Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 20, 2006 - The software that simulates the workings of the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft and runs its science payload and telecommunications system is now ready for action, technicians at the Phoenix Science Operations Center at the University of Arizona announced Monday.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 20, 2006 - NASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has already cut the size and duration of each of its orbits by more than half, just 11 weeks into a 23-week process of shrinking its orbit. The orbits are getting shorter and shorter, said Dan Johnston, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter deputy mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 19, 2006 - After the previous week's successful extraction from Jammerbugt, Opportunity resumed its drive southward on the Meridiani Planum toward Victoria Crater.
Washington (UPI) Jun 16, 2006 - Eighteen middle school and high school U.S. science teachers will soon depart for Alaska for a Mars exploration and polar science research experience. The teachers, selected from more than 500 applicants to join the June 23 Phoenix Mars Mission team, will perform scientific investigations in the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's permafrost tunnel and at University of Alaska-Fairbanks research labs.
London (AFP) Jun 15, 2006 - British scientists on Monday took the wraps off a prototype craft to search for signs of life on Mars, hailing it the smartest piece of equipment ever designed for exploration of the red planet.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 13, 2006 - NASA mission controllers suspect the rock in the center foreground of this image is an iron meteorite. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the image during the rover's 809th Martian day, or sol, on April 12.
Plainview NY (SPX) Jun 12, 2006 - Aeroflex Incorporated announced Friday that its Motion Control Division has been awarded a contract for Mars Science Laboratory high-torque actuators from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. In addition, Aeroflex has been awarded a contract for a series of gearheads for the MSL low- and medium-torque actuators.
Paris, France (SPX) Jun 12, 2006 - Apollinaris Patera is an ancient shield volcano measuring approximately 180 by 280 kilometers at its base and rising to a maximum of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) above the surrounding terrain. Shield volcanoes are large volcanic structures with gently sloping flanks.
London, England (AFP) Jun 12, 2006 - British scientists on Monday took the wraps off a prototype craft to search for signs of life on Mars, hailing it the smartest piece of equipment ever designed for exploration of the red planet.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2006 - Closing in on two-and-a-half years of operations in the hostile Martian environment and suffering from a stuck right-front wheel, NASA's Spirit rover nevertheless remains otherwise healthy and continues to make progress on the rover's winter science experiments.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2006 - NASA's Opportunity rover remains healthy, and the mission team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory has successfully extracted the rover from the Martian dune they have called Jammerbugt. The rover first backed into the dune on Martian day, or sol, 830 (May 24) to increase its northerly tilt.
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 07, 2006 - Steven Squyres said NASA mission controllers should be able to free Opportunity from its current state of being stuck in the Martian sand on the Meridiani Planum and get it back on its way to Victoria Crater very soon.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 06, 2006 - Since arriving at the rover's current location April 10, on its 807th sol, or Martian day, of exploration, Spirit's knowledge of its attitude relative to the Sun has drifted.
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 05, 2006 - NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida has selected Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services Inc. to deliver an Atlas V rocket for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which aims to land a large rover on the red planet in the fall of 2009.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 05, 2006 - Opportunity is less than 1 kilometer (just over half a mile) from reaching Victoria Crater - its destination for several months. During the last planned drive on May 28, on sol, or Martin day, 833, the rover became embedded in a soft dune. As designed, mission controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory stopped the drive by a slip check.
Pasadena CA (SPX) May 31, 2006 - Opportunity's wheels dug into loose soil during a drive on sol 833 (May 29, 2006). The drive was planned for about 24 meters (79 feet) but resulted in only 1.5 meters (5 feet) of forward progress. The flight team directed Opportunity on sol 834 to take images for studying the situation and planning a way to drive out of the loose material.
