Mars News, Science, Technology at MarsDaily.com

December 19, 2013

JPL to Test New Supersonic Decelerator Technology
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 19, 2013
A giant crane will tower above NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., shooting out of a hilly mesa like an oversized erector set, ready to help test components of NASA's Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project. The goal of the challenging technology, led by JPL, is to enable a future mission to Mars or other planetary bodies that uses heavier spacecraft and lands them at locations that were previously not achievable. The crane-test is scheduled for tomorrow, Dec. 18, ... read more

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New Views of Mars from Sediment Mineralogy The first detailed examination of clay mineralogy in its original setting on Mars is offering new insights on the planet's past habitability, research led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scien ... more		Opportunity Communications Remain Slow Due To Odyssey Issues Opportunity is up on 'Solander Point' at the rim of 'Endeavour Crater.' The rover is maintaining favorable northerly tilts for improved energy production. Mars Odyssey went into safe mode and ... more		NASA poised to launch Mars atmosphere probe What happened to the water on Mars? How did the Red Planet's atmosphere become so thin over time? NASA's MAVEN probe is scheduled to launch Monday on a mission to find out. ... more
				Ancient fresh water lake on Mars could have sustained life Scientists have found evidence that there was once an ancient lake on Mars that may have been able to support life, in research published in the journal Science. A team of researchers from NASA's Ma ... more		First Rock Dating Experiment Performed on Mars Although researchers have determined the ages of rocks from other planetary bodies, the actual experiments-like analyzing meteorites and moon rocks-have always been done on Earth. Now, for the first ... more

The Tough Task of Finding Fossils While Wearing a Spacesuit Someday, human explorers might momentously discover fossils on Mars, proving that the Red Planet once supported extraterrestrial life. An interplanetary expedition of this sort will have overcome ma ... more		NASA Curiosity: First Mars Age Measurement and Human Exploration Help NASA's Curiosity rover is providing vital insight about Mars' past and current environments that will aid plans for future robotic and human missions. In a little more than a year on the Red Planet, ... more		'Sign of life': defence boom lifts German factory orders MDA Space wins role in US SHIELD missile defense program Starfighters completes supersonic tests for GE Aerospace ramjet program		SSTL selected for first private Mars mission Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has been selected to carry out a concept study to develop an interplanetary communications system for Mars One, the privately funded project to establish a hum ... more
				Mars One Selects Lockheed Martin to Study First Private Unmanned Mission to Mars Mars One has selected Lockheed Martin to develop a mission concept study for its Mars lander spacecraft. The lander will be based on the successful 2007 NASA Phoenix spacecraft and will be a technol ... more		SwRI scientists publish first radiation measurements from the surface of Mars In the first 300 days of the Mars Science Laboratory surface mission, the Curiosity rover cruised around the planet's Gale Crater, collecting soil samples and investigating rock structures while the ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures From Space Environment

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Bid to colonize Mars wins high-profile backing A Dutch entrepreneur's bold quest to colonize Mars won high-profile support Tuesday from a US aerospace giant, although the timetable for putting humans on the red planet has been pushed back two years. ... more		MRO Reveals A More Dynamic Red Planet NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed to scientists slender dark markings - possibly due to salty water - that advance seasonally down slopes surprisingly close to the Martian equator. ... more		China geospatial information industry approaches 1 trillion yuan output Creating hallucination-free, psychedelic-like molecules by shining light on life's basic building blocks Drones take thermal readings to track dolphin health		Mars One spaceflight project 'can succeed' A permanent human colony may be established on Mars in the nearest future. Under the Mars One spaceflight project first four Martians are expected to land on the Red Planet already in 2023 and stay ... more
				Opportunity ascending Solander Point at rim of Endeavour Crater The rover is maintaining favorable northerly tilts for improved energy production. In place for the long Thanksgiving Holiday, Opportunity conducted some in-situ (contact) science at another exposed ... more		Mars lake may have been friendly to microbes: NASA A US space agency rover tooling around on the surface of Mars has found remnants of an ancient freshwater lake that may have supported tiny life forms, scientists said Monday. ... more

China's Lunar Lander May Provide Additional Science for NASA Spacecraft

China plans to launch Chang'e-5 in 2017

Mining the moon is pie in the sky for China: experts

Deep space monitoring station abroad imperative

Chinese sci-fi writers laud moon landing

China deploys 'Jade Rabbit' rover on moon

NASA plans 3 urgent spacewalks to fix ISS coolant system, suspends cargo delivery

NASA postpones cargo mission for space station repairs

NASA rigs up snorkel in spacesuit after risky water leak

The Sounds of New Horizons

On the Path to Pluto, 5 AU and Closing

SwRI study finds that Pluto satellites' orbital ballet may hint of long-ago collisions

	Rover results include first age and radiation measurements on Mars The U.S. space rover Curiosity is providing critical information about Mars' past and present to help plan future missions, NASA officials said. ... more		One-way ticket to Mars: space colonists wanted! Bas Lansdorp, the founder of Mars One colony project, believes that in about a decade from now a colony of people from the Earth will appear on Mars. Experts confirm that with the current technologi ... more		Three NASA space instruments hit a science 'trifecta' NASA says three of its space instruments hit the trifecta Wednesday, operating on the same day at the moon, on Mars and en route to Mars. ... more		Martian Laser Surpasses 100,000 Zaps The ChemCam laser instrument aboard NASA's Curiosity rover fired its 100,000th shot recently, chronicling its adventures on Mars with a coffee-table-book's worth of spectral data that might rival sn ... more

Dancing isn't enough: industry pushes for practical robots

AI gobbling up memory chips essential to gadget makers

From sci-fi to sidewalk: exoskeletons go mainstream

Mangalyaan Reaches First Distance Milestone On Route To Mars		Quietly Cruising Through The Asteroid Belt		Controllers prepare for spacecraft's rendezvous with protoplanet Ceres		NASA's Dawn Fills out its Ceres Dance Card		Opportunity Rover Robotic Arm Within Reach of Rock Outcrop
MAVEN Performs First Trajectory Correction Maneuver		ExoMars program marks critical milestone for ESA and Russia		The State of Super Earths		India's spacecraft successfully begins journey to Mars		Deep Space Perils For Indian Spacecraft

Curiosity Resumes Science After Analysis of Voltage Issue

Sounding Rocket to Peek at Atmosphere of Venus

How Habitable Is Mars? A New View of the Viking Experiments

Winter Means Less Power for Solar Panels

Unusual greenhouse gases may have raised ancient Martian temperature

Research uncovers secrets of Mars' birth from unique meteorite

Billionaire eyes private Mars mission in 2017

Rover Team Working to Diagnose Electrical Issue

Stunning meteorite sheds light on infant Mars

Lockheed Martin-Built MAVEN Launches To Mars

The Overprotection of Mars?

Variation of halogens in martian soil calls for an atmosphere-surface cycle

Evidence found for granite on Mars

The Plan for Inspiration Mars

Researchers develop algorithm to identify individual grains of Mars soil

NASA launches spacecraft to study Mars atmosphere

LeVar Burton Shares MAVEN's Story in a New NASA PSA

Mars Rover Teams Dub Sites in Memory of Bruce Murray

Martian moon samples will have bits of Mars

NASA release 'tour' of ancient, wet Mars as YouTube video

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