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.
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.
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.
St Louis MO (SPX) Apr 20, 2007 - Earth and planetary scientists at Washington University in St. Louis are paving the way for a smooth landing on Mars for the Phoenix Mission scheduled to launch in August this year by making sure the set-down literally is not a rocky one. Phoenix is the first mission in NASA's Scout Program and will study the planet's ice cap.
Burbank, CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2007 - 37 Martian rocks that somehow reached our planet over the eons may be key to telling us how Mars was formed, and may also tell us the best place to land when we visit the Red Planet.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2007 - Opportunity is healthy and spent the last week investigating the dark material trailing north from Victoria Crater. The plan this week included two brief robotic arm campaigns at different areas roughly 33 meters (108 feet) apart. Opportunity will collect a series of microscopic images and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer integrations on the soil along with other remote science observations.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 16, 2007 - On sol 1120 (February 26, 2007), the navigation camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured one of the best dust devils it's seen in its three-plus year mission. The series of navigation camera images were put together to make a dust devil movie.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 16, 2007 - After studying Mars four times as long as originally planned, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter appears to have succumbed to battery failure caused by a complex sequence of events involving the onboard computer memory and ground commands.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 16, 2007 - Fourteen thousand feet above the vast fetch of the Pacific Ocean, Diana Blaney announces, Guide Dog is ready. Big Dog is ready. Roger, says telescope operator Paul Sears. Guide Dog is on. Big Dog is on.
