Flagstaff AZ (SPX) Feb 26, 2009 - Unique fractures in lavas on ancient Mars suggest water occasionally flooded portions of the planet's surface. The fractures, known as columnar joints, are the first that have been observed on a planet other than Earth.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 24, 2009 - The Space Foundation has awarded its 2009 John L. Jack Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration to NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander team in recognition of the technical developments that led to one of the most startling and meaningful discoveries of the new millennium, the Space Foundation has announced.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 23, 2009 - This near-infrared image from the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft was taken near the point of closest approach to Mars on Feb. 17, 2009, during Dawn's gravity assist flyby.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 17, 2009 - The Dawn spacecraft, which began its journey to the asteroid belt in 2007, is now nearing Mars, and scientists at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute (PSI) are preparing to use the encounter to tune up Dawn's GraND instrument.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 16, 2009 - Launched in September of 2007, and propelled by any one of a trio of hyper-efficient ion engines, NASA's Dawn spacecraft passed the orbit of Mars last summer. At that time, the asteroid belt (where Dawn's two targets, asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres reside), had never been closer.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 14, 2009 - A small but important uptick in electrical output from the solar panels on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit this month indicates a beneficial Martian wind has blown away some of the dust that has accumulated on the panels.
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Feb 12, 2009 - Martian wind guests have removed some dust from the U.S. space agency's Mars rover Spirit, increasing its electrical output, NASA says.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 11, 2009 - Communication problems during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday led to the postponement of a drive planned for sol 1791 (Jan. 15, 2009) to sol 1793 (Jan. 17, 2009). Once the drive began, however, Spirit was able to go ahead with characterization of a rock target known as Stapledon.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 11, 2009 - Happy anniversary to both Spirit and Opportunity for completing five Earth-years exploring the surface of Mars! Opportunity's goal this past week has been to put the pedal to the metal and acquire drive-by images of a crater dubbed Ranger Crater.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 10, 2009 - Scientists at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute (PSI) have found further evidence for the large role that water has likely played in shaping the Martian landscape.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Feb 06, 2009 - About half a year before the robotic arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began digging into soil and subsurface ice of an arctic plain of Mars, six scientists traveled to one of the coldest, driest places on Earth for soil-and-ice studies that would end up aiding analysis of the Mars data.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 06, 2009 - Scientists at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute (PSI) have found further evidence for the large role that water has likely played in shaping the Martian landscape.
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Feb 5, 2009 - The U.S. space agency says it and the California Institute of Technology have designed and tested a versatile, low-mass robot that can rappel off cliffs.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2009 - NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit resumed driving Saturday after engineers gained confidence from diagnostic activities earlier in the week evaluating how well the rover senses its orientation.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Feb 03, 2009 - NASA and Google announced Monday the release of a new Mars mode in Google Earth that brings to everyone's desktop a high-resolution, three-dimensional view of the Red Planet.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 29, 2009 - The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit plans diagnostic tests this week after Spirit did not report some of its weekend activities, including a request to determine its orientation after an incomplete drive.
