The internet, or at least the protocols behind it, are being extended into space. The man credited by many with having created the net, Vint Cerf, explains his vision of an interplanetary net.
August 19th, 2004
Mars hill find hints at wet past
The US space agency’s robotic rover Spirit has found more evidence that water washed and altered the rocks it has been studying on the Red Planet.
The vehicle is examining the geology of an outcrop at Columbia Hills named Clovis, which shows chemical and physical signs of alteration by water. Sprit’s twin, Opportunity, has now completed its transect of rocks in a large crater on the other side of Mars. NASA says both rovers continue to work well as they move into Mars’ winter.
August 5th, 2004
Red Planet had ‘recent’ volcanism
Mars appears to have been volcanically active more recently than previously supposed, according to growing evidence from Europe’s Mars Express orbiter.
New estimates suggest volcanoes could have been active between one million years ago and 20 million years ago, but more work is needed to refine the dates. Previous spacecraft data suggested that volcanism on Mars ceased some time around 600-500 million years ago. Some researchers even speculate Mars could be volcanically active today.
July 26th, 2004
Probe maps water vapour on Mars
Mars Express has detected an area of high water vapour over a region of the Red Planet called Arabia Terra. The finding seems to confirm earlier data from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft that the region was “wet”. Vapour was also found to be enhanced in the Tharsis region of Mars. High water vapour areas seem to match bright patches, when Mars is seen from space.
July 26th, 2004
‘Beagle 3’ looks to American ride
Colin Pillinger has asked the US space agency to put a Beagle “pod” on its Mars Science Laboratory probe for 2009. Professor Pillinger says he wants to send a second Beagle instrument package to the Red Planet as soon as possible. “We wrote to NASA last week, asking them if they’d like to put a Beagle pod on MSL and drop it off in an interesting place,” he said.
July 22nd, 2004
Rovers to get extra time on Mars
The US space agency’s Mars Rovers will be given another seven months to explore the Red Planet, says NASA. Dr Firouz Naderi, director of Solar System exploration at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told BBC News Online that he had recommended the missions be extended. Although NASA headquarters has said the project will not get any new money, Dr Naderi – who manages the rover finances – says the money will be found from elsewhere within the organisation.
July 15th, 2004
Ammonia on Mars could mean life
Ammonia may have been found in Mars’ atmosphere which some scientists say could indicate life on the Red Planet. Researchers say its spectral signature has been tentatively detected by sensors on board the European Space Agency’s orbiting Mars Express craft. Ammonia survives for only a short time in the Martian atmosphere so it must be getting constantly replenished. There are two possible sources: either active volcanoes, none of which have been found yet on Mars, or microbes.
July 14th, 2004
Rover ‘in training’ for hill trek
Nasa’s Spirit rover is gearing up for a challenging ascent on Columbia Hills, the high ground it will explore for clues to the history of water on Mars. Spirit is undergoing a “tune-up”, a kind of training regime to prepare it for the climb.
July 13th, 2004
Bacteria tested in Mars simulator
Danish scientists aim to better understand whether life can survive on Mars by subjecting terrestrial bugs to conditions present on the Red Planet. They are using a “biochamber” to simulate the temperature, radiation and chemical environment found on Mars.
July 6th, 2004
Sunspots reaching 1,000-year high
A new analysis shows that the Sun is more active now than it has been at anytime in the previous 1,000 years. Scientists based at the Institute for Astronomy in Zurich used ice cores from Greenland to construct a picture of our star’s activity in the past. They say that over the last century the number of sunspots rose at the same time that the Earth’s climate became steadily warmer. This latest analysis shows that the Sun has had a considerable influence on the global climate in the past, causing the Earth to warm or chill, and that mankind is amplifying the Sun’s latest attempt to warm the Earth.