions of miles away in our solar system,” said NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Editor Bill Allen. “None of us who monitored the wanderings of that rover will forget the first views of what it must be like to walk on another world. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is delighted to make the experience even more realistic by publishing these powerful images in 3-D.”

“Return to Mars” by staff writer William R. Newcott chronicles Earth’s fascination with the red planet, a world just over half the size of Earth but which contains the highest mountain in the solar system—a monstrous volcano that rises two and a half times the height of Everest. The 3-D pictures accompanying the article look at some of the geography of that strange world.

Although Sojourner explored only 240 square yards (70 square meters) of the Martian surface, the evidence it collected supports the theory that liquid water once occurred in great quantity on the planet, leaving open the possibility of life on Mars. Future missions will continue the search for life.

The inclusion of 3-D images in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is the latest in a long tradition of special features from the official journal of the National Geographic Society. The publishing pioneer of aerial, underwater and color photography, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC has also included sound recordings between its pages—pull-out records that allowed readers to hear extracts of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous speeches in the August 1965 issue and sounds of the space race, from Sputnik to the first lunar landing, narrated by astronaut Frank Borman in the December 1969 issue.

These collector’s issues were followed by three hologram covers: a bald eagle in March 1984, an early human skull in November 1985 and a picture demonstrating the fragility of the earth in December 1988, marking the first centenary of the National Geographic Society.

With the reproduction of the magazine’s first cover in 3-D, part of an image made by the Pathfinder lander that included Sojourner on the surface of Mars, the August 1998 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is sure to become another collector’s item.

The 3-D pictures and article on Mars coincide with the publication of a comprehensive book on Earth’s sister world: MARS—Uncovering the Secrets of the Red Planet, (National Geographic Books; U.S. $40), which will be in bookstores nationwide in August. Written by renowned science journalist Paul Raeburn, the book also contains high-resolution, 3-D images of the Martian surface and will include 3-D glasses as well.

The National Geographic Society is the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organization. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is circulated each month in several languages to the Society’s 10 million members worldwide. Recent single copies are available for U.S. $5 by calling 800 777 2800.

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