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)!
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 - 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.
