Computer expert William J. Clancey tags along when NASA researchers visit a crater 500 miles from the North Pole to explore its Mars-like environment. “The scientists are studying the crater, the geology and biology of this land, and I’m studying the scientists,” Clancey says. He wants to see how they go about their business to develop ways that computers and other devices can be used to help astronauts explore Mars. “We want to understand exploration,” Clancey said during a recent visit to West Florida. “How do people explore?”
November 29th, 2001
Study gives new evidence that Mars once was planet rich in liquid water
Mars is now dry, dusty and cold, but a new study confirms that the Red Planet once was covered by vast oceans and had more water per square mile than Earth. In fact, it once had enough water to cover the planet to a depth of almost a mile, researchers say, citing an analysis of data measuring the amount of molecular hydrogen in the atmosphere.
November 19th, 2001
Noisy equipment tough on station crew
The image is one of quiet serenity: Astronauts on a space station gliding effortlessly around Earth, removed from worldly clamor. Here’s the shrill reality: The fans and pumps are so loud up on the international space station that astronauts who spent nearly six months on board consider noise one of the top habitability issues. “It’s always there,” says NASA astronaut Jim Voss.
October 29th, 2001
First Photo from Mars Odyssey Now Expected Tuesday
NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has delayed its first photo shoot of the Red Planet until at least Tuesday after scientists decided to slow the spacecraft’s entry into the atmosphere, a mission official said Sunday. The slowing is not the result of any problems with the unmanned probe that reached Mars and entered orbit last Tuesday, said mission manager David Spencer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
October 25th, 2001
Odyssey reaches orbit
An exultant NASA boasted Wednesday that it “hit a bull’s-eye” after its Mars Odyssey spacecraft slipped flawlessly into orbit around the Red Planet. The space agency’s two previous Mars missions, both in 1999, were humiliating failures.
October 24th, 2001
Mars Spacecraft Orbit Thrills NASA
NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft circled the Red Planet on Wednesday on its first full day in orbit, two years after the space agency suffered back-to-back failures by Mars missions.
October 18th, 2001
Mars mission officials confident of successful arrival by Odyssey spacecraft
The 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is on target to orbit the Red Planet next week and erase the stigma of back-to-back mission failures, NASA officials said Thursday. “I expect nothing less than a bull’s-eye the night of Oct. 23” when the spacecraft fires its main thruster and slips into orbit, said David A. Spencer, Odyssey’s mission manager, at a press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
August 27th, 2001
Government embraces wearable computers for military, Mars
A mechanic crawls under an Army tank with a computer strapped to his belt and a keyboard on his wrist. A tiny camera clipped to a futuristic headset beams pictures back to colleagues, who whisper repair instructions through the headset speaker. The once-fictional vision of Dick Tracy’s wearable computers has given way to reality at the Army’s Fort Monmouth in New Jersey and at other military repair depots nationwide where such devices are now in daily use. Government officials impressed with their miniaturization and speed already are envisioning new uses that would take wearable computers to the battlefield and beyond. “Wearable computers may be the future not only for Mars expeditions, but for many future space missions,” said Pascal Lee, project scientist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA researchers are testing ways to fit the devices into Mars space suits, and the computers will be used for a mock Mars mission this year. NASA and the SETI Institute, which is dedicated to the search for extraterrestrials, will test space gear on Devon Island in northern Canada. The frigid site is the world’s largest uninhabited island, and mirrors some of the extreme conditions on Mars.
August 15th, 2001
NASA Wing Unofficially Breaks Record
A solar-powered flying wing soared past previous altitude records for non-rocket powered aircraft Monday, and NASA officials hoped it would reach a maximum height of 100,000 feet.
August 14th, 2001
NASA Drops Glider From Balloon
NASA has tested a prototype of an airplane that may one day fly across the surface of Mars. During the August 9 test, National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineers used a helium balloon to haul the glider to 103,000 feet. At that altitude, the atmosphere is as thin as it is on Mars. The plane was then dropped. After an initial 13,000-foot plunge, the plane swooped out of its steep dive into stable flight. Flying for the most part on autopilot, the plane took two hours and 22 minutes to spiral down to a landing in the grass at Oregon’s Tillamook Airport. It reached a top speed of Mach .82, or slightly less than the speed of sound.