Spirit Gets Energy Boost From Cleaner Solar Panels
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 14, 2009
A small but important uptick in electrical output from the solar panels on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit this month indicates a beneficial Martian wind has blown away some of the dust that has accumulated on the panels. The cleaning boosts Spirit's daily energy supply by about 30 watt-hours, to about 240 watt-hours from 210 watt-hours. The rover uses about 180 watt-hours ... read more
Detailed map shows dry Moon
Washington (AFP) Feb 12, 2009
A new detailed map of the Moon released Thursday shows the Earth's satellite holds very little water and reveals never-before seen craters at the poles, an international research team said. "The surface can tell us a lot about what's happening inside the Moon, but until now mapping has been very limited," C.K Shum, professor of Earth sciences at Ohio State University, said in the February 13 ... more
NASA Spacecraft Falling For Mars
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 16, 2009
Launched in September of 2007, and propelled by any one of a trio of hyper-efficient ion engines, NASA's Dawn spacecraft passed the orbit of Mars last summer. At that time, the asteroid belt (where Dawn's two targets, asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres reside), had never been closer. In early July the spacecraft began to lose altitude, falling back towards the inner solar system. ... more
Martian winds help Earth's rover Spirit
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Feb 12, 2009
Martian wind guests have removed some dust from the U.S. space agency's Mars rover Spirit, increasing its electrical output, NASA says. NASA scientists said the cleaning boosts Spirit's daily energy supply to about 240 watt-hours from 210 watt-hours. The rover uses approximately 180 watt-hours daily for basic survival and communications. ... more
CSIRO Helps Mars With Sustainable Food Production
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Feb 13, 2009
A research partnership between CSIRO and Mars Australia has produced a database and information toolkit that will be available to a wide range of food businesses to help improve their sustainability strategies. "CSIRO has worked with Mars to produce 'life cycle analyses' on a range of Mars's food products that are relevant to almost every major food commodity produced in Australia," said ... more
Europe extends three key space missions
Paris (AFP) Feb 10, 2009
The European Space Agency (ESA) on Tuesday announced it was extending successful unmanned missions to Mars and Venus as well as a satellite exploration of Earth's magnetic field. The decision would extend the Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster missions until December 31, ESA said in a press release. Mars Express, launched in 2003, "has produced a treasure of discoveries," ESA said, ... more
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nasa
NASA Receives Shorty Twitter Award
mars-water-science
Martian Crater Features Suggest Influence Of Water And Ice
mars-mers
Spirit Update: On the Move - sol 1791-1797
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Opportunity Update: Happy Anniversary! - sol 1770-1776
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 11, 2009
Happy anniversary to both Spirit and Opportunity for completing five Earth-years exploring the surface of Mars! Opportunity's goal this past week has been to put the pedal to the metal and acquire drive-by images of a crater dubbed "Ranger Crater." Preliminary results from last week's shake of the mirror on the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on sol 1771 (Jan. 16, 2009) indicated ... more
Geologic Features In Martian Craters Suggest Deposition And Flow Of Water And Or Ice
Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 06, 2009
Scientists at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute (PSI) have found further evidence for the large role that water has likely played in shaping the Martian landscape. Their results provide strong evidence that multiple wet and/or icy climate cycles have shaped the topography of the planet's large craters. "Icarus" is the journal of the American Astronomical Society's Division of Pl ... more
Antarctic Expedition Prepared Researchers For Mars Project
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Feb 06, 2009
About half a year before the robotic arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began digging into soil and subsurface ice of an arctic plain of Mars, six scientists traveled to one of the coldest, driest places on Earth for soil-and-ice studies that would end up aiding analysis of the Mars data. They used duplicates of some of the Phoenix spacecraft's instruments, plus other methods, in the Antarc ... more
Spirit Resumes Driving
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2009
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit resumed driving Saturday after engineers gained confidence from diagnostic activities earlier in the week evaluating how well the rover senses its orientation. Spirit drove about 30 centimeters (1 foot) Saturday, during the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, of what was originally planned as a 90-day mission. The rover team had commanded a longer drive, but ... more
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mars-general
NASA And Google Launch Virtual Exploration Of Mars
russia-space
Roscosmos Eyes New Station
exo-life
Early Attempts To Contact Aliens
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Mars Rover Team Diagnosing Unexpected Behavior
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 29, 2009
The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit plans diagnostic tests this week after Spirit did not report some of its weekend activities, including a request to determine its orientation after an incomplete drive. On Sunday, during the 1,800th Martian day, or sol, of what was initially planned as a 90-sol mission on Mars, information radioed from Spirit indicated the rover had ... more
NASA-Derived Technology Captures Unique Inaugural Image
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 29, 2009
NASA spinoff technology from the Mars exploration rovers was used to capture a unique panoramic image of President Obama's inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20. A photographer at the inauguration, David Bergman, used the Gigapan camera system to generate an image from a press platform. The resulting picture is a combination of 220 images with an overall size of 1,474 mega ... more
USRA Selects Awardees For LCROSS Observation Campaign
Columbia MD (SPX) Jan 29, 2009
The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is proud to announce the selection for funding of four proposals for scientific activities to be carried out under the LCROSS Observation Campaign. The Observation Campaign is part of the NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) project which is designed to verify the presence or absence of water ice on the Moon. Sche ... more
Opportunity Has A Post-Solar Conjunction Hangover
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 27, 2009
As soon as Opportunity came out of solar conjunction - a period when the Sun passes between Earth and Mars and prohibits communication - engineers discovered that the rover's computer memory was a bit too full for comfort. They spent the first two days after conjunction minimizing data generation on Mars and planned to spend another two days doing the same. The purpose of the slowdown was ... more
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mars-water-science
Mars polar water is pure: study
mars-mro
Satellite Antenna Enables Discovery Of Buried Glaciers On Mars
mars-general
ISRO Processes Propellant Booster For Mars Program
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