August 31, 2007 | our time will build eternity |
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Surviving Desert Storm Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 31, 2007 After six weeks of hunkering down during raging dust storms that limited solar power, both of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have resumed driving. Now the rovers are set to continue their mission, searching for signs of past water on Mars. Liquid water is essential for life as we know it, and therefore the history of water on Mars is vital in determining whether or not ... more Rovers Begin New Observations On Changing Martian Atmosphere Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2007 Mars rover scientists have launched a new long-term study on the Martian atmosphere with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, an instrument that was originally developed at the University of Chicago. Thanasis Economou, Senior Scientist at Chicago's Enrico Fermi Institute, suggested the new study after observing that the APXS instruments aboard NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and ... more Threatening Conditions For Rovers In Giant Martian Dust Storm Pasadean CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2007 The mighty Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to persevere in brutal conditions, as revealed in images of the sun they are sending home. The images show how opaque the Martian atmosphere has been in the face of a raging, two-month dust storm. To understand the gravity of the storm, engineers and astronomers monitor the situation by examining the images of the sun and measuring the ... more HiRISE Confirms Existence of 'Pit Craters' On Mars Tuscon AZ (SPX) Aug 30, 2007 The High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) has confirmed that a dark pit seen on Mars in an earlier HiRISE image really is a vertical shaft that cuts through lava flow on the flank of the Arsia Mons volcano. Such pits form on similar volcanoes in Hawaii and are called "pit craters." The HiRISE camera, orbiting the red planet on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is the most ... more Calculating The Biomass Of Martian Soil Giessen, Germany (SPX) Aug 29, 2007 A new interpretation of data from NASA's Viking landers indicates that 0.1% of the Martian soil tested could have a biological origin. This new interpretation of results from NASA's 1976 Viking missions could have important implications for the search for life in our Solar System. Dr Joop Houtkooper of the University of Giessen, Germany, believes that the subfreezing, arid Martian surface ... more |
water-earth
mars-mro mars-mers |
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 27, 2007 Opportunity is healthy and remains perched near the rim of "Victoria Crater." The rover was on a low-power schedule that alternated between a 3-sol plan and a 4-sol plan. Tau (atmospheric opacity) has begun to stabilize this week at around 3.7, resulting in solar array energy between 230-240 watt hours. Therefore in the upcoming week, the team will return to nominal planning. ... more Drawing A Living On Lunar Hampton VA (SPX) Aug 24, 2007 A new NASA contest encourages university art and design students to partner with science and engineering departments to create art representative of living and working on the moon. The goal is for students in the arts, science and engineering to collaboratively engage in NASA's mission to return humans to the moon by 2020, and eventually journey on to Mars and other destinations in the solar system ... more NASA looks to next US shuttle launch Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) Aug 21, 2007 NASA looked cautiously to its next mission due in October after the US shuttle Endeavour returned safely to Earth Tuesday despite damage to its underside. "We are still pointing for October, we still have time," the space agency's launch director Mike Leinbach told reporters at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after the landing. ... more US shuttle makes textbook return landing Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) Aug 21, 2007 US shuttle Endeavour returned safely to Earth Tuesday, despite damage to its underside, after a 13-day mission in which the first teacher in space gave lessons to children back home. "You have given a new meaning to higher education," joked astronaut Chris Ferguson, as he welcomed back the five-man, two-woman crew including Endeavour astronaut Barbara Morgan, the first teacher in space. ... more |
mars-phoenix
mars-mers mars-base |
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 17, 2007 Spirit is healthy as the amount of dust hoisted into the atmosphere by recent wind storms has leveled off and solar energy levels have held steady at about 280 to 300 watt-hours of energy (100 watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour). Since the rover's 1,271st Martian day, or sol, of exploration (July 31, 2007), atmospheric opacity, a measurement known as ... more Student Joins AMASE Expedition In Svalbard Svalbard, Denmark (SPX) Aug 20, 2007 For two weeks, an international crew of scientists and engineers are field-testing instruments for future Mars missions. Thea Falkenberg, winner of a student contest to join the AMASE expedition, reports back on her experiences through a daily blog. The Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) takes advantage of similarities between the conditions on Mars and those at Svalbard in order to ... more Nuclear Power In Space Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Aug 15, 2007 Solar energy supplies most of power in spacecraft nowadays. Although the efficiency of solar cells has grown substantially recently, they have reached the limit of their development and can supply electricity only in near-Earth orbits and for satellite-borne equipment. Such large-scale projects as the exploration of the Moon or a manned mission to Mars require nuclear power plants. ... more India Wants To Launch First Reusuable Space Launcher By 2010 Bangalore (RIA Novosti) Aug 15, 2007 India is planning to launch a reusable spacecraft for the first time in 2010 and to send a mission to Mars as early as 2012, a senior space official said Monday. India has been successfully developing its space program in recent years, regularly launching satellites using its own booster rockets. "Our target [for the first launch] is before 2010," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted ... more |
stellar-chemistry
tectonics mars-phoenix |
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