Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 20, 2007 - Spirit got a second spring cleaning on Mars with a dust-cleaning event that increased power from the rover's solar arrays by 120 watt-hours (a 100-watt light bulb that burns for one hour uses 100 watt-hours of electricity). Spirit previously experienced dust-lifting winds in 2005. Energy from the rover's solar arrays is now higher than 600 watt-hours.
Le Bourget, France (AFP) June 19, 2007 - The European Space Agency (ESA) on Tuesday called for applications for one of the most demanding human experiments in space history: a simulated trip to Mars in which six astronauts will spend 17 months in an isolation tank on Earth. Their spaceship will comprise a series of interlocked modules in an research institute in Moscow, and once the doors are closed tight, the volunteers will be cut off from all contact with the outside world except by a delayed radio link.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 18, 2007 - Right now, Opportunity is safely perched on Cape Verde and is observing Duck Bay from above. The rover drove four out of the last five sols, covering 196.44 meters (644 feet). The fifth and final D-star (drive software) checkout step ran successfully on Opportunity on sol 1200. The dynamic path planner added in the latest flight software version is now ready for use.
London UK (SPX) Jun 18, 2007 - UK expertise and ongoing commitment to space exploration and Earth observation was showcased last week at an event in central London featuring Astrium's ExoMars rover prototype Bridget, new funding for UK ExoMars instruments and technology development and a UK centre to coordinate Earth observation.
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Jun 15, 2007 - Gusting winds and the pulsating exhaust plumes from the Phoenix spacecraft's landing engines could complicate NASA's efforts to sample frozen soil from the surface of Mars, according to University of Michigan atmospheric scientist Nilton Renno. Set to launch Aug. 3 from Florida, the $414 million Phoenix Mars Lander will use descent engines to touch down on the northern plains, where vast stores of ice have been detected just below the surface.
Berkeley CA (SPX) Jun 13, 2007 - A paper in this week's issue of Nature by University of California, Berkeley, geophysicists demolishes one of the key arguments against the past presence of large oceans on Mars. Even from Earth, a large plain surrounding the planet's north pole looks like a sediment-filled ocean basin. In the 1980s, Viking spacecraft images revealed two possible ancient shorelines near the pole, each thousands of kilometers long with features like those found in Earth's coastal regions.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2007 - Having completed studies of bright, silica-rich soil deposits at a target known as Gertrude Weise, Spirit drove to a perch on the eastern edge of the circular, plateau-like feature known as Home Plate and began studying its stratigraphy. Spirit will next drive back in the direction of Gertrude Weise to study another nearby outcrop.
Fayetteville AK (SPX) Jun 11, 2007 - University of Arkansas researchers have tested the methane production of three different types of microorganisms in different soil types that resemble those found on Mars to test the possibility of these soils harboring life. Tim Kral, professor of biological sciences at the University of Arkansas; Heaven A. Kozup of Gwynedd-Mercy College in Pennsylvania, and UA graduate student Brandon G. Gibson will present their findings Wednesday, May 23, at the American Society for Microbiology in Toronto.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 09, 2007 - Opportunity performed on sol 1194 a Visual Target Tracking (VTT) technology checkout (drive software) on a target called Paloma. This VTT checkout tested VTT in combination with other drive software, Autonav and Visodom. The first segment was a blind (no Autonav or Visodom) VTT drive to back away from the target. The second segment combined VTT and Visodom to drive towards the target. The third segment combined VTT and Autonav to continue driving towards the target.
Tempe, AZ (SPX) Jun 08, 2007 - The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter marked a milestone May 4. An image from THEMIS showing Martian lava flows and wind streaks mingling with impact craters, became the 1,200th Image of the Day posted online. The Mars Space Flight Facility at ASU operates the site, which is updated every weekday with images and data from THEMIS. The first Image of the Day was posted March 27, 2002.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 05, 2007 - Anyone connected by Internet can now see planet Mars better than at any time in history, through the eye of HiRISE, the most powerful camera ever to orbit another planet. A University of Arizona-based team that runs the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has just released more than 1,200 Mars images to the Planetary Data System, the U.S. space agency's mission data archive.
Athens, Greece (SPX) Jun 01, 2007 - A European Science Foundation (ESF)-led workshop sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) has enabled 88 scientists from 11 European countries to agree on science goals for future Europe's planetary exploration programme; providing the continent with an ambitious roadmap to examine Mars and the Moon.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 01, 2007 - Spirit is still making new discoveries despite dragging its feet, so to speak, after losing use of the right front wheel 426 sols, or Martian days, ago. In the process of creating small trenches while traversing Martian terrain, the dragging right front wheel revealed one of the most astonishing discoveries so far -- exceptionally high silica content in Martian soil, indicative of water at some point in the past.
Pasadena CA (JPL) May 30, 2007 - The 2009 Mars Science Laboratory, the mammoth grandchild of the 1997 Sojourner rover, is less than one year from the assembly, test and launch operations phase (ATLO). With its immense increase in size comes advanced abilities in power, technology and science data collection. In early 2008, the team will start the flight vehicle assembly and testing, simulating on earth every challenge the brave new traveler will face during the mission.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 28, 2007 - Spirit is healthy and spent the last week studying light and dark soil in and around the rover's tracks between Home Plate and Mitcheltree Ridge. Spirit collected additional soil data, including about 24 hours of data using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and 70 hours of data using the Mossbauer spectrometer. The primary soil targets examined during the week are known as Kenosha Comets and Lefty Ganote.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 28, 2007 - Opportunity's electrical supply returned to levels not seen since the rover first arrived on Mars. Peak electrical current from the rover's solar arrays climbed above 4.0 amps and remained there for most of the week as a result of three recent dust-cleaning events. The last time electrical current reached similar levels was on sol 18 (Feb. 10, 2004)!
