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Baking The Rover Is Not An Option
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), scheduled to launch in fall 2009, will follow the Mars Exploration Rovers and the Phoenix Lander to help determine if Mars is habitable for life.
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Evidence of vast frozen water reserves on Mars: scientists
Washington (AFP) Nov 20, 2008 - NASA scientists have discovered enormous underground reservoirs of frozen water on Mars, away from its polar caps, in the latest sign that life might be sustainable on the Red planet.
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Site List Narrows For NASA’s Next Mars Landing
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 20, 2008 - Four intriguing places on Mars have risen to the final round as NASA selects a landing site for its next Mars mission, the Mars Science Laboratory.
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Students Invited To Name New Mars Rover
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 19, 2008 - NASA is looking for the right stuff, or in this case, the right name for the next Mars rover. NASA, in cooperation with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' movie WALL-E from Pixar Animation Studios, will conduct a naming contest for its car-sized Mars Science Laboratory rover that is scheduled for launch in 2009.
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Carbonate Conundrum
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 18, 2008 - Mars is good at keeping its secrets. As a case in point, consider the discovery by NASA's Phoenix lander of carbonates in the planet's northern polar plains. The goal of the Phoenix mission was to understand the historic role of water in the frozen martian north, and to assess the region's habitability.
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Gamma-Ray Evidence Suggests Ancient Mars Had Oceans
Tucson AZ (SPX) Nov 18, 2008 - An international team of scientists who analyzed data from the Gamma Ray Spectrometer onboard NASA's Mars Odyssey reports new evidence for the controversial idea that oceans once covered about a third of ancient Mars.
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Mars Rover Team Sets Low-Power Plan For Spirit
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 17, 2008 - After assessing data received from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on Thursday, mission controllers laid out plans for the rover to conserve its modest energy during the next few weeks.
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A Divining Rod For Mars
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 14, 2008 - Detecting water underground does not require a magical stick. Neutrons reflecting out of the soil can indicate the presence of water or ice. A novel instrument that can detect those neutrons is planned for NASA's next rover mission to Mars.
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Controllers Cheer As Data Arrive from NASA’s Spirit Rover
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 14, 2008 - NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit communicated via the Mars Odyssey orbiter today right at the time when ground controllers had told it to, prompting shouts of She's talking! among the rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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Planetary Society Steps Beyond Moon For Roadmap To Space
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 14, 2008 - The Planetary Society outlined Thursday a vigorous new approach to space exploration for the consideration of the new U.S. Administration and Congress. Beyond the Moon: A New Roadmap for Human Space Exploration in the 21st Century calls for the United States to create - in cooperation with international partners - a space program that is as inspiring as it is sustainable in the world¿s current economic climate.
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India to take second moon shot by 2012, eyes Mars
New Delhi (AFP) Nov 13, 2008 - Buoyed by the success of its maiden lunar mission, India on Thursday said it will send a second unmanned spacecraft to the moon by 2012.
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Dust Storm Cuts Energy Supply Of NASA Mars Rover Spirit
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 13, 2008 - A dust storm on Mars has cut into the amount of sunlight reaching the solar array on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, leaving the rover in a vulnerable state.
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Spirit Begins Driving Uphill
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 11, 2008 - With the Sun moving higher in the sky, Spirit's solar panels must move in the same direction to maximize their exposure to sunlight. To achieve optimal solar input, the panels still must tilt to the north, but not as steeply as before.
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Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work On Red Planet
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 11, 2008 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments.
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Step Closer To Crew Selection For Simulated Mars Mission
Paris, France (ESA) Nov 11, 2008 - The crew selection for a simulated Mars mission moved a step closer to completion recently with ESA's last eight candidates being put through extensive medical screening in Moscow. Two of the European candidates will be chosen to join four Russian crew members on a 105-day study due to start in March next year.
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Farewell, Victoria, And On To Endeavour
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 11, 2008 - Opportunity took the last images of Victoria Crater before beginning the journey to Endeavour Crater. The final focus of the rover's cameras was a cliff at the edge of Victoria nicknamed Cape Victory.