Paris, France (ESA) May 22, 2007 - The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express has captured breathtaking images of the Deuteronilus Mensae region on Mars. The images were taken on 14 March 2005 during orbit number 1483 of the Mars Express spacecraft with a ground resolution of approximately 29 metres per pixel.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 22, 2007 - A patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA's rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it may provide some of the strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was much wetter than it is now. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the presence of water. Members of the rover science team heard from a colleague during a recent teleconference that the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, a chemical analyzer at the end of Spirit's arm, had measured a composition of about 90 percent pure silica for this soil.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 15, 2007 - Spirit is healthy and has finished investigating a patch of churned-up, white-toned, silica-rich material known as Gertrude Weise. Meanwhile, the rover's first attempt to autonomously place and exchange scientific instruments at the same target was partially successful. Spirit backed up over Gertrude Weise to a spot 2 meters (6.6 feet) beyond it and placed the Moessbauer spectrometer on the target, but did not replace it with the microscopic imager due to potential collisions.
Washington (AFP) May 15, 2007 - Scientists have proved it is possible to pack another hour into the day in a study which could help prepare humans for life on Mars. Using bright, fluorescent lights, researchers artificially lengthened the days for 12 people who agreed to spend 65 days living in individual rooms without windows, clocks or any other clues as to the time in the outside world.
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) May 09, 2007 - A U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft carried NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft Monday, May 7, from Colorado to Florida, where Phoenix will start a much longer trip in August. After launch, Phoenix will land on a Martian arctic plain next spring. It will use a robotic digging arm and other instruments to determine whether the soil environment just beneath the surface could have been a favorable habitat for microbial life. Studies from orbit suggest that within arm's reach of the surface, the soil holds frozen water.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 08, 2007 - Spirit is healthy and has completed its investigation of a knobby rock target known as GoodQuestion. Next on Spirit's itinerary is a drive to the north and an attempt to climb onto Home Plate. On the way, Spirit will examine white--toned material where one of the rover's wheels disturbed the soil.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 08, 2007 - Opportunity drove 224 meters (735 feet) this week. The sol 1160 checkout of the D-star hazard avoidance path planner (drive planning software) was a resounding success. In order to make the test as safe as possible, D-star was told that rocks in its path were hazards, when actually Opportunity is capable of safely driving over them.
Paris, France (ESA) May 04, 2007 - COROT has provided its first image of a giant planet orbiting another star and the first bit of 'seismic' information on a far away, Sun-like star- with unexpected accuracy. The unanticipated level of accuracy of this raw data shows that COROT will be able to see rocky planets - perhaps even as small as Earth - and possibly provide an indication of their chemical composition.
Ithaca NY (SPX) May 04, 2007 - NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has discovered evidence of an ancient volcanic explosion at Home Plate, a plateau of layered bedrock approximately 2 meters (6 feet) high within the Inner Basin of Columbia Hills, at the rover's landing site in Gusev Crater. This is the first explosive volcanic deposit identified with a high degree of confidence by Spirit or its twin, Opportunity.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 03, 2007 - Color coding in this map of a far-southern site on Mars indicates the change in nighttime ground-surface temperature between summer and fall. This site, like most of high-latitude Mars, has water ice mixed with soil near the surface. The ice is probably in a rock-hard frozen layer beneath a few centimeters or inches of looser, dry soil. The amount of temperature change at the surface likely corresponds to how close to the surface the icy material lies.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 03, 2007 - Scientists and engineers are still deciding on when and if Opportunity will enter Victoria Crater. In the meantime, Opportunity has a lot to accomplish, such as driving back to the area of its original arrival at Victoria, approximately 600 meters away (over one-third of a mile).
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 02, 2007 - Spirit remains healthy after completing scientific investigation of a light-toned soil patch nicknamed Everett. Everett is interesting because scientists thought it would be rich in sulfur like other soil exposures they've investigated. Instead, it turned out to be low in sulfur and ultramafic in composition -- made of iron- and magnesium-rich silicate, a chemistry often associated with volcanic rocks. Everett appears to be different from other materials the rover has encountered around Home Plate.
Fayetteville AR (SPX) Apr 30, 2007 - University of Arkansas researchers, in partnership with a local company will develop a probe for future planetary rovers that will help scientists study the history of the solar system by examining the properties of layers of material beneath the surface of the moon, Mars, comets and other planetary bodies.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 25, 2007 - Over the last week, Opportunity investigated the second of two dark streak soil targets named Alicante. The sol 1145 Mossbauer touch sequence that was commanded did not make contact with the soil because of a minor targeting discrepancy.
Longueuil, Quebec, April 24, 2007 - When a mission to Mars is being developed, mission planners must consider many factors. Space technology advances, scientific needs and objectives, how to deal with distance, communications delays, and landing through the thin Martian atmosphere-all this must converge into a useful, workable mission concept.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 24, 2007 - After a few attempts, Spirit finally made it to the outcrop called Madeline English, where the rover is performing scientific studies. Madeline English is interesting because of the apparent presence of clasts -- rock fragments -- in the outcrop. Scientists are interested in determining whether the clasts have a different composition from surrounding material.
