To support NASA’s Mars exploration program and to coincide with the January landings of the Mars Exploration Rover mission, NASA Ames Research Center will unveil its new Mars Center on Dec. 29. The Mars Center will feature a dynamic array of interactive displays, exhibits and demonstrations designed to excite, inform and educate the public about the mysteries of the red planet. In addition, the center supports the agency-wide mission of inspiring the next generation of explorers. “We are proud to announce the opening of NASA Ames’ Mars Center, which will give the community an opportunity to share in the wonder and excitement of exploring Mars,” said NASA Ames Director G. Scott Hubbard. “The center also will serve as a dynamic educational resource about Mars for the entire Bay area community.”
NASA Announces Mars & Comet Mission Coverage
On Jan. 3, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project will deliver the first mobile laboratory to the surface of Mars. The rover will perform robotic geological fieldwork that may reveal a history of water on Mars. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., have navigated the first rover, Spirit, to arrive at Mars at approximately 11:35 p.m. EST Jan. 3. Three weeks later, the second rover, Opportunity, will reach the Meridiani Planum, a region containing exposed deposits of a mineral that usually forms under watery conditions.
Mars May Be Emerging From An Ice Age
NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey missions have provided evidence of a relatively recent ice age on Mars. In contrast to Earth’s ice ages, a Martian ice age waxes when the poles warm, and water vapor is transported toward lower latitudes. Martian ice ages wane when the poles cool and lock water into polar icecaps. The “pacemakers” of ice ages on Mars appear to be much more extreme than the comparable drivers of climate change on Earth. Variations in the planet’s orbit and tilt produce remarkable changes in the distribution of water ice from Polar Regions down to latitudes equivalent to Houston or Egypt. Researchers, using NASA spacecraft data and analogies to Earth’s Antarctic Dry Valleys, report their findings in Thursday’s edition of the journal Nature.
Explore Mars Landing Sites
Two spacecraft carrying identical rovers are on approach to the red planet for landings scheduled three weeks apart in January 2004. After travelling some 300 million miles, each spacecraft must survive a fiery entry and descent to the planet in order to beat the odds that have claimed more than half of all missions to Mars. If they survive, these robotic geologists will explore two diverse areas of the planet.
Odyssey Studies Changing Weather and Climate on Mars
Mars may be going through a period of climate change, new findings from NASA
Mars Rovers Head For Exciting Landings In January
NASA’S robotic Mars geologist, Spirit, embodying America’s enthusiasm for exploration, must run a grueling gantlet of challenges before it can start examining the red planet. Spirit’s twin Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, also faces tough Martian challenges. “The risk is real, but so is the potential reward of using these advanced rovers to improve our understanding of how planets work,” said Dr. Ed Weiler, associate administrator for space science at NASA Headquarters, Washington.
NASA Briefing Previews Twin Rovers’ Arrival At Mars
Plans and preparations for January landings on Mars by NASA’s two mobile robotic geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, will be discussed at a press briefing at 1:00 p.m. EST, Dec. 2, 2003, at NASA Headquarters. The briefing is in NASA’s Webb Auditorium, 300 E Street SW, Washington. NASA TV will broadcast the briefing live with two-way question-and-answer capability from participating agency centers. Panelists will discuss the preparations to accomplish the challenges they face in the landings.
NASA “Rocks” Mars With Launch Of Innovative Educational Tour
NASA and other collaborators launch Marsapalooza Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. EST at the American Museum of Natural History, Rose Center for Earth and Space, New York. Marsapalooza, an innovative, national education outreach tour of youthful NASA Mars mission scientists and engineers, kicks off with a dynamic, multimedia event. The tour features the Marsapalooza Team (M-Team), six accomplished young scientists and engineers, who will encourage young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Mars Odyssey Mission Status
The martian radiation environment experiment on NASA
NASA Schedules Mars Exploration Rover Briefing
Preparations for the January Mars landings by NASA’s two mobile robotic geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, will be discussed at a press briefing 1:00 p.m. EST, Dec. 2, 2003. The briefing is in the NASA Headquarters Webb Auditorium, 300 E Street SW, Washington. NASA TV will broadcast the briefing live with two-way media question-and-answer capability from participating agency centers. Panelists will discuss preparations to accomplish the challenging Mars landings.