Paris, France (ESA) Dec 21, 2009 - ESA's Council yesterday gave the go-ahead to proceed with the implementation of the ExoMars Programme. This decision paves the way for two Mars exploration missions in cooperation with NASA in 2016 and 2018.
Sukhumi, Georgia (AFP) Dec 20, 2009 - The monkeys at this run-down research centre which was once the pride of Soviet science have seen it all -- a brutal civil war, freezing winters and starvation.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 18, 2009 - Spirit's right-front wheel, which had stopped operating in March 2006, revolved with apparently normal motion during the first three of four driving segments on Sol 2117 (Wednesday, Dec. 16) but stopped early in the fourth segment of the drive.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2009 - Certain environments on Earth that host life are very similar to places on Mars and other terrestrial planets, scientists have found. So if life can exist here, why not there?
Tucson AZ (SPX) Dec 16, 2009 - Catherine Weitz, a senior scientist at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute, has reported new evidence for multiple, water-related geologic processes on Mars.
London (UPI) Dec 15, 2009 - Imperial College London scientists say they have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered by meteorites into Mars' atmosphere.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Dec 14, 2009 - For the very first time, the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos have been caught on camera together. ESA's Mars Express orbiter took these pioneering images last month. Apart from their 'wow' factor, these unique images will help the HRSC team validate and refine existing orbit models of the two moons.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Dec 14, 2009 - Opportunity Status for sol 2080-2090: On Sol 2086 (Dec. 6, 2009), the rover backed away and then drove about 5 meters (16 feet) around Marquette Island to image other parts of the rock.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Dec 11, 2009 - The surface of Mars is littered with channels that appear to be the work of ancient water flows. Indeed, some of these channels meander back and forth like slow-moving streams on our planet. Channels can be carved by lava, wind and glaciers, but these processes can't explain all the features on Mars.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 11, 2009 - Results of diagnostic tests on Spirit's right-rear wheel on Sol 2109 (Dec. 8, 2009) continue to indicate a troubled wheel, which may leave the rover with only four operable wheels.
London, UK (SPX) Dec 09, 2009 - Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet, in research published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Dec 9, 2009 - NASA technicians say they have taken the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter out of the precautionary safe mode it has been in since August.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Dec 08, 2009 - Opportunity Status for sol 2076-2079: Opportunity has been investigating the rock known as Marquette Island. On Sol 2076 (Nov. 25, 2009), the robotic arm (IDD) placed the Moessbauer (MB) spectrometer on a rock target called Islington Bay for a long, multi-sol integration.
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Dec 8, 2009 - NASA engineers attempting to free the Mars rover Spirit from loose Martian sand since April say the results of their attempts so far are not encouraging.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Dec 04, 2009 - Homer's Iliad tells the story of Troy, a city besieged by the Greeks in the Trojan War. Today, a lone robot sits besieged in the sands of Troy while engineers and scientists plot its escape.
- Spirit Status for sol 2096-2099: Spirit's extrication from her embedded location at Troy on the west side of Home Plate has been complicated by a recurring stall condition with the right rear wheel.
