| July 17, 2007 |  |
our time will build eternity |
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Opportunity Waiting For Dust To Settle
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 17, 2007Due to extensive dust storms in Mars' southern hemisphere causing record atmospheric opacity levels, Opportunity is currently experiencing its lowest power levels to date. The tau measurement as of sol 1225 is 4.12, resulting in a mere 280 watt-hours of array energy. A tau measurement of 5.0 would result in approximately 150 watt-hours. If tau begins to approach 5.0, the team will have to begin ... more The Origin Of Perennial Water-Ice At The South Pole Of Mars 
Paris, France (ESA) Jul 16, 2007Thanks to data from ESA's Mars Express mission, combined with models of the Martian climate, scientists can now suggest how the orbit of Mars around the Sun affects the deposition of water ice at the Martian South Pole. Early during the mission, the OMEGA instrument (Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer) on board Mars Express had already found previously undetected perennial d ... more Arizona State Scientists Keep An Eye On Martian Dust Storm 
Tempe AZ (SPX) Jul 13, 2007Scientists at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight Center are using the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to monitor a large dust storm on the Red Planet. The instrument, a multi-wavelength camera sensitive to five visible wavelengths and 10 infrared ones, is providing Mars scientists and spacecraft controllers with global maps that track how much at ... more NASA Readies Mars Lander For August Launch To Icy Site 
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 10, 2007NASA's next Mars mission will look beneath a frigid arctic landscape for conditions favorable to past or present life. Instead of roving to hills or craters, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will claw down into the icy soil of the Red Planet's northern plains. The robot will investigate whether frozen water near the Martian surface might periodically melt enough to sustain a livable environment for mi ... more NASA Delays Dawn Asteroid Probe Launch Until September 
Washington (AFP) Jul 09, 2007The US space agency has postponed until September the launch of space probe Dawn on its eight-year mission to unlock the mysteries of the origins of our solar system. It was the second delay for the mission in as many days. "Primary reasons for the move were a combination of highly limited launch opportunities for Dawn in July and the potential impact to launch preparations for the upcoming Phoe ... more |
asteroid
 mars-mers  mars-general  |
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 06, 2007Extensive testing of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in preparation for an August launch has uncovered a potential data-handling problem in time to modify plans for use of a camera during the final minutes of arrival at Mars. The testing results led to a decision to take just one photograph with the spacecraft's Mars Descent Imager. The mission will still be capable of accomplishing all of its scien ... more Spirit Solar Power Levels Continue To Rise 
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 06, 2007Spring cleaning continued on NASA's Spirit rover, as atmospheric turbulence on Mars cleared away more dust from the solar panels on the rover's 1,233rd sol, or Martian day, of exploration (June 22, 2007). As a result of this most recent dust-clearing event, Spirit out-produced the electrical energy of Spirit's twin, the Opportunity rover on the opposite side of Mars, by about 50 watt-hours. (Th ... more An Opportunity For A One-Way Trip To The Bottom Of Crater Victoria 
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 06, 2007NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is scheduled to begin a descent down a rock-paved slope into the Red Planet's massive Victoria Crater. This latest trek carries real risk for the long-lived robotic explorer, but NASA and the Mars Rover science team expect it to provide valuable science. Opportunity already has been exploring layered rocks in cliffs around Victoria Crater. The team has planned the d ... more Seeking Mars Survival Secrets 
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jul 06, 2007David Smith always wondered whether other planets might harbor life, so when he actually got the opportunity to investigate, he jumped at it. His decision launched him on a year-long mission, leading him to the Kennedy Space Center and back. Now, after months exploring whether Earth bacteria can survive on the surface of Mars, he has returned with findings that could help NASA plan better missio ... more |
mars-mers
 marsexpress  mars-general  |
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 29, 2007NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is scheduled to begin a descent down a rock-paved slope into the Red Planet's massive Victoria Crater. This latest trek carries real risk for the long-lived robotic explorer, but NASA and the Mars Rover science team expect it to provide valuable science. Opportunity already has been exploring layered rocks in cliffs around Victoria Crater. The team has planned ... more 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
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