A British-built craft designed to scour the surface of Mars for signs of life is scheduled to land on the planet on Christmas Day, scientists said Tuesday. The Beagle 2 lander is traveling aboard the European Space Agency’s Mars Express craft, launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 2, 2003.
October 25th, 2003
China May Send Two Into Space Next Time
China’s next manned space launch might carry two astronauts into orbit, a government news agency said Saturday, citing a senior space program official. The report by the China News Service came as the Shenzhou 5 capsule that carried astronaut Yang Liwei into space was put on display in Beijing but drew only small crowds on its first day.
October 15th, 2003
Taikonaut’s Takeout: Chinese Food
Lt. Col. Yang Liwei, China’s first human being in space, spent some of his time in orbit miles above the Earth on Wednesday eating from his choice of 20 Chinese dishes
September 18th, 2003
Students Help with NASA Mars Mission
High school students in computer graphics courses at Mountainland Applied Technology College are helping a NASA mission to Mars. “I’m excited but a little nervous,” said Shaun Watson, 17, a Provo High School senior. “It’s going to be so big and everyone’s going to be relying on us.” Students in two MATC multimedia courses will serve as one of 54 Mars Exploration Student Data Teams, assisting NASA as two rovers launched last summer land on the red planet in January and begin exploring.
September 16th, 2003
Renovated Hall of Meteorites to Reopen
The newly renovated Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites is reopening Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History, allowing visitors to again come in contact with objects as old as the sun. “We display some of the first rocks formed in the solar system,” said Denton Ebel, curator of the hall.
August 24th, 2003
Our best look at Mars, ever
The wandering of the planets will bring Mars closer to Earth this month than at any time in nearly 60,000 years. It will be a last-chance proposition for all alive today: Mars won’t be as close again until August 28, 2287.
August 14th, 2003
Chunk of Mars Meteorite to Be Auctioned
For anyone who’s ever wanted a souvenir from Mars without the hassles of traveling there, here’s their chance. A Lincoln company is auctioning off part of the famous Mars meteorite Zagami, which fell to Earth Oct. 3, 1962, in central Nigeria. Bids for the fragment, which weighs about 6.6 ounces and is about the size of a soda can, begin at $450,000 when the online auction starts Sept. 5 on the Internet site eBay.
July 8th, 2003
Mars team heads to Arctic volcano
Researchers with NASA are looking to the land of the midnight sun to study the red planet, heading to the remote Svalbard Islands next month to test future Mars probes in its barren, frozen climate. The Arctic Svalbard archipelago shares several features of Mars’ environment, such as permafrost, volcanoes and hot springs, the expedition’s leader, Norwegian geologist Hans E.F. Amundsen, told The Associated Press Monday.
June 17th, 2003
Japan’s First Mars Probe Into Doubt
Five years late, low on fuel and with its heating system on the blink, Japan’s first Mars-bound probe, the $88 million Nozomi, or “Hope,” appears to be in serious trouble. Mission controllers trying to keep the mission alive face a major test Thursday, when Nozomi is scheduled to make its second swingby of Earth. The maneuver is intended to use the Earth’s gravity as a slingshot to send the probe on its final trajectory to Mars. Experts admit the probe is limping.
June 12th, 2003
NASA: Rover Won’t Suffer Fate of Others
NASA says it is doing all it can to ensure a rover it launched on a seven-month journey to Mars this week won’t meet the same fate as have many other spacecraft dispatched to land on the Red Planet. “Mars tends to eat spacecraft. It’s a graveyard,” said Edward Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science.