Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 26, 2004 - NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter begins working overtime today after completing a prime mission that discovered vast supplies of frozen water, ran a safety check for future astronauts, and mapped surface textures and minerals all over Mars, among other feats.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 25, 2004 - The Mars Express spacecraft, carrying the Beagle 2 lander, was launched on 2 June 2003, arriving in the vicinity of Mars in December. The separation of Beagle 2 from Mars Express occurred on 19 December. The satellite continued with its successful insertion into a Mars orbit on 25 December, the day on which Beagle 2 was due to land.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 25, 2004 - On sol 200 Opportunity was commanded to perform some remote sensing and some rock abrasion tool diagnostics in response to an activity that faulted out on sol 199. During these diagnostics on sol 200, the tool failed to respond as desired to a command to calibrate the grind motor.
London (AFP) Aug 24, 2004 - Any one of a number of technical malfunctions might have caused the loss of Beagle 2, the ill-fated British space probe that vanished while attempting to land on Mars, an investigation found on Tuesday.
Paris (ESA) Aug 24, 2004 - This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows a Martian crater with a dune field on its floor.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 24, 2004 - Spirit continued work over the past nine sols at a rock called Clovis. The rover used its rock abrasion tool, microscopic imager, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, and Moessbauer spectrometer to probe deeper into the history of this rock.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 23, 2004 - Hang-gliding pilots will tell you that in late afternoon, good flying is found when hopping across the horizon from one rising thermal to another. These hotspots act like visual transponders to navigate towards good air.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 23, 2004 - Now that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is finally examining bedrock in the Columbia Hills, it is finding evidence that water thoroughly altered some rocks in Mars' Gusev Crater.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 20, 2004 - Opportunity is healthy and continuing to investigate a rock outcrop dubbed Axel Heiberg on the southern slope of Endurance Crater. The rover's solar energy input has risen above 610 watt-hours the last few sols, which is more than it has experienced since about sol 100. The additional power may be the result of less hazy skies.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Aug 19, 2004 - Now that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is finally examining bedrock in the Columbia Hills, it is finding evidence that water thoroughly altered some rocks in Mars' Gusev Crater.
St. Louis (SPX) Aug 17, 2004 - Boeing has won a $1.5 million, three-year NASA Mars Technology Development contract to develop guidance parachute technology for future Mars missions. The contract award, which will be managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, supports NASA's Mars Exploration Program, an initiative to utilize cost effective innovations for precision entry, descent and landing.
Paris (ESA) Aug 17, 2004 - These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the Dao Valles and Niger Valles, a system of outflow channels on Mars.
Moffet Field CA (SPX) Aug 16, 2004 - The eyes aboard the Mars rover Spirit are delivering ground truth. After more than six months of examining the photographic and spectral data from the rover, Mars mission scientists confirm that the albedo - which is the percentage of sunlight reflected on the red planet's dusty surface - indicates important variations in mineral and dust composition.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 13, 2004 - Opportunity continues its voyage farther into Endurance Crater with a near-term drive goal of a rock outcrop dubbed Axel Heiberg, and a possible later destination at the foot of Burns Cliff on the south side of the crater.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 13, 2004 - NASA is planning to add a strong dose of artificial intelligence (AI) to planetary rovers to make them much more self-reliant, capable of making basic decisions during a mission.
Paris (ESA) Aug 12, 2004 - This perspective view, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the complex caldera of Olympus Mons on Mars, the highest volcano in our Solar System.
