In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy. The Commission meets Wednesday, February 11, 2004, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST. The meeting is in the National Transportation Safety Board Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, Washington.
February 4th, 2004
NASA Releases Budget and Vision Details
NASA unveiled its budget request to Congress Tuesday with the release of two companion documents: the “Fiscal Year 2005 Budget Estimates” and “The Vision for Space Exploration,” a framework for exploration of the solar system and beyond.
February 2nd, 2004
NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks To Columbia Crew
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe today announced the martian hills, located east of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover’s landing site, would be dedicated to the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew. “These seven hills on Mars are named for those seven brave souls, the final crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia crew faced the challenge of space and made the supreme sacrifice in the name of exploration,” Administrator O’Keefe said.
February 2nd, 2004
Opportunity And Spirit Reach Out
Each of NASA’s two Mars Exploration Rovers is using its versatile robotic arm for positioning tools at selected targets on the red planet. Also, a newly completed 360-degree color panorama from Opportunity shows a trail of bounce marks coming down the inner slope of the small crater where the spacecraft came to rest when it landed on Mars nine days ago.
February 2nd, 2004
Mars Rover Spirit Restored To Health
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is healthy again, the result of recovery work by mission engineers since the robot developed computer-memory and communications problems 10 days ago.
February 2nd, 2004
NASA Dedicates Martian Landmarks To Shuttle Columbia Crew
An image taken from Spirit’s PanCam looking west depicts the nearby hills dedicated to the final crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. Arranged alphabetically from left to right – “Anderson Hill” is the most northeast of Spirit’s landing site and 3 kilometers away. Next are “Brown Hill” and “Chawla Hill”, both 2.9 kilometers distant. Next is “Clark Hill” at 3 kilometers. “Husband Hill” and “McCool Hill”, named for Columbia’s commander and pilot respectively, are 3.1 and 4.2 kilometers distant. “Ramon Hill” is furthest southeast of Spirit
January 29th, 2004
Healthier Spirit Gets Back to Work While Opportunity Prepares to Roll
NASA’s Spirit rover on Mars has resumed taking pictures as engineers continue work on restoring its health. Meanwhile, Spirit’s twin, Opportunity, extended its rear wheels backward to driving position last night as part of preparations to roll off its lander, possibly as early as overnight Saturday-to-Sunday.
January 28th, 2004
Mars Mice
Astronauts experience many detrimental changes in their bodies when they leave the 1g environment of Earth and travel in microgravity (0g). Such changes including loss of bone mass and muscle atrophy. We know a great deal about life in 0g thanks to numerous missions aboard the shuttles and the International Space Station; but now scientists are starting to wonder what will happen to humans living in environments like Mars, which experience a fraction of Earth’s gravity. At .38g, is Mars gravity enough to keep human explorers healthy? Will they be able to readapt when they return to Earth?
January 28th, 2004
Space Shuttle Challenger Crew Memorialized on Mars
NASA announced plans to name the landing site of the Mars Opportunity rover in honor of the Space Shuttle Challenger’s final crew. The area in the vast flatland called Meridiani Planum, where Opportunity landed this weekend, will be called the Challenger Memorial Station. The seven-member crew of Space Shuttle Challenger was lost when the orbiter suffered an in-flight breakup during launch Jan. 28, 1986, 18 years ago today.
January 27th, 2004
Martian Landmarks Dedicated to Apollo 1 Crew
NASA memorialized the Apollo 1 crew — Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee — by dedicating the hills surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit’s landing site to the astronauts. The crew of Apollo 1 perished in flash fire during a launch pad test of their Apollo spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., 37 years ago today.