Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 26, 2005 - The Opportunity team's current strategy for driving alternates segments of using visual odometry to check for slippage with segments of blind driving for less than 5 meters (16 feet). The strategy and hard work designing and commanding drives through troughs between ripples contributed to the rover making 89 meters (292 feet) of progress over three drive plans.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 22, 2005 - Spirit has had a pretty remarkable week. Back when we were climbing the lower reaches of Husband Hill, getting anywhere was a real struggle. The terrain wasn't all that steep, but the soil was very loose and slippery. Five meters of forward progress was a good day, and some days it was less than that as we slipped and slid and clawed our way up the slope.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 21, 2005 - Mars is the planet that refuses to say die. In 1996, after centuries of speculation about canals, icecaps and vegetation, NASA's David McKay reported seeing traces of ancient bacteria in a meteorite from Mars. Scientists have debated this finding ever since, and many now believe that the intriguing traces are probably not of biological origin.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 21, 2005 - NASA's next mission to Mars will examine it in unprecedented detail from low orbit. It will provide more data about that intriguing planet than all previous missions combined. Launch opportunities begin Aug. 10 for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter and its launch vehicle are nearing final stages of preparation at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Paris (ESA) Jul 19, 2005 - Germany has joined the Preparatory Phase of the European Space Exploration Programme Aurora. It thus becomes the twelfth country participating in the programme (*), which allows scientists and industrial companies from Germany to participate in the Aurora Programme.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 19, 2005 - The current mean temperature on the equator of Mars is a blustery 69 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Scientists have long thought that the Red Planet was once temperate enough for water to have existed on the surface, and for life to possibly have evolved. But a new study by Caltech and MIT scientists gives this idea the cold shoulder.
Pasedena CA (JPL) Jul 18, 2005 - The Mar Rover B team is making real progress at Meridiani. Our little jog to the north revealed a good southward route on the eastern side of Purgatory Dune, so that's what we went for. Since then we've been making steady southward progress, and as of now we're almost 90 meters south of Purgatory.
Paris, France (ESA) Jul 18, 2005 - These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show Nicholson Crater, located at the southern edge of Amazonis Planitia on Mars.
Pasadena (JPL) Jul 18, 2005 - Opportunity made impressive progress toward Erebus Crater during the week. Four sols of driving totaled 57 meters (187 feet), while slipping less than 10 percent on each drive. A longer drive was plotted for the fifth day.
Pasadena (JPL) Jul 18, 2005 - Spirit is healthy. On sol 538 (July 8, 2005), Spirit attempted its rock abrasion tool to brush the rock called Independence. The tool's contact switches did not engage the rock face, and the brushing did not occur.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 15, 2005 - Ah, Martian summer! Finally, the days are long, just like on dear old Earth. And daytime highs rocket all the way up to a balmy 20¿C (68¿F) from the summer nighttime low of -90¿C (-130¿F), meaning you and your fellow astronauts can warm up your machinery earlier to get a good start on mining operations.
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Jul 14, 2005 - The Launch Vehicle Readiness Test continues for the Atlas V 401 launch vehicle that will be use to send the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to Mars. A countdown wet dress rehearsal with the launch vehicle fully fueled was completed July 7.
Albuquerque NM (UPI) Jul 14, 2005 - Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists say they plan to use lasers on Martian soil to help speed the search for life and water on that planet.
Los Angeles (SPX) Jul 14, 2005 - Since Wernher von Braun first sketched out his Marsprojekt in 1946, a succession of designs and mission profiles were seriously studied in the United States and the Soviet Union.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 14, 2005 - Over the Fourth of July weekend, Spirit completed a robotic-arm campaign which had some surprising results.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 13, 2005 - Opportunity spent the past week positioning itself for robotic-arm work and studying the area at the base of Purgatory Ripple. The rover has examined its tracks (which contain material carried out of Purgatory Dune by the wheels) and undisturbed dune material.
