A spindly radar antenna – which could discover underground water on Mars – will now not deploy on Europe’s Mars Express spacecraft until at least March 2005, say mission scientists. That represents about a year’s delay for the experiment, which has been postponed repeatedly over concerns that the 40-metre-long antenna could smack into the spacecraft on deployment.
September 28th, 2004
Methane on Mars causes controversy New Scientist
Methane and water vapour are concentrated in the same regions of the Martian atmosphere, say scientists studying data from Europe’s Mars Express orbiter. They say the link may point to a common source – possibly life – but others remain sceptical about the detection.
August 23rd, 2004
Mars Odyssey to voyage into future New Scientist
NASA’s Mars Odyssey mission, originally scheduled to end on Tuesday, has been granted a stay of execution until at least September 2006, reveal NASA scientists. The spacecraft has returned a string of important discoveries about the Red Planet since its launch in 2001, and has been pivotal in the success of the recent Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. NASA has agreed to fund the mission at $15 million a year for a further two years – the equivalent of three-quarters of Odyssey’s original budget.
August 2nd, 2004
NASA considers nuclear boosters for space rockets New Scientist
NASA is thinking about using nuclear boosters to lift rockets into orbit at a fraction of the cost of today’s all-chemical launchers. The agency hopes the public will be less resistant to nuclear-assisted rockets now that the Bush administration is considering a return to nuclear power. But anti-nuclear protesters claim nuclear launchers would make accidents much more damaging and accuse NASA of “playing Russian roulette”.
July 21st, 2004
Army rations rehydrated by urine New Scientist
Would you eat food cooked in your own urine? Food scientists working for the US military have developed a dried food ration that troops can hydrate by adding the filthiest of muddy swamp water or even peeing on it. The ration comes in a pouch containing a filter that removes 99.9 per cent of bacteria and most toxic chemicals from the water used to rehydrate it, according to the Combat Feeding Directorate, part of the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts.
June 28th, 2004
Double discovery on past Mars water New Scientist
Signs of past water on the surface of Mars just keep getting clearer, with new discoveries from both NASA rovers. Spirit has discovered hematite, an iron mineral that is usually formed in water. It is abundant at Opportunity’s site, but not seen before on the other side of the planet. Opportunity, meanwhile, has extended its evidence of water further back in time, through possible past cycles of wet and dry climate.
June 16th, 2004
Mars rover spies pot of gold New Scientist
Tantalising new images are cascading back from NASA’s Mars rovers now that they have reached their long-awaited geological sites. Spirit is now at the edge of the Columbia Hills facing what appears to be an easily-accessible hilltop straight ahead. The hilltop should offer vistas of the surrounding plain that is believed to be an ancient lakebed.
June 3rd, 2004
Mars rover sets eyes on long-sought hills New Scientist
The Mars rover Spirit is now within a few hundred metres of the hills it has been trundling towards since March. Images of the Columbia hills suggest there may be outcrops of layered rock to examine, as well as many large boulders. “This is the first time we’ve ever had a close look at hills on Mars,” said James Rice, of Arizona State University, Tempe, and a member of the rovers’ science team. In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder rover landed about 1000 metres from hills, but did not go closer.
May 18th, 2004
New Mars rock hints at short-lived lakes New Scientist
The Mars rover Opportunity has discovered hints of a type of rock never before seen on the planet. Its presence would mean that any watery periods in Mars’ past were cold and short-lived. Opportunity has been perched on the rim of a 130-metre wide crater dubbed Endurance since early May. It has been using its remote sensing instruments to study the rocks exposed in the steep sides of the crater.
May 4th, 2004
Mars rover on the brink of crater New Scientist
NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity is now perched on the brink of a 130-metre-wide crater and is surveying the site for a possible descent – from which it might never return. The prospect of exploring Endurance crater is exciting mission scientists, who hope there will be even more bedrock exposed than in the much smaller crater in which Opportunity landed. In that crater, dubbed Eagle, the rover found clear evidence that large quantities of liquid water once existed on Mars.