| June 29, 2007 |  |
our time will build eternity |
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UCLA Professor Leads NASA Dawn Mission
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 27, 2007Christopher T. Russell, UCLA professor of geophysics and space physics, has spent 15 years working on NASA's Dawn mission to the doughnut-shaped asteroid belt. As the scheduled July 7 launch from Cape Canaveral nears, Russell is ready, and so is Dawn. "The spacecraft will spend much less time in space than we put in preparing for the mission," said Russell, the mission's principal investigator. "I want to get this spacecraft up in space, where it belongs." ... more Mars Rover Laser Tool Ready For Testing 
Los Alamos NM (SPX) Jun 22, 2007Mars mission Job One: Get there. Job Two: Find rocks and zap them with your laser tool. Now learn the nature of the debris by spectrographically analyzing the ensuing dust and fragments. It's every kid's dream, vaporizing pebbles on other planets, and thanks to a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory, it's going to happen. When the JPL-NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover launches in 2009, ... more Plan G For Mars Offers Much For Geological And Geophysical Exploration 
Cameron Park CA (SPX) Jun 22, 2007The third general type of Mars Science Orbiter mission proposed by the MSO science advisory group's just-published report is "Geological and Geophysical Exploration" ("Plan G"), which would focus -- as its name suggests -- on the actual features and processes on Mars' mineral surface, rather than on its atmosphere or on the structures of its polar caps and their connection to Mars' climate record ... more Exploring The Polar And Climatic Processes Of Mars 
Cameron Park CA (SPX) Jun 22, 2007Besides the possible "Atmospheric Signatures and Near-Surface Change" mission that I mentioned in my last installment, the "MEPAG" science team assigned to pick possible goals for NASA's big 2013 Mars Science Orbiter proposed two other general types of possible science mission for the craft. One is "Polar and Climate Processes" ("Plan P"). Mars' polar caps are among the most scientifically ... more Mars Experiment To Push Mental Endurance To The Limit 
Paris (AFP) June 20, 2007You are in the vanguard of humanity, aboard a spaceship to Mars with five other men and women. For more than 17 months, with the perilous void surrounding your tiny refuge, the six of you will share the work and the heroics, battling emergencies, equipment glitches and other hazards on this pioneering mission. But you will also share your personal habits and prejudices... your body odours. ... more |
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Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 18, 2007The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is like the solar system's cluttered old attic. The dusty, forgotten objects there are relics from a time long ago, each asteroid with its own story to tell about the solar system's beginnings. These are stories planetary scientists want to hear. Much is still unknown about our solar system's distant past. We learn the basic story in school ... more Euopean Rover ExoMars On Target For 2013 Launch 
London UK (SPX) Jun 18, 2007UK expertise and ongoing commitment to space exploration and Earth observation was showcased last week at an event in central London featuring Astrium's ExoMars rover prototype Bridget, new funding for UK ExoMars instruments and technology development and a UK centre to coordinate Earth observation. The event highlighted the leading scientific and industrial role the UK is playing in Europe ... more An Opportunity To Take A Captain Cook At Duck Bay 
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 18, 2007Right now, Opportunity is safely perched on "Cape Verde" and is observing "Duck Bay" from above. The rover drove four out of the last five sols, covering 196.44 meters (644 feet). The fifth and final D-star (drive software) checkout step ran successfully on Opportunity on sol 1200. The dynamic path planner added in the latest flight software version is now ready for use. ... more Simulating The Effects Of Martian Dust On The Phoenix Lander 
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Jun 15, 2007Gusting winds and the pulsating exhaust plumes from the Phoenix spacecraft's landing engines could complicate NASA's efforts to sample frozen soil from the surface of Mars, according to University of Michigan atmospheric scientist Nilton Renno. Set to launch Aug. 3 from Florida, the $414 million Phoenix Mars Lander will use descent engines to touch down on the northern plains, where vast stores ... more |
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Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2007Having completed studies of bright, silica-rich soil deposits at a target known as "Gertrude Weise," Spirit drove to a perch on the eastern edge of the circular, plateau-like feature known as "Home Plate" and began studying its stratigraphy. Spirit will next drive back in the direction of Gertrude Weise to study another nearby outcrop. The nearby outcrop, known as "Nancy Warren," appears ... more The Viability Of Methane-Producing Microorganisms In Simulated Martian Soils 
Fayetteville AK (SPX) Jun 11, 2007University of Arkansas researchers have tested the methane production of three different types of microorganisms in different soil types that resemble those found on Mars to test the possibility of these soils harboring life. Tim Kral, professor of biological sciences at the University of Arkansas; Heaven A. Kozup of Gwynedd-Mercy College in Pennsylvania, and UA graduate student ... more Taking The Opportunity To Evaluate New Driving Capabilities 
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 09, 2007Opportunity performed on sol 1194 a Visual Target Tracking (VTT) technology checkout (drive software) on a target called "Paloma." This VTT checkout tested VTT in combination with other drive software, Autonav and Visodom. The first segment was a blind (no Autonav or Visodom) VTT drive to back away from the target. The second segment combined VTT and Visodom to drive towards the target. ... more THEMIS Marks Milestone In Imaging Mars 
Tempe, AZ (SPX) Jun 08, 2007The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter marked a milestone May 4. An image from THEMIS showing Martian lava flows and wind streaks mingling with impact craters, became the 1,200th "Image of the Day" posted online. The Mars Space Flight Facility at ASU operates the site, which is updated every weekday with images and data from THEMIS. The first "Image of ... more
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