Looking for the ultimate accessory? Someday, you might be able to wear your computer. JPL engineer Ann Devereaux is hard at work developing the Wearable Augmented Reality Prototype (Warp), a personal communication device. The voice- activated wearable computer allows easy, real-time access to voice communication, pictures, video, people and technical reports. “It’s kind of like having your computer with you all the time,” said Devereaux. For astronauts, laptops are popular in space due to their portability. The wearable computer goes one step further by performing similar functions while being lighter and less complex, leaving the wearer hands-free to do other tasks. This means convenient communication and access to information while working in spaces like the International Space Station.
Imagine Living on Mars
What would life be like if Mars were your home? As part of the sixth annual Space Day celebration, NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe announced today the launch of the Imagine Mars project at the opening ceremony for “Space Day 2002
Revealing the Red Planet: Free Lectures on an Odyssey to Mars
There is good reason Mars is named after the Roman god of war. It has been a battle getting to and researching the elusive red planet. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, continues to lead NASA’s exploration of Mars. In a pair of free lectures titled “The Odyssey to Mars,” JPL’s newly appointed Mars Odyssey project manager, Roger Gibbs, will discuss the challenges of Mars exploration. The first lecture will be held May 9 at JPL, and the second on May 10 at Pasadena City College. A Webcast of the lecture will be available at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 9.
Sending RATs to Mars
NASA and JPL are sending RATS to Mars to work as field geologists. A RAT is not quite a furry little friend, but rather a high-tech robot with diamond teeth, called a Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT). One RAT will ride on each of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, launching to Mars in the summer of 2003. These RATS will allow humans to remotely “crack open” rocks on Mars for the first time in the history of Mars exploration. “This is terribly exciting, but it’s a little intimidating because no one has ever tried to get into a rock on Mars before,” says Stephen Gorevan. Gorevan is the chairman of Honeybee, the small robotics contractor for the Rock Abrasion Tool that sits half a mile away from ground zero in New York City. Gorevan explains that past Mars missions to the surface had different science and technology objectives. ” The Viking landers in the 1970’s scooped up dirt on Mars and the Sojourner rover proved we could move around on Mars in 1997.” Digging into a rock is the next step for the maturing Mars program.
JPL Develops New Portable Fuel Cell Technology
NASA researchers have reached an important milestone in developing a portable energy source that may someday give that hot pink, shades-wearing, drum-beating bunny a run for its money. A team of fuel cell experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has taken what have been traditionally large, bulky stacks of layered fuel cells and altered their design dramatically. They have designed a compact, flat fuel cell, reducing its weight substantially. The result is a portable fuel cell technology that may someday operate small, portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, laptops, handheld organizers and camcorders, for hours and even days at a time without recharging or using expensive, heavy batteries.
Mars Odyssey Observes First Anniversary in Space
What a year this has been for the Mars Odyssey team! The excitement of launch last April 7, the arrival at Mars, the long, sometimes tedious aerobraking concluded so successfully, the beginning of the mapping phase …. The detailed pictures the camera system is taking, letting scientists get closer and closer to Mars’ mysteries …. The evidence from the gamma ray spectrometer showing more hydrogen in Mars’ southern hemisphere than was known before …. The drama of the martian radiation environment experiment – as it turned out, the instrument was just taking a long nap ….
Hydrogen-fed bacteria may exist beyond Earth
Primitive bacteria exist in huge numbers deep in the Earth, living on hydrogen gas produced in rocks, a NASA scientist reports in the spring issue of the journal Astrobiology. Recent studies suggest that the mass of bacteria existing below ground may be larger than the mass of all living things at the Earth
Odyssey Picture of the Day
Mars is now open for daily sightseeing. Beginning March 27, recent images of Mars taken by the camera onboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft will be available to the public on the Internet. A new, “uncalibrated” image taken by the visible light camera will be posted at 7 a.m. (Pacific) daily, Monday through Friday.
How to Land Softly on a Hard Planet
Just one of the many problems in landing on another planet, after it’s been determined where to land and the method to get there, is landing safely. For JPL, a safe landing is “the name of the game,” as engineers work to prepare two rovers for the journey to Mars. The Mars Exploration Rovers scheduled for launch in 2003 are using the same type airbag landing system that Mars Pathfinder used in 1997. The airbags must be strong enough to cushion the spacecraft if it lands on rocks or rough terrain and allow it to bounce across Mars’ surface at freeway speeds after landing. To add to the complexity, the airbags must be inflated seconds before touchdown and deflated once safely on the ground.
Students Begin Exploring Mars with NASA’s Mars Odyssey Spacecraft
A group of small, unnamed craters in the martian southern hemisphere is the first site captured by a group of middle school students who are operating the camera system onboard NASA