The IMAX Corporation today, in association with Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks, and aerospace technology leader Lockheed Martin Corporation, announced a new IMAX
March 3rd, 2004
Tumbleweed Rover Goes on a Roll at South Pole
A balloon-shaped robot explorer that one day could search for evidence that water existed on other planets has survived some of the most trying conditions on planet Earth during a 70-kilometer (40-mile), wind-driven trek across Antarctica. The tumbleweed rover, which is being developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., left the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Jan. 24, and spent the next eight days rolling across Antarctica’s polar plateau.
March 2nd, 2004
Opportunity Rover Finds Strong Evidence Meridiani Planum Was Wet
Scientists have concluded the part of Mars that NASA’s Opportunity rover is exploring was soaking wet in the past. Evidence the rover found in a rock outcrop led scientists to the conclusion. Clues from the rocks’ composition, such as the presence of sulfates, and the rocks’ physical appearance, such as niches where crystals grew, helped make the case for a watery history.
February 26th, 2004
Mars Sunset Clip from Opportunity Tells Dusty Tale
Dust gradually obscures the Sun during a blue-sky martian sunset seen in a sequence of newly processed frames from NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. “It’s inspirational and beautiful, but there’s good science in there, too,” said Dr. Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. The amount of dust indicated by Opportunity’s observations of the Sun is about twice as much as NASA’s Mars Pathfinder lander saw in 1997 from another site on Mars.
February 23rd, 2004
SPIRIT UPDATE: Heading for Middle Ground
On Sol 50, ending at 2:35 p.m. PST, Spirit finished observations of the trench at “Laguna Hollow,” then continued on its journey toward the crater called “Bonneville.” Driving in a dog-leg pattern to avoid some bumpy terrain, Spirit traveled approximately 18.8 meters (61.7 feet) toward the halfway point, called “Middle Ground.”
February 20th, 2004
Update: Spirit and Opportunity
On sol 26, which ended at 12:18 a.m. Friday, February 19, PST, Opportunity successfully obtained one final Moessbauer spectrometer reading of the trench, stowed the rover arm, and drove 15 meters (50 feet) to the “El Capitan” area. The drive was Opportunity’s longest yet and required the vehicle and planners to skirt the trench and avoid the lander.
February 19th, 2004
NASA Portal Makes A Little Bit Of Mars Available To Everyone On Earth
Spirit and Opportunity, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, are global hits: specifically, they’re 6.53 billion hits, more than the Earth’s worldwide population. Since Spirit’s landing on Jan. 4, NASA’s Web Portal has served up images, web cast NASA Television mission coverage and provided Internet users a direct link to the agency’s ongoing exploration of Mars. Early this week, the hit count passed the world population, which the U.S. census estimated Thursday morning at more than 6.3 billion people.
February 19th, 2004
MER Telecommunications Architecture
This graphic shows the various communication links between Earth and the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. These links include X-band direct to Earth, UHF relay links via the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Odyssey orbiters, and a backup/demo UHF link via ESA’s Mars Express orbiter.
February 12th, 2004
Mars Exploration Program Data Management Plan
The MEP Data Management Plan is a guide for use by all Mars Exploration Program missions to help them develop plans for archiving and releasing science data products. The Plan includes roles and responsibilities of the Program, the Planetary Data System, the National Space Science Data Center, and the JPL Public Affairs Office; policies for release of data and public information; and guidelines for archive generation and distribution.
February 9th, 2004
Opportunity Spies Its Backshell
From its new location at the inner edge of the small crater surrounding it, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was able to look out to the plains where its backshell (left) and parachute (right) appear to have landed. Opportunity is currently investigating the rock outcropping that sits inside the rim of the crater where it landed on Jan. 24, 2004, PST. This approximate true-color image was created by combining data from the panoramic camera’s red, green and blue filters.