The door of teacher Ed Galindo’s classroom at Shoshone-Bannock High School reads: Yih’Yih’Tzin Agudu Duvoponeed. In the local Uto-Aztecan dialect, it’s a rough translation of the word “biology.” And every Friday, teenage members of the “NASA Club” gather here to prepare experiments for Space Shuttle missions, which, sometime in the future, could lead to putting a human on Mars. “It won’t be our generation that goes to Mars,” Mr. Galindo says, patting student Amber Larkin on the back. “It will be hers and those behind her. I want these kids to feel that they have a place in space.”
July 20th, 2000
Searching for a microscopic E.T. Christian Science Monitor
Norman Pace strides across his office and returns with a small rock plucked from the frigid wastes of Antarctica. The University of Colorado biologist, who is credited with finding organic life in some of the harshest places on Earth, turns the stone in his hand and says, “A fundamental question is whether there is photosynthesis going on, on the surface of Mars,” itself a frosty wasteland. “If there is life on Mars, this is what you’re going to see,” says Dr. Pace, pointing to a colored layer in the rock, once home to millions of microorganisms.
July 20th, 2000
Flood of data may point to more water on red planet Christian Science Monitor
Mars may have more water than scientists have expected. Last month, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) showed images that suggest liquid water has carved gullies in the planet’s surface in recent times. Now, a new analysis of a Martian meteorite indicates the red planet may have lost less water to space than previously estimated.
February 11th, 2000
Seeking an SOS from Mars Christian Science Monitor
At first, Ivan Linscott just didn’t think the odd signal amounted to much. The scientist had been using Stanford University’s 15-story-tall radio telescope to listen for messages from the wayward Mars Polar Lander. But the only data he had gotten back were one or two arcs that were all but obscured amid a Jackson Pollack tableau of multicolored specks.
January 4th, 2000
Future in space: Mars first, then the stars Christian Science Monitor
Landing a human on Mars is a step to further exploration, but how do you do it? Solar sails? Plasma bubbles? Nuclear reactors?
December 15th, 1999
Probing lost Mars missions to learn what went wrong Christian Science Monitor
Stunned by the loss of two consecutive Mars missions, some American space scientists say NASA is setting its goals without adequate assessment of the risks. One way to help fix the problem: Consult more scientists.
December 9th, 1999
Reminder from Mars: This is rocket science Christian Science Monitor
Failure shows how hard it is to explore space. Night after sleep-deprived night, NASA scientists crowded into tiny Room 225, the Mars Operation Center at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and scanned the skies for overdue signals from the wayward Mars Polar Lander.
December 3rd, 1999
Mission to Mars searches for signatures of life Christian Science Monitor
More than a century ago, H.G. Wells penned “The War of the Worlds,” a tale of technologically advanced Martians that invaded Earth in a quest for water. Today NASA turns the tables with its latest conquest of the Red Planet, this time in the form of a trio of pint-size spacecraft that will prospect for the elusive liquid.
November 22nd, 1999
China’s launch for respect Christian Science Monitor
With Beijing’s first test flight of a spacecraft capable of sending astronauts into orbit, China is telling the West – as well as its home crowd – it should be treated as a great power on the world stage. Yuan Jiajun, a test flight official at the Chinese Academy of Space Technology says Beijing’s push to send its first astronaut into space is just the first step in a more ambitious program to help found human colonies on the moon and Mars, and then extend man’s reach beyond the solar system.
November 12th, 1999
In Martian mix-up, an overtaxed NASA? Christian Science Monitor
Wednesday report on why probe failed paints a picture of an agency straining to do more for less money.