How often can you rub virtual shoulders with NASA top robotics experts? If you sign up NOW for a series of interactive robotics webcasts, you will learn about a humanoid robot called Robonaut, discuss how a free-flying AERCam (Autonomous Extravehicular Activity Robotic Camera) can perform routine tasks on the International Space Station, explore the results of a Sojourner Rover experiment on the Mars Pathfinder Mission, and much, MUCH more! High school juniors and seniors can even earn college credit.
August 2nd, 2002
Researchers Publish Latest Results In Continuing Search For Ancient Martian Life
In the latest study of a 4.5 billion-year-old Martian meteorite, researchers have presented new evidence confirming that 25 percent of the magnetic material in the meteorite was produced by ancient bacteria on Mars. These latest results were published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The researchers used six physical properties they refer to as the Magnetite Assay for Biogenicity (MAB) to compare all the magnetic material found in the ancient meteorite — using the MAB as a biosignature. A biosignature is a physical and/or chemical marker of life that does not occur through random processes or human intervention.
May 29th, 2002
Mars Odyssey’s Temperature Maps Expose Rock Layer History
There are tantalizing indications emerging from the thousands of infrared images taken so far by NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft that Mars experienced a series of environmental changes during active geological periods in its history. “We knew from Mars Global Surveyor that Mars was layered, but these data from Odyssey are the first direct evidence that the physical properties of the layers are different. It’s evidence that the environment changed over time as these layers were laid down,” said Dr. Philip Christensen, principal investigator for Odyssey’s camera system and professor at Arizona State University, Tempe. “The history of Mars is staring us in the face in these different layers, and we’re still trying to figure it all out.”
May 28th, 2002
Odyssey Finds Water Ice in Abundance Under Mars’ Surface
Using instruments on NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, surprised scientists have found enormous quantities of buried treasure lying just under the surface of Mars — enough water ice to fill Lake Michigan twice over. And that may just be the tip of the iceberg. “This is really amazing. This is the best direct evidence we have of subsurface water ice on Mars. We were hopeful that we could find evidence of ice, but what we have found is much more ice than we ever expected,” said Dr. William Boynton, principal investigator for Odyssey’s gamma ray spectrometer suite at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
May 20th, 2002
Mars – The Astrobiology Connection
Ronald Greeley of Arizona State University will be presenting the Director’s Seminar on Monday, May 20, 2002, 11:00am Pacific (12:00pm Mountain, 1:00 Central, 2:00 Eastern). This seminar will outline the key discoveries from past and present exploration and discuss the current plans for the future. The overall strategy for Mars Exploration includes searching (i.e., remote sensing), in situ exploration (e.g., landers/rovers), and sampling (return of materials to Earth), in a continuing, iterative process. The principal goal is to search for evidence of past or present life and to characterize environments conducive for organic evolution. A key aspect of the strategy is the inclusion of Mars Scouts, which are missions led by science Principal Investigators who form a team typically involving NASA centers and aerospace industry for projects that complement the primary missions and provide flexibility to the overall Program. The implementation of the Mars Exploration Program is international, with near-term missions to include NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers (2003), Japan’s Nozomi orbiter (2003), the European Space Agency Mars Express (2003), NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005), and the French CNES Premier orbiter and Netlander mission (2007), as well as other potential projects, leading to the eventual return of samples to Earth from well-characterized sites.
May 20th, 2002
Going to Extremes: Parallels in Sea and Space Exploration
The extreme environments and otherworldly realms of sea and space may appear to have little in common, but their surprising similarities have prompted NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to host a gathering of sea and space professionals. The three-day working symposium, LINK 2002, is being held at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., May 20-22, and many of the conference events will be webcast. “Today, we study the Earth as a whole system. Oceanography on a global basis is made possible by being able to observe the ocean from space,” said Dr. Ghassem R. Asrar, NASA Associate Administrator for the Earth Science Enterprise. “The deep ocean and deep space are both extreme environments into which we send humans and machines. This conference provides an opportunity to put the two communities together to build relationships and learn from one another.”
May 16th, 2002
Women Working on Mars!
In 2003, NASA will launch twin Mars rovers to explore the Red Planet. Once on the surface, the Rovers will be able to travel significant distances and use several instruments to help scientists determine the climate and water history in Mars’ present and past. Many different people are needed to make such an exciting and important mission successful and many of those people are women. Scientists, engineers, artists, planners — women do it all! Through the “Women Working on Mars” webcast, you’ll have a chance to meet some of the women who are involved with this fascinating mission! You will hear from scientists, engineers, artists, web designers and many other women who help make Mars exploration possible–and you can even send in your questions via a live webchat.
May 10th, 2002
Marsport Competition Comes To KSC
Future trailblazers are taking on the challenge of developing technology that will allow for vegetation growth on the surface of Mars. Students and faculty from universities around the country will converge at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for this year’s NASA MarsPort Engineering Design Student Competition 2002 conference organized by the Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC). Innovative design ideas will be presented as part of a two-day conference on May 14 – 15 at the Kurt H. Debus Conference Facility at the KSC Visitor Complex. Participants will present a paper on engineering trade studies to design optimal configurations for a MarsPort Deployable Greenhouse (MDG) for operation on the surface of Mars.
May 7th, 2002
Guinness Records Names JPL’s Aerogel World’s Lightest Solid
A new version of aerogel, the particle-collecting substance on NASA’s Stardust spacecraft, has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the solid with the lowest density. Dr. Steven Jones of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a materials scientist who created the aerogel used by Stardust, also created a lighter version that weighs only 3 milligrams per cubic centimeter (.00011 pounds per cubic inch.) The team received the official certificate yesterday. NASA used aerogel for thermal insulation on the Mars Pathfinder mission. It will also be used on the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover, and may aid a proposed fundamental-physics testing mission and the Mars Scout Program.
May 7th, 2002
NASA’s Global Surveyor Adds to Its Martian Photo Album
A view of the red planet almost completely enveloped in dust storms is one of 15,251 newly released images from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor. These images bring the total number of snapshots taken by the spacecraft to more than 93,000. The latest images to be added to the online archive are from the first phase of the Mars Global Surveyor extended mission, which began February 1, 2001. Regions that were poorly covered during the primary mapping mission due to regional dust storms have now been captured.