| August 11, 2008 |  |
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Professor Plays Vital Role In Mars Water Breakthrough
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 11, 2008NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has recently confirmed what space scientists have suspected for a long time: There is water on Mars. UT Dallas Physics Professor John Hoffman, a member of the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences, is at the center of the discovery. Hoffman's mass spectrometer is the system that analyzed gases from soil samples, the step needed to prove the existence ... more Chasing Dust Devils 
Tucson AZ (SPX) Aug 11, 2008"It's a bit of an art - learning how to drive across dry lake beds at great speed," says Matt Balme. "And it can be quite hairy as well." During the next three years, Balme will spend a lot of time careening across playas and other open, desert areas to better understand dust devils on Mars - how much dust they lift into the atmosphere and how this affects the martian climate. Understanding ... more ROTOZIP Duracut Bit Helps Phoenix Collect Martian Soil Samples 
Mt. Prospect IL (SPX) Aug 11, 2008The ROTOZIP Duracut Zip Bit, paired with a high-speed rasp, has enabled NASA's Phoenix Lander to collect valuable soil samples. NASA scientists confirmed the ROTOZIP-enabled rasp is the first tool in history to successfully cut into the permafrost surface of another planet and acquire a sample for analysis. To date, samples have led to the discovery of water on Mars and helped identify an ... more Opportunity Fights Uphill Battle 
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 11, 2008"Victoria Crater" continues to challenge Mars rover drivers as they try to find a location where Opportunity can do scientific studies of rocks near the "Cape Verde" cliff face. They have been trying to drive the rover to a location nicknamed "Nevada" after a rock shaped somewhat like the state of Nevada. Getting there, however, has been challenging. After attempting unsuccessfully to ... more With Batteries Charged, Spirit Is Ready For More Science 
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 08, 2008Spirit has fully recovered from a recent rundown in battery power. Energy has improved to levels not seen since sol (Martian day) 1604 (July 7, 2008). The hit in battery energy was primarily the result of data transmissions taking place later in the day, when less solar energy was available. During the past week, rover planners eliminated the late communications sessions. Spirit is not ... more |
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Moscow (RIA Novosti) Aug 06, 2008"Martian water has been touched and tasted" by NASA's Phoenix lander spacecraft, which has identified water in a sample of soil collected from Mars. This will expand our so far fragmented and incomplete knowledge about the origins of the Solar System. It will also benefit evolutionary biologists looking for the origins of life. Currently they can study life on Earth, which is not enough ... more Phoenix Mars Team Opens Window On Scientific Process 
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 06, 2008Phoenix Mars mission scientists spoke today on research in progress concerning an ongoing investigation of perchlorate salts detected in soil analyzed by the wet chemistry laboratory aboard NASA's Phoenix Lander. "Finding perchlorates is neither good nor bad for life, but it does make us reassess how we think about life on Mars," said Michael Hecht of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ... more Martian Soil May Contain Toxic Compounds Harmful To Life 
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Aug 06, 2008Data gathered by NASA's Phoenix lander on Mars have revealed the red planet's soil could contain a toxic substance that would make it less likely that life formed there. Earlier NASA said Phoenix analyzers detected water in the soil, which suggested that Mars could have the conditions for life. However, if the presence of perchlorate were confirmed, the probability of detecting living ... more NASA Spacecraft Analyzing Martian Soil Data 
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 05, 2008Scientists are analyzing results from soil samples delivered several weeks ago to science instruments on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander to understand the landing site's soil chemistry and mineralogy. Within the last month, two samples have been analyzed by the Wet Chemistry Lab of the spacecraft's Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, suggesting one of the soil ... more |
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Rochester NY (SPX) Jul 30, 2008As the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) approaches the three-year anniversary of its launch, imaging technology from Eastman Kodak continues to enable the orbiter to explore the red planet as never before. Using images captured by KODAK CCD Image Sensors, the orbiter will soon fulfill one of its primary mission objectives - the collection of a full Martian year of weather data for the ... more Phoenix Lander Working With Sticky Soil 
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jul 30, 2008Scientists and engineers on NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission spent the weekend examining how the icy soil on Mars interacts with the scoop on the lander's robotic arm, while trying different techniques to deliver a sample to one of the instruments. "It has really been a science experiment just learning how to interact with the icy soil on Mars -- how it reacts with the scoop, its stickiness ... more Phoenix Revises Method To Deliver Icy Sample 
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jul 29, 2008NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's robotic arm will use a revised collection-and-delivery sequence overnight Sunday with the goal of depositing an icy soil sample in the lander's oven. "We are going to modify the process we ran on Sol 60 to acquire another icy sample and attempt to deliver it to TEGA," the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager from NASA ... more Can People Live On Mars
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Jul 28, 2008The discovery of ice immediately under the surface of Mars is increasing the chances of finding life there. Water is more than the key to the origin of life. Water on Mars raises intriguing questions. Can people build settlements on Mars? Is it suitable for colonization? Can we learn more about our planet by studying the Martian climate? Did Mars go through the same geological processes as ... more
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