NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which has collected more information about the red planet than all previous missions combined, completes its primary science mission today and begins a new era of continued exploration. “By any conceivable measure the scientific impact of Mars Global Surveyor has been extraordinary. In many ways we now know Mars to be a different planet than when the spacecraft arrived in 1997, and our perspective continues to evolve as the data keep flowing,” said Dr. Arden Albee, Global Surveyor project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “In some aspects, we now have better maps of Mars than we do of Earth.”
January 26th, 2001
JPL Names Manager Of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project
James Graf of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has been named manager of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. As project manager, Graf will oversee all aspects of the development and operations of the mission, proposed for launch in August 2005. The mission will conduct remote sensing of the planet’s surface to identify evidence of past or present water and will help identify safe and scientifically exciting landing sites for future robotic and perhaps someday human missions. The Reconnaissance Orbiter will also establish a telecommunications link for future missions.
January 24th, 2001
High School Students To Plan Community On Mars
While living at Johnson Space Center the weekend of Feb. 2-4, Houston area high school students will use their imagination and knowledge to design complete details of a human settlement on Mars in the year 2045. About 140 students from Houston and Southeast Texas will participate in the Third Annual JSC Mars Settlement Design Competition, a program designed to introduce students to the technical, communication and teamwork skills they will need when they join industry. The Mars Settlement Design Competition is one of the key events of NASA
January 5th, 2001
MARS 2001 Odyssey Spacecraft Arrives for Launch Preparation
The first major step toward NASA’s return of a spacecraft to an orbit around Mars was achieved late Thursday night, Jan. 4, when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft was shipped aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo airplane from Denver, Colo., location of the Lockheed Martin plant where the spacecraft was built. The project is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
January 4th, 2001
NASA Considers Discovery Mission Proposals
In the first step of a two-step process, NASA’s Office of Space Science selected three proposals for detailed study as candidates for the next mission in the agency’s Discovery Program of lower cost, highly focused, rapid-development scientific spacecraft. NASA has also decided to fund American participation in a mission to Mars being flown by another nation. In this “Mission of Opportunity” NASA will contribute to seismology, meteorology and geodesy (to measure the size and shape of the planet) experiments on the French-led NetLander Mission, scheduled for launch in 2007. The Mission of Opportunity team will receive $250,000 to conduct its feasibility study.
December 18th, 2000
NASA Space Technology Shines Light on Healing
Doctors at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have discovered the healing power of light with the help of technology developed for NASA’s Space Shuttle. Using powerful light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, originally designed for commercial plant growth research in space, scientists have found a way to help patients here on Earth. “So far, what we’ve seen in patients and what we’ve seen in laboratory cell cultures, all point to one conclusion,” said Dr. Harry Whelan, professor of pediatric neurology and director of hyperbaric medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. “The near-infrared light emitted by these LEDs seems to be perfect for increasing energy inside cells. This means whether you’re on Earth in a hospital, working in a submarine under the sea or on your way to Mars inside a spaceship, the LEDs boost energy to the cells and accelerate healing.”
December 1st, 2000
Major Mars Discovery to be Announced at Dec 7 Briefing
Imaging scientists Dr. Michael Malin and Dr. Ken Edgett from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft will present what they describe as their most significant discovery yet at a Space Science Update at 2:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 7. Their findings are being published in the December 8 issue of Science Magazine.
November 20th, 2000
New Mars research facility to involve scientists, kids
Arizona State University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, are creating a new NASA facility that will be used by scientists and students studying Mars. ASU and JPL will jointly fund the facility, with JPL providing $1.45 million in initial funding. The ASU Planetary Imaging Facility and Advanced Training Institute (PIF-ATI) is an expansion of a facility originally planned to support the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), a thermal infrared camera system that will fly on the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft and is directed by ASU Geological Sciences Professor Philip Christensen. According to NASA and ASU scientists, the facility is “a new model” for planetary research projects that will allow greater instrument and data access to scientists outside the project, as well as to university students and even to 5th through 12th grade educators and their students. Also in the planning stages is a graduate and undergraduate program where entry-level personnel can be trained in spacecraft operations and maintenance.
October 26th, 2000
Nasa Outlines Mars Exploration Program For Next Two Decades
By means of orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return missions, NASA’s revamped campaign to explore Mars, announced today, is poised to unravel the secrets of the Red Planet ‘s past environments, the history of its rocks, the many roles of water and, possibly, evidence of past or present life. Six major missions are planned in this decade as part of a scientific tapestry that will weave a tale of new understanding of Earth’s sometimes enigmatic and surprising neighbor.
August 28th, 2000
Los Angeles Meteorite Sold At Auction
Two fragments of the Los Angeles meteorite were sold at the Butterfields auction yesterday. The meteorites were on display for preview at Butterfields’ Los Angeles office prior to the auction. The auction was held concurrently in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and bids were also taken over the telephone and from the Internet. The final bids of both fragments of the Los Angeles meteorite exceeded their estimated price and ended up selling for about $3000/gram, which included a buyer’s premium of 15%.