Dawn Spacecraft View Of Mars
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 23, 2009
This near-infrared image from the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft was taken near the point of closest approach to Mars on Feb. 17, 2009, during Dawn's gravity assist flyby. The image, taken for calibration purposes, shows a portion of the fretted and cratered northwest margin of Tempe Terra, Mars. The scarp of the highlands/ lowlands boundary is illuminated by the light of ... read more
Dawn Changes Course Near Mars
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Feb 18, 2009
On 18 February 2009 the gravity of Mars, our neighbouring planet, will move the spacecraft Dawn onto the correct path for its onward flight to the asteroid Vesta. During this close fly-by of the red planet, researchers will test the German camera system that is on board the spacecraft. The plan is to compare photographs taken during the fly-by with those taken by HRSC, the stereo camera ... more
As Dawn Approaches Mars, PSI Scientists Gear Up For GRaND Tests
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 17, 2009
The Dawn spacecraft, which began its journey to the asteroid belt in 2007, is now nearing Mars, and scientists at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute (PSI) are preparing to use the encounter to tune up Dawn's GraND instrument. Dawn's instrument payload includes a visible-light camera, a visible-light and infrared mapping spectrometer, and GraND (the Gamma-Ray and Neutron Detector) ... more
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 ... 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
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Martian winds help Earth's rover Spirit
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CSIRO Helps Mars With Sustainable Food Production
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Europe extends three key space missions
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NASA Receives Shorty Twitter Award
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 11, 2009
NASA's activities in social networking media will be recognized Wednesday in New York, when the agency receives an award for its presence on the popular Web site Twitter. Known as the Shorty Award, it was created to honor the best producers of short content on Twitter during 2008. Updates on NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander mission received the most votes in the science category from users of ... more
Martian Crater Features Suggest Influence Of Water And Ice
Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 10, 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, which will be published in "Icarus", 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 ... more
Spirit Update: On the Move - sol 1791-1797
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 11, 2009
Communication problems during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday led to the postponement of a drive planned for sol 1791 (Jan. 15, 2009) to sol 1793 (Jan. 17, 2009). Once the drive began, however, Spirit was able to go ahead with characterization of a rock target known as "Stapledon." Studies began with a stack of microscopic images taken at different focal lengths, then moved to ... more
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
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Geologic Features In Martian Craters Suggest Deposition And Flow Of Water And Or Ice
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Antarctic Expedition Prepared Researchers For Mars Project
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Spirit Resumes Driving
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NASA And Google Launch Virtual Exploration Of Mars
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Feb 03, 2009
NASA and Google announced Monday the release of a new Mars mode in Google Earth that brings to everyone's desktop a high-resolution, three-dimensional view of the Red Planet. Besides providing a rich, immersive 3D view of Mars that will aid public understanding of Mars science, the new mode, Google Mars 3D, also gives researchers a platform for sharing data similar to what Google Earth ... more
Roscosmos Eyes New Station
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Jan 30, 2009
Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will propose to the government the construction of a low-orbit space station to support future exploration of the Moon and Mars, an agency official said Thursday. "We will soon propose to our government a project to construct a low-orbit complex, which could serve as a foundation for the implementation of the lunar program and later on - the Mars ... more
Early Attempts To Contact Aliens
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jan 30, 2009
The desire to contact intelligent life on other planets is much older than the UFO craze and the SETI movement. Several 19th century scientists contemplated how we might communicate with possible Martians and Venusians. These early proposals - which predate by 150 years the first extraterrestrial message that was sent in 1974 - were based on visual signals, as the invention of radio was ... more
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
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NASA-Derived Technology Captures Unique Inaugural Image
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USRA Selects Awardees For LCROSS Observation Campaign
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Opportunity Has A Post-Solar Conjunction Hangover
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