Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 20, 2009 - Spirit is still in X-band fault mode due to a high-gain antenna (HGA) dynamic brake anomaly that first occurred back on Sol 2027 (Sept. 15, 2009) and has re-occurred most recently on Sol 2052 (Oct. 11, 2009). With the HGA fault, all X-band uplinks use the low-gain antenna (LGA) and uplink bandwidth is limited.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 19, 2009 - Opportunity completed its survey of the meteorite called Shelter Island. On Sol 2029 (Oct. 8, 2009), the rover completed the in-situ (contact) science campaign on the meteorite's surface with a microscopic imager (MI) mosaic and an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) placement for integration.
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Oct 12, 2009 - The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) on board the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter imaged Daedalia Planum, a sparsely cratered, untextured plain on the Red Planet, featuring solidified lava flows of varying ages.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 12, 2009 - Spirit is still currently in X-band fault mode due to a high-gain antenna (HGA) dynamic brake anomaly that first occurred on Sol 2027 and recurred again on Sol 2037. With this HGA fault, all X-band uplinks use the low-gain antenna (LGA), and uplink bandwidth is very limited.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 12, 2009 - Opportunity has discovered another large (0.5-meter) meteorite. The rover began the approach to this new meteorite, called Shelter Island, with a 28-meter backward drive on Sol 2022.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 06, 2009 - NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found a rock that apparently is another meteorite, less than three weeks after driving away from a larger meteorite that the rover examined for six weeks.
Beijing, China (XNA) Oct 02, 2009 - China's first Mars probe mission will be delayed because of Russia's decision to postpone the launch of its mission to the Martian moon Phobos from next month to the year 2011.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Oct 02, 2009 - They haven't yet figured out how to draw blood from stones, but a group of French researchers is offering new insight that could change how scientists search for signs of life in Martian rocks.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 01, 2009 - Spider-shaped features in the south polar region of Mars are carved by vaporizing dry ice in a dynamic seasonal process. This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter includes several of the distinctive features in an area 1.2 kilometers (three-fourths of a mile) wide.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 29, 2009 - Spirit is recovering from the high-gain antenna (HGA) anomaly that occurred on Sol 2027 (Sept. 15, 2009). The HGA problem is suspected to be an apparent intermittent behavior in the dynamic brake relay for the HGA actuators, a problem that has been seen and mitigated before in other rover actuators.
MOffett Field CA (SPX) Sep 29, 2009 - One of the 'fun science activities we have carried out during AMASE 2009 is iceberg chasing. Naturally this was all for a good scientific reason as we were interested in acquiring sediments trapped in calved icebergs for further characterization.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 29, 2009 - Opportunity has driven four out of the last six sols, making way to Endeavour crater. On sols 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2014 (Sept. 18, 20, 22 and 23), the rover drove 55 meters (180 feet), 71 meters (233 feet), 70 meters (230 feet) and 59 meters (194 feet), respectively, passing 11 miles of total odometry.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 25, 2009 - New, three-dimensional imaging of Martian north-polar ice layers by a radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is consistent with theoretical models of Martian climate swings during the past few million years.
Paris, France (ESA) Sep 25, 2009 - Unusual signals detected by the Mars Express MARSIS instrument have been used to determine the magnetic field strength of Mars. In a forthcoming issue of Icarus, Ferzan Akalin and colleagues demonstrate how the MARSIS instrument can be used as a magnetometer - an unexpected application with important consequences for studies of local plasma effects and the Mars Express spacecraft environment.
Tempe AZ (SPX) Sep 25, 2009 - Scientists are seeing sub-surface water ice that may be 99 percent pure halfway between the north pole and the equator on Mars, thanks to quick-turnaround observations from orbit of fresh meteorite impact craters on the planet.
Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Sep 23, 2009 - The widespread idea that Mars is red due to rocks being rusted by the water that once flooded the red planet may not be correct. Recent laboratory studies show that red dust may be formed by the ongoing grinding of surface rocks and that liquid water need not have played any significant role in the formation process.
