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Tooling Up ExoMars
ESA and NASA are inviting scientists from across the world to propose instruments for their joint Mars mission, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
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Dune Symmetry Inside Martian Crater
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 15, 2010 - Dunes of sand-sized materials have been trapped on the floors of many Martian craters. This is one example, from a crater in Noachis Terra, west of the giant Hellas impact basin.
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That Sinking Feeling Ebbs Away At Spirit
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 15, 2010 - Spirit remains embedded at the location called Troy on the West side of Home Plate. Extrication drives were tried on sols 2138, 2140 and 2142 (Jan. 7, 9 and 11, 2010).
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Hints Of Hesperian Lakes
London, UK (SPX) Jan 14, 2010 - Spectacular satellite images suggest that Mars was warm enough to sustain lakes three billion years ago, a period that was previously thought to be too cold and arid to sustain water on the surface, according to research published in the journal Geology.
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Just A Few More Approaches To Try For Extrication
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 14, 2010 - The list of remaining maneuvers being considered for extricating Spirit is becoming shorter. Results are being analyzed Wednesday, Jan. 13, from a drive on Sol 2143 (Jan. 12, 2010) using intentionally very slow rotation of the wheels.
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Australian Lakes May Hold Clues to Life on Mars
Rolla MO (SPX) Jan 12, 2010 - By the time Curiosity, the next Mars Rover, launches in 2011, scientists on Earth will know more about the potential for life on Mars because of microorganisms that live in Australian lakes.
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Martian Landform Observations Fill Special Journal Issue
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 12, 2010 - Martian landforms shaped by winds, water, lava flow, seasonal icing and other forces are analyzed in 21 journal reports based on data from a camera orbiting Mars.
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NASA To Check For Unlikely Winter Survival Of Mars Lander
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 12, 2010 - Beginning Jan. 18, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter will listen for possible, though improbable, radio transmissions from the Phoenix Mars Lander, which completed five months of studying an arctic Martian site in November 2008.
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Opportunity Brushes Out RAT Cuttings
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 12, 2010 - Sol 2111-2117: Opportunity has been investigating the rock known as Marquette Island. The rock abrasion tool (RAT) was used to grind a 1.5-millimeter-deep (0.06-inch-deep) hole in this very hard rock at the target called Peck Bay 2.
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Spirit Tries A Toe-In Maneuver
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 11, 2010 - Sol 2131-2136: Spirit remains embedded at the location called Troy on the west side of Home Plate. Attempts to extricate Spirit have been complicated by the lack of functionality in both the right-rear and right-front wheels.
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Opportunity Examinines ‘Marquette Island’s’ Interior
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 08, 2010 - Opportunity has been investigating the rock known as Marquette Island. The rock abrasion tool (RAT) was used to grind a 1.5 millimeters (0.06 inch) into this very hard rock for further investigation by the other rover instruments.
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Goddard Scientist Breakthrough Given Ticket To Mars
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 06, 2010 - The quest to discover whether Mars ever hosted an environment friendly to microscopic forms of life has just gotten a shot in the arm. Mars was a lot different 3-1/2 billion years ago. It was more like Earth with liquid water, said Jennifer Eigenbrode, a scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Maybe life existed back then. Maybe it has persisted, which is possible given the fact that we've found life in every extreme environment here on Earth. If life existed on Mars, maybe it adapted very much like life adapted here.
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Minimal Progress In Recent Extraction Drives
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 06, 2010 - Spirit remains embedded at the location called Troy on the west side of Home Plate. Attempts to extricate Spirit have been complicated by the loss of functionality in the right-rear wheel and the lack of meaningful functionality with the right-front wheel.
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Mars Spirit Rover Facing End Of Mission Decision
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 04, 2010 - NASA's Mars rover Spirit will mark six years of unprecedented science exploration and inspiration for the American public on Sunday. However, the upcoming Martian winter could end the roving career of the beloved, scrappy robot.
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Mars rover Spirit’s 6-year stint may be ending: NASA
Washington (AFP) Jan 3, 2010 - NASA Sunday celebrated Mars rover Spirit's bountiful, six-year stint on the red planet, way longer than the three months it was forecast to last. But it all may soon come to an end, stuck as it is in Martian sand.
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Spirit Right-Front And Right-Rear Wheels Remain Stalled
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 25, 2009 - Spirit's drive on Sol 2120 (Dec. 19, 2009) included commands for using all six wheels. However, the right-front wheel rotated less than 2 degrees and the right-rear wheel did not rotate at all.