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December 18, 2012

Enabling ChemCam to Measure Key Isotopic Ratios on Mars and Other Planets
Fremont CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2012
On August 6th, 2012 the automatic rover "Curiosity" landed on Mars. One of the scientific instruments on board is ChemCam, which has a pulsed laser capable of ablating a focused spot on a remote sample to create a glowing plasma plume of target's material. Light from plasma is collected by rover's telescope on a mast, and the optical spectra are then analyzed by an internal spectrometer. ChemCam can take thousands spectra per day from a distance of about 7 meters, thus making chemical analyses on ... read more

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Dec 12

Curious About Life: Interview with Darby Dyer The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has 10 science instruments, and each will be used in the coming weeks and months to help characterize the environment of Mars and determine if the planet ... more		Opportunity Checking Out Some Rocks At Matijevic Hill Opportunity is located at a place named "Matijevic Hill" (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater. On Sol 3153 (Dec. 6, 2012), the rov ... more		Curiosity Rover Nearing Yellowknife Bay The NASA Mars rover Curiosity drove 63 feet (19 meters) northeastward early Monday, Dec. 10, approaching a step down into a slightly lower area called "Yellowknife Bay," where researchers intend to ... more
				Charitum Montes: a cratered winter wonderland The high-resolution stereo camera on ESA's Mars Express imaged the Charitum Montes region of the Red Planet on 18 June, near to Gale crater and the Argyre basin featured in our October and November ... more		Opportunity Continues Rock Studies Opportunity is located at a place named "Matijevic Hill" (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover just finished collecting ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Orbiter Spies Where Rover's Cruise Stage Hit Mars During the 10 minutes before the NASA Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere to deliver the rover Curiosity to the surface, the spacecraft shed its cruise stage, which had ... more		NASA to send new rover to Mars in 2020 NASA plans to send a new rover to Mars in 2020 as it prepares for a manned mission to the Red Planet, the US space agency said Tuesday. ... more		US missile defense still plagued by technical doubts Northrop Grumman, US Navy Complete Triton Unmanned Aircraft's First Flight Lockheed Martin Completes Milestone for Training Element of United States Ballistic Missile Defense System General Dynamics to Deliver U.S. Army's Newest Tactical Ground Station Intelligence System Lockheed Martin Conducts First EMD Flight Test of New GMLRS Warhead Defense Acquisition Board approves Standard Missile-6 full-rate production DARPA Seeks Technology to Radically Improve Dismounted Squad Situational Awareness, Communication Effectiveness		Ancient Mars May Have Captured Enormous Floodwaters An international research team led by the Planetary Science Institute has found evidence that indicates that approximately 2 billion years ago enormous volumes of catastrophic floods discharges may ... more
				Safe Driving on Mars Matt Heverly doesn't like to make a big deal of his job as the lead driver of the most expensive car in the solar system-NASA's $2.5 billion, two-ton Curiosity rover, which is now roaming the surfac ... more		NASA Announces Multi-Year Mars Program With New Rover In 2020 Building on the success of Curiosity's Red Planet landing, NASA has announced plans for a robust multi-year Mars program, including a new robotic science rover set to launch in 2020. This announceme ... more

Solar systems for home and business

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Opportunity Rover Does Walkabout Of Crater Rim The latest work assignment for NASA's long-lived Mars rover Opportunity is a further examination of an area where the robot just completed a walkabout. "If you are a geologist studying a site ... more		Curiosity Shakes, Bakes, and Tastes Mars with SAM NASA's Curiosity rover analyzed its first solid sample of Mars in Nov. with a variety of instruments, including the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite. Developed at NASA's Goddard Space ... more		Volcanoes Cause Climate Gas Concentrations to Vary Allosaurus fed more like a falcon than a crocodile Study reveals how fishing gear can cause slow death of whales Research offers promising new approach to treatment of lung cancer A Local Footprint's Global Footprint A Roadmap for the Future of Astrobiology Small but speedy: Short plants live in the evolutionary fast lane		NASA Mars Rover Fully Analyzes First Soil Samples NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has used its full array of instruments to analyze Martian soil for the first time, and found a complex chemistry within the Martian soil. Water and sulfur and chlorine-co ... more
				China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars: state media Chinese astronauts are preparing to grow fresh vegetables on Mars and the moon after researchers successfully completed a preliminary test in Beijing, state media reported. ... more		Opportunity Gets to Work on Interesting Rock Targets Opportunity, after completing the local area survey around the location called "Matijevic Hill" (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater, ha ... more

NASA Gravity Probes Prepare to Hit the Moon

GRAIL Lunar Impact Site Named for Astronaut Sally Ride

No plans of sending an Indian on moon

Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

China to launch manned spacecraft

ISS Orbit Raised Ahead of Crew Arrival

Station Crew Does Maintenance as Soyuz Rolls to Launch Pad

Medical Ops, Fan Checks for Space Crew; New Trio Checks Soyuz

Halfway Between Uranus and Neptune, New Horizons Cruises On

Dwarf planet Makemake lacks atmosphere

Keck Observations Bring Weather Of Uranus Into Sharp Focus

	Opportunity Gets To Work On Interesting Rock Opportunity, after completing the local area survey around the location called "Matijevic Hill" (named in honor of Jake Matijevic) at the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater, ha ... more		Regional Dust Storm Dissipating A regional dust storm on Mars, tracked from orbit since Nov. 10, appears to be abating rather than going global. "During the past week, the regional storm weakened and contracted significantly ... more		One Year After Launch, Curiosity Rover Busy on Mars The NASA Mars rover Curiosity began its flight to Mars on Nov. 26, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., tucked inside the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft. One year after launc ... more		Curious About Life: Interview with Roger Summons The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has 10 science instruments, and each will be used in the coming weeks and months to help characterize the environment of Mars and determine if the planet ... more

Solar Industry Capital Spending Hits Seven-Year Low in 2013

Innovation could bring flexible solar cells, transistors, displays

More emphasis needed on recycling and reuse of Li-ion batteries

Israel eyes Syrian missile threat to gas fields

Sempra U.S. Gas and Power, Consolidated Edison Development announce solar partnership

Areva, world's 2nd uranium company heavily present in Niger

Magnetic fingerprints of superfluid helium-3

Life on Mars: NASA says 'hold on a minute!'		Matijevic Hill Survey Complete And Rover Passes 22 Miles Of Driving!		Who's Killing the Space Program?		Fostering Curiosity: Mars Express relays rocky images		NASA monitors massive dust storm on Mars
Intrigue from Mars, or Grotzinger's silence		Meteorite samples provide definitive evidence of water and rock types on Mars		Spacecraft Monitoring Martian Dust Storm		Survey At 'Matijevic Hill' Wrapping Up		Curiosity Rover Preparing for Thanksgiving Activities

Life on Mars? Maybe not. NASA rows back on findings

UK Secures Billion Pound Package For Space Investment

Curiosity Team May Reveal Major Discovery Soon

Martian And Terran History Finding a common denominator

Meteorites reveal warm water existed on Mars

Mars on, Moon off at Europe space talks

New views of the Martian ionosphere

Instrument Delivered for NASA's Upcoming Mars Mission

Melt water on Mars could sustain life

NASA Rover Providing New Weather and Radiation Data About Mars

CU LASP package ready for MAVEN integration bound for Mars

Mars radiation levels not lethal to humans

NASA Rover Providing New Weather and Radiation Data About Mars

Survey At 'Matijevic Hill' Wrapping Up

Rover's 'SAM' Lab Instrument Suite Tastes Soil

What Arctic Rocks Say About Mars: An Interview with Hans Amundsen

Mars orbiter back online after system swap

Obama Win Keeps NASA's Space Plans on Course

More Driving And Imaging At 'Matijevic Hill'

Curiosity Team Switches Back to Earth Time

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