Navigating in the Solar System. The Mars Polar Lander spacecraft was launched on January $3,1999 .$ On December 3 , 1999 , the day Mars Polar Lander impacted the Martian surface at high velocity and probably disintegrated, the positions of the earth and Mars were given by these coordinates:
$$\begin{array}{lccc}\hline & x & y & z \\
\hline \text { Earth } & 0.3182 \mathrm{AU} & 0.9329 \mathrm{AU} & -0.0000 \mathrm{AU} \\
\text { Mars } & 1.3087 \mathrm{AU} & -0.4423 \mathrm{AU} & -0.0414 \mathrm{AU}\end{array}$$
With these coordinates, the sun is at the origin and the earth's orbit is in the $x y$ -plane. The earth passes through the $+x$ -axis once a year on the autumnal equinox, the first day of autumn in the northern hemisphere (on or about September 22). One $\mathrm{AU},$ or astronomical unit, is equal to $1.496 \times 10^{8} \mathrm{~km},$ the average distance from the earth to the
(a) Draw the positions of the sun, the earth, and Mars on December 3 , sun.
1999. (b) Find these distances in AU on December 3,1999: from (i) the sun to the earth; (ii) the sun to Mars; (iii) the earth to Mars. (c) As seen from the earth, what was the angle between the direction to the sun and the direction to Mars on December $3,1999 ?$ (d) Explain whether Mars was visible from your current location at midnight on December 3 , $1999 .$ (When it is midnight, the sun is on the opposite side of the earth from you.)