As outlined in the first two parts of this series, there is now a general consensus among Mars researchers that the U.S. Mars program must be redesigned to emphasize careful scientific reconnaissance of the planet in order to find the best possible sites on (or under) its surface to look for evidence of either fossil or “extant” (present-day) life.
September 12th, 2000
Concepts and Approaches in Mars Exploration
NASA has now essentially decided — in accord with the recommendations of most of the participants at last July’s Houston conference on “Concepts and Approaches in Mars Exploration” — that the form of the Mars program needs to be drastically changed, in the direction of extensive reconaisssance of the planet before landing sites are picked out for unmanned sample-return missions, But what should the details of the new program be?
September 5th, 2000
Building The Infrastructure For Martian Exploration
NASA is tentatively scheduled to announce its radically redesigned program for Mars exploration in October — and in preparation for this, they are accepting mission concept proposals from industry. They also held, in July, a three-day conference at Houston — “Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration” — at which over 150 papers were delivered by scientists and engineers.
September 5th, 2000
SPACE.com Launches SPACE Illustrated Magazine
SPACE.com today introduced SPACE Illustrated, a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to conveying the wonder of humankind’s greatest adventure through spectacular space imagery and real and imagined content. “Our mission is to popularize space by providing the most comprehensive and compelling coverage of the biggest story of our age,” said Lou Dobbs, SPACE.com Chairman and CEO. “We are delighted to extend the reach of our brand into print media with the launch of SPACE Illustrated.” The magazine’s first cover features an image of a young member of “Gen S” – the Space Generation – the first generation to live on Mars. Space visionary Robert Zubrin discusses what life will be like for these future children.
August 28th, 2000
Discovery Project: Which Mission Next?
Promising NASA the most bang for its buck, scientists have flooded the space agency with proposals for Discovery-class projects, including bids to return lunar samples to Earth, hunt extrasolar planets and fly pilotless gliders through the Valles Marineris on Mars.
August 28th, 2000
Los Angeles Meteorite Sold At Auction
Two fragments of the Los Angeles meteorite were sold at the Butterfields auction yesterday. The meteorites were on display for preview at Butterfields’ Los Angeles office prior to the auction. The auction was held concurrently in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and bids were also taken over the telephone and from the Internet. The final bids of both fragments of the Los Angeles meteorite exceeded their estimated price and ended up selling for about $3000/gram, which included a buyer’s premium of 15%.
August 28th, 2000
A Little Bit Of Mars Gets Sold
Two fragments of the Los Angeles meteorite were sold at the Butterfields auction yesterday. The meteorites were on display for preview at Butterfields’ Los Angeles office prior to the auction.
August 25th, 2000
Los Angeles Meteorite Up For Auction On August 27
Two fragments of the Los Angeles meteorite will be up for auction at the Butterfields Auction on August 27 in Los Angeles. The fragments, weighing 4.539 grams and 1.011 grams respectively, will be in lots #1101 and #1102. The Los Angeles meteorite is only one of 15 known Mars meteorites.
August 24th, 2000
Thursday’s Classroom: Divining Water on Mars (Part 3 of 3)
In June 2000 NASA scientists revealed new pictures of the planet Mars that seem to show gullies carved by flooding water. Some of the gullies may have formed thousands of years ago, but others appeared to be just a few days or weeks old. Scientists at the press conference expressed amazement at the possibility of liquid water on present-day Mars. Mars is extraordinarily cold and dry, and keeping water in its liquid form near the surface of the Red Planet is nearly impossible.
August 22nd, 2000
Carl Sagan has a crater on Mars named after him Indian Express Newspapers
Carl Sagan, has been immortalised as a giant crater on Mars has been christened after the popular astronomer and writer, who died 4 years ago. The 57 mile wide crater is near the Martian equator and is one of dozens of new planetary landmarks named by the International Astronomical Union.