Pasadena (JPL) Jan 27, 2004 - Busy as she has been with work, JPL's Dr. Joy Crisp, project scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, found time a few weeks ago to do a little shopping. The new necklace she bought is a simple string of dark grey beads and wasn't expensive. What makes it significant is that it is made of specular hematite, which for Mars scientists like Crisp may prove to be more special than diamonds.
Pasadena - Jan 27, 2004 - On January 14, President George Bush gave a speech at NASA headquarters outlining a new strategic orientation for the American space agency. While some of the initial ideas for implementing the new space policy can and should be substantially improved upon, the policy overall clearly represents a significant and long-overdue step in the right direction for the American space program. The Steering Committee of the Mars Society therefore welcomes the new policy as presented in Presidential Directive entitled A Renewed Spirit of Discovery, and strongly urges Congress to provide the funds requested for the initial steps requested for the program over the next fiscal year.
Pasadena (JPL) Jan 27, 2004 - Believe it or not, some of the scientists on the Mars Exploration Rover Science team don't really care too much about rocks - or for that matter anything on the surface of Mars. They have higher ambitions. Their passion lies in the skies - the martian skies - and, from the hazy glow of the atmosphere, they pull precious pieces of information.
Woodland Hills - Jan 27, 2004 - The successful landing of two NASA Mars Exploration Rovers this month was supported by a key navigational component produced by Northrop Grumman Corporation's Navigation Systems Division.
Pasadena (JPL) Jan 27, 2004 - During the second day on Mars for NASA's Opportunity rover, key science instruments passed health tests and the rover made important steps in communicating directly with Earth.
Pasadena (AFP) Jan 26, 2004 - Thrilled NASA scientists received the first color pictures of the Martian surface from the rover Opportunity on Monday, as engineers worked feverishly to bring its ailing twin Spirit back to health.
Pasadena (AFP) Jan 25, 2004 - Opportunity, the second of two roving US Mars probes, transmitted its first images of the Martian surface Sunday as NASA scientists tried to resurrect its crippled twin.
Pasadena (AFP) Jan 25, 2004 - Opportunity, the second of two NASA rovers, is scheduled to land on Mars early Sunday as its troubled but recovering twin, Spirit, was upgraded by NASA from critical to serious.
Washington - Jan 23, 2004 - The US space agency NASA received a transmission on Friday from the troubled Mars rover Spirit, the first in two days, but the spacecraft is in a critical state and may not recover fully, officials said.
Moffett Field - Jan 21, 2004 - With Spirit on the ground and Opportunity speeding toward Mars, more than three hundred scientists and engineers here on Earth are learning on the job how to act in unison and master the art of commanding two very complex robots to do science on another world.
Pasadena - Jan 21, 2004 - I started my career [studying] lunar samples, said Dr. Dave Des Marais, who is from NASA's Ames Research Center and lead scientist for the Spirit rover's long-range planning group. So this is a repeat of that rewarding experience...Beyond the challenge of adjusting in the first week, the big challenges are in dealing with the outside world, being careful when calling people. We all wear two watches on our wrist--one for Mars' time, the other for Earth. [For science, the challenge] is not to be hostage to having learned geology on Earth.
Edwards AFB - Jan 21, 2004 - Before NASA's first successful Mars Exploration Rover landed on the planet Mars January 3, 2004, a rover prototype helped refine navigational software at a unique site on Earth that replicates Martian terrain.
Pasadena - Jan 21, 2004 - There was nothing unlucky about the thirteenth day on Mars. Rover scientists got their first chance to stretch Spirit's tool-carrying arm, while taking the highest resolution image ever on another planet.
Pasadena - Jan 20, 2004 - NASA's Spirit rover has successfully driven to its first target on Mars, a football-sized rock that scientists have dubbed Adirondack. The Mars Exploration Rover flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., plans to send commands to Spirit early Tuesday to examine Adirondack with a microscope and two instruments that reveal the composition of rocks, said JPL's Dr. Mark Adler, Spirit mission manager. The instruments are the M¿ssbauer spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
Paris - Jan 19, 2004 - Every day, people around the world tune in weather forecasts to plan their days ahead. Soon ESA will be delivering the same service for Mars, thanks to an ingenious experiment on board Mars Express.
Ithaca - Jan 19, 2004 - During the most recent early afternoon on Mars, the temperature at the rover Spirit landing site in Gusev crater was an admittedly chilly minus 11 degrees Celsius (12 degrees Fahrenheit). But it was still warmer than most cities in the upper Northeast, gripped in a frigid winter chill.
