NASA’s Opportunity rover drilled into a rocky outcrop on Mars Tuesday as scientists prepared to examine the stone to learn whether it was formed under watery conditions that may have been favorable to life. The wheeled robot used its rock-abrasion tool to grind 0.16 inch into the surface of a rock dubbed “El Capitan,” project manager Richard Cook said.
February 23rd, 2004
N.M. Lends Names To Martian Landscape
Three rocks on Mars have been named Sandia, Manzano and Acoma, and another Martian feature has been dubbed Laguna Hollow.
February 22nd, 2004
Mars mission spawns its own unworldly lingo
NASA’s ongoing mission to Mars has spawned some extraterrestrial jargon to accompany the out-of-this-world look at the Red Planet that its twin rovers are providing. The language can be so dense, clipped, technical and sometimes downright goofy that only the most dedicated NASA follower could hope to understand it. It can also be remarkably studied in its details.
February 17th, 2004
NASA rovers busy on Mars, mission undergoes leadership change
NASA’s two Mars rovers were busy through the long holiday weekend, one progressing toward a distant crater and the other digging a trench to expose material beneath the martian surface for study by geology instruments, mission officials said Tuesday. NASA, meanwhile, changed the leadership of the $820 million double-rover mission to allow project manager Pete Theisinger to join a new program aiming for a Mars launch in 2009. Deputy project manger Richard Cook will take over the rovers.
February 15th, 2004
NASA’s Spirit Rover Examines Unusual Rock
NASA’s Spirit rover stopped to examine an unusual, flaky rock on the surface of Mars Sunday as scientists prepared to send it on a trek that would more than double its one-day distance record.
February 15th, 2004
Select NASA crew ‘drives’ effort to explore Mars
NASA’s twin Mars rovers are nearly 140 million miles from the nearest traffic jam, but they’re still moving at a rush-hour crawl around the Red Planet. Each six-wheel-drive rover travels at less than one-tenth of a mile per hour – hardly a fast clip.
February 15th, 2004
Bradbury Hails Bush’s Mars Proposal
Ray Bradbury, author of the science-fiction classic “The Martian Chronicles,” says President Bush’s proposal to put humans on Mars could open new worlds in much the same way European explorers discovered America.
February 14th, 2004
Children Asked to Identify Mars Rocks
Kids: Scientists need your help. As the Mars rover went prospecting on Martian landscapes, an Arizona State University program called Schoolhouse Rocks was asking children worldwide to help identify the data that the rover sends back to Earth.
February 13th, 2004
Kansas Stores Introduce Corn Containers
The clear, ridged containers that hold potato salad and other deli items at the Wild Oats store in this Kansas City suburb look and feel like plastic. They’re not. Instead, fitting in with the theme of the natural foods grocer, they’re made from corn.
February 13th, 2004
Scientists Develop New Hydrogen Reactor
Researchers say they have produced hydrogen from ethanol in a prototype reactor small enough and efficient enough to heat small homes and power cars. The development could help open the way for cleaner-burning technology at home and on the road.