Pasadena (JPL) Jul 08, 2004 - Sol 154 consisted of Opportunity completing activities on the target Kettlestone, including a long Moessbauer integration, some microscopic images and placement of the arm for a little early morning alpha particle X-ray spectrometer integration to occur on the morning of Sol 155. The rover then went to sleep.
Pasadena (JPL) Jul 07, 2004 - On sol 171, Spirit continued its investigation in Hank's Hollow and the rock target Pot-of-Gold. The rober successfully completed observations of the abraded area with the microscopic imager and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. On sol 172, Spirit looked at the sky with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and panoramic camera. The rover also acquired some thermal inertia observations of nearby soil with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Pasadena - Jul 06, 2004 - After a long trek across the floor of Gusev Crater, NASA's Spirit rover arrived late last month at the base of the Columbia Hills. Scientists believe that the hills are older than the surrounding plain, and holds clues to Gusev's more-distant past. In this exclusive interview with Astrobiology Magazine, Steve Squyres, principal investigator for the rover mission, discusses why the hills are important, what is known about them so far, and what remains to be puzzled out.
At a NASA-sponsored briefing for journalists last December, scientists with the Mars Exploration Rover missions described the various hazards that could cut…
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 02, 2004 - On sol 167, Spirit looked at a bit of soil called Jaws with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and microscopic imager. Then the rover completed a drive intended to put it into position to analyze Pot-of-Gold with the instruments on its robotic arm.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 02, 2004 - On Sol 150, Opportunity completed Moessbauer spectrometer observations in the rock abrasion tool hole on the rock Tennessee (hole number 3). The rover then stowed its arm, drove 0.55 meters (1.8 feet) backwards, turned to 40 degrees and then drove 1 meter (3.3 feet) forward.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 30, 2004 - While Opportunity is hard at work inside Endurance Crater, engineers at JPL are busy testing engineering models in the Lab's simulated martian environment. A tilt platform is being used to determine Opportunity's ability to climb back up over the curb below its current location.
Ann Abor MI (SPX) Jun 30, 2004 - Research aimed at teasing apart the workings of RNA enzymes eventually may lead to ways of monitoring fat metabolism and might even assist in the search for signs of life on Mars, according to University of Michigan researcher Nils Walter.
Paris (ESA) Jun 28, 2004 - The deployment of the MARSIS antenna on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft has been delayed until later this year.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 28, 2004 - On challenging slopes that NASA's Mars rovers began exploring this month, both Spirit and Opportunity have found new surprises for the folks back home.
Moffet Field CA (SPX) Jun 23, 2004 - Terraforming was once solely the province of science fiction. In the 1930's, Olaf Stapledon wrote of the use of electrolyzing a global sea on Venus in order to prepare it for human habitation in Last and First Men.
Paris (ESA) Jun 23, 2004 - On 2 May 2004, the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft obtained images from the central area of the Mars canyon called Valles Marineris.
Moffet Field (SPX) Jun 22, 2004 - To terraform a planet is to change its environment, making it livable for humans and other Earth-based life forms. Most life on Earth could not survive on Mars today. Even the hardiest bacteria would soon shrivel and die from the high radiation exposure, extreme cold, or other martian hazard. If humans want to maintain a long-term presence on Mars, building cities and establishing civilizations, terraforming would be one way to make that possible.
Moffet Field CA (SPX) Jun 21, 2004 - Q: One of the main criticisms of astrobiology as a science is that our sample size is one - life on Earth. So, I've been hearing you guys talk about the merits of Mars, if it has life, and well if it doesn't we might as well bulldoze the thing. But Mars is our only negative control, so maybe there's some merit in a lifeless Mars. I'm wondering what you guys think about that.
Moffet Field CA - Jun 21, 2004 - Less than two weeks after Spirit landed on Mars, rover engineers and scientists were already planning Spirit's itinerary on the surface. Go To That Crater And Turn Right read the headline of a January 13 press release. Needless to say, generically referring to features as that crater, this rock, or these hills could quickly become confusing.
Moffet Field CA (SPX) Jun 21, 2004 - Donna Shirley: If we want to do something massive, like terraform Mars or even go to Mars with a lot of people, is it going to have to be an international endeavor? If so, how do you do that? Is it going to be all U.S., is it going to be like the Star Trek universe, where it's all humanity? What's that going to look like?
