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Editorial Team

Mars Daily Editorial Team

Editorial Team

The Mars Daily Editorial Team produces Mars Daily's coverage of Mars exploration and science. We report on rovers and orbiters, sample-return and human-Mars planning, and the geology, atmosphere and astrobiology of the Red Planet. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Mars Daily takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.

Victoria Crater Marks Giant Cake For 1000 Sols On Mars

Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 02, 2006 - On Mars, over the next few weeks, two robotic explorers will reach 1000 sols a piece. At a real cost that's now under $350,000 a day, the 2004 Mars Rovers have been an engineering and scientific triumph beyond all expectation. And crowning the success of the missions has been the arrival of Opportunity at the rim of Victoria Crater, and the awakening of Spirit from it's long sebatical during the Martian winter.

Oct 2, 2006

NASA Mars Rover Arrives At Dramatic Vista On Red Planet

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 28, 2006 - NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity has arrived at the rim of a crater approximately five times wider than a previous stadium-sized one it studied for half a year. Initial images from the rover's first overlook after a 21-month journey to Victoria Crater show rugged walls with layers of exposed rock and a floor blanketed with dunes. The far wall is approximately one-half mile from the rover.

Sep 28, 2006

HiRISE Camera Will Take First Close-Up Pictures Of Mars On Sept 29

Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 27, 2006 - The most powerful camera ever to orbit Mars will get its first close look at the Red Planet on Friday. The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera flying aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will relay its first low-altitude images to scientists at The University of Arizona beginning Sept. 29.

Sep 27, 2006

Mars Express Successfully Powers Through Eclipse Season

Paris (ESA) Sep 27, 2006 - The Mars Express spacecraft has emerged from an unusually demanding eclipse season introducing a special, ultra-low-power mode nicknamed 'Sumo' - an innovative configuration aimed at saving the power necessary to ensure spacecraft survival. This mode was developed through tight teamwork between ESOC mission controllers, principal investigators, industry and mission management.

Sep 27, 2006

European Planetary Scientists Highlight Sample Return As Key Priority

Paris (SPX) Sep 26, 2006 - Bringing samples back to Earth has been highlighted as a key priority for future planetary missions in discussion meetings held at the first European Planetary Science Congress in Berlin. Prof. Bernard Foing, Project Scientist for the SMART-1 mission, said, Europe has now looked at the Moon, Mars and Venus and we have put our finger on Titan.

Sep 26, 2006

NASA Mars Spacecraft Gear Up For Extra Work

Washington DC (SPX) Sep 26, 2006 - NASA's Mars robotic missions are performing so well, they are being prepared for additional overtime work. The team operating the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, since January 2004, won approval for an additional year of exploration. NASA funded the extensions on recommendations from an outside panel of scientists.

Sep 26, 2006

Spirit Activates New Software

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 26, 2006 - Following some dramatic scrambling by rover handlers to command both Mars Exploration Rovers to switch to new flight software during a bit of a traffic jam at the Red Planet, Spirit successfully woke up and began operating with the new software. The X-band frequency for communicating directly with Earth had become unavailable while being used by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter during critical events for that mission.

Sep 26, 2006

Opportunity Set To Explore Victoria Crater As Mars Robot Rovers Power On

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 25, 2006 - Opportunity is healthy and very near Victoria Crater. The rover spent its week completing an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer observation of rock target Cape Faraday, successfully booting its new flight software and exercising its mobility functions. Opportunity is currently a little over 45 meters (148 feet) away from Victoria Crater's Duck Bay - a point on Victoria's vast rim. Once the team has verified that the new onboard flight software is stable, Opportunity will drive out to Duck Bay. This location is expected to provide Opportunity a spectacular view of the crater's interior.

Sep 25, 2006

Russia Hopes To Launch Craft To Mission Mars Moon Phobos In 2009

Moscow (RIAN) Sep 25, 2006 - Russia will launch a spacecraft to Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons, in 2009, which will return to Earth with a sample of its soil, a project developer said Tuesday. Dr. Efraim Akim, of the M.V. Keldysh Institute of Applied Mechanics, said the craft will be launched from a platform deployed in an intermediary near-earth orbit.

Sep 25, 2006

Managing Mars Missions

Moffett Field (SPX) Sep 22, 2006 - Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, spoke at the recent Viking anniversary celebration. In part two of this edited transcript, Meyer provides an overview of upcoming martian missions. Like the Viking mission thirty years ago, these future missions all aim to improve our understanding of the Red Planet and its potential for life.

Sep 22, 2006

MarsExpress Exposes The Face Of Mars

Paris, France (ESA) Sep 22, 2006 - ESA's Mars Express has obtained images of the Cydonia region, site of the famous 'Face on Mars.' The High Resolution Stereo Camera photos include some of the most spectacular views of the Red Planet ever.

Sep 22, 2006

Mars Society To Hold University Mars Rover Competition

Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 22, 2006 - The Mars Society is holding an International Mars Rover Challenge Competition. The contest, which is open to student teams from universities around the world, will require students to build prototype rovers and operate them remotely in an undeveloped desert area in the American west.

Sep 22, 2006

Northrop Grumman-Built Antenna Deploys To Seek Water Under Mars

Redondo Beach CA (SPX) Sep 20, 2006 - An antenna built by Northrop Grumman Corporation deployed successfully September 16 onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for an experiment that continues the search for liquid or frozen water in the first few hundreds of feet of Mars' crust.

Sep 20, 2006

Exploring Earth And Mars

Moffett Field CA (JPL) Sep 19, 2006 - Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, spoke at the recent Viking thirtieth anniversary celebration. In part one of this edited transcript, Meyer discusses how the history of exploration directs our efforts to learn more about Mars, and provides an overview of what we have learned so far from recent Mars missions.

Sep 19, 2006

The Martian Sun Also Rises As Winter Retreats

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 19, 2006 - Spirit is beginning to see an upward trend in electrical power as winter slowly recedes and the sun ascends higher in the sky each day. Electrical power from the rover's solar array rose to 287 watt-hours on the rover's 958th Martian day, or sol (Sep. 12, 2006) of exploration, compared with 277 watt-hours on sol 944 (Aug. 29, 2006). One hundred watt-hours is the amount of electricity needed to light one 100-watt bulb for one hour.

Sep 19, 2006

Of Craters and Erosion: Opportunity Examines Beagle

Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 18, 2006 - This 360-degree view shows Opportunity's last stop on the now-familiar surface of Meridiani Planum before reaching different terrains associated with the very large Victoria Crater. In the center of the mosaic is Beagle Crater, an impact crater about 35 meters (115 feet) wide. On the far left and wrapping around to the far right, Opportunity's tracks are visible approaching the crater.

Sep 18, 2006