London - Apr 22, 2004 - A unique meteorite that fell on a Soviet military base in Yemen in 1980 may have come from one of the moons of Mars. Several meteorites from the Red Planet have been found on Earth, but this could be the only piece of Martian moon rock reports Jenny Hogan in this week's issue of New Scientist.
Moffett Field - Apr 21, 2004 - One engineering obstacle to overcome when landing on Mars is the treacherous descent and landing. From start to finish, this mission phase can last six minutes. Because of its nail-biting drama, it is often referred to as the six minutes of hell.
Greenbelt - Apr 21, 2004 - Scientists have found clues that dust devils on Mars might have high-voltage electric fields, based on observations of their terrestrial counterpart. This research supports NASA's Vision for Space Exploration by helping to understand what challenges the Martian environment presents to explorers, both robotic and eventually human.
Pasadena - Apr 19, 2004 - Spirit had a busy weekend, culminating with a 75-meter (246-feet) drive toward Missoula Crater on sol 103, which ended at 2:33 a.m. PST on April 18. The sol before the drive, Sol 102, which ended at 1:54 a.m. on April 17, was an easier day for Spirit. Its main objectives were to use the panoramic camera and mini thermal emission spectrometer to acquire photometric and atmospheric measurements.
Pasadena CA - Apr 16, 2004 - NASA's Opportunity rover has examined an odd volcanic rock on the plains of Mars' Meridiani Planum region with a composition unlike anything seen on Mars before, but scientists have found similarities to meteorites that fell to Earth.
Washington (UPI) Apr 16, 2004 - It is a typical case of one of a pair of siblings breezing along and getting all the glory, while the other slogs away and receives little recognition. This particular analogy refers not to humans, however, but to the twin robotic landers currently operating on Mars, and to their achievements so far in searching for evidence the red planet once harbored liquid, flowing water.
Pasadena - Apr 16, 2004 - Three days after switching to new software with mobility-enhancing features, NASA's Opportunity shattered the record for a single day's driving on Mars. The rover covered 140.9 maters (462 feet) during its 82nd sol on Mars, ending at 2:15 p.m. PDT, Saturday, May 17. That is about 40 meters farther than either the best previous one-day drive, by Opportunity two weeks ago, or the total distance covered by NASA's smaller Sojourner rover during its entire three-month mission in 1997.
White Cliffs - Apr 16, 2004 - If you find layered sediments, they do not have to be either water-transported or the outpourings of volcanoes. They may be aeolian, that is, wind-blown. On Mars, they may also be a bit strange. Those are simple facts that the Martian Wet Worlders seem to generally forget, or, more to the point, resolutely ignore. Those good folk will not contemplate the simple proposition that the surface of Mars has mostly been shaped by wind-driven erosion and transport.
Pasadena - Apr 15, 2004 - Waking up to the Ramones' Teenage Lobotomy, Opportunity began operating with new flight software on its 79th sol on Mars, which ended at 12:16 p.m. PDT on April 14. Yestersol, the rover took daytime readings with its Moessbauer spectrometer on Jeff's Choice -- a soil target in the tailings of the trench that the vehicle dug on Sol 73.
Ann Arbor, Mich - Apr 15, 2004 - One of the big problems with space travel is that one cannot over pack. Suppose astronauts reach Mars. How do they explore the planet if they cannot weigh down the vessel with fuel for excursions?
Washington - Apr 14, 2004 - GeoFusion, Inc., a leading innovator in geospatial visualization, announces GeoPlayer Mars, created with the high performance GeoMatrix Toolkit technology. This Interactive 3D Demo allows users to interactively fly around the planet of Mars which is comprised of global imagery and terrain derived from NASA/JPL data.
Pasadena - Apr 14, 2004 - On Sol 98, which ended at 10:36 p.m. PST on April 12, Spirit woke up to the song Where Is My Mind? by The Pixies in honor of its software transplant. The good news is that Spirit's mind is updated and operating as expected.
Moffett Field - Apr 13, 2004 - As both rovers approach their third month resident on Mars, the mission planners have returned to Earth time. Both rover teams look to make rapid progress toward distant hills, with a possible second September extension continuing with any remaining mission science.
Berkeley CA - Apr 13, 2004 - The same cutting-edge technology that speeded sequencing of the human genome could, by the end of the decade, tell us once and for all whether life ever existed on Mars, according to a University of California, Berkeley, chemist.
Pasadena - Apr 13, 2004 - Spirit began a four-sol stand-down on sol 94, which ended at 8:37 p.m. on April 8, 2004. During this time, the rover will receive a flight software update that should make its remaining martian days even safer and more productive.
Pasadena - Apr 08, 2004 - NASA has approved an extended mission for the Mars Exploration Rovers, handing them up to five months of overtime assignments as they finish their three-month prime mission.
