Little did Bucknell University geology professors Craig Kochel and Jeffrey Trop know, as they were working in Alaska, that they would soon predict one of the most important planetary observations ever made.
The pair was in Alaska for an eight-day trip in July 2006, studying geological features and the processes that create them. As they studied photographs taken of the surrounding area, some features caught Kochel’s eye. He thought they were strangely familiar, and then realized they reminded him of images he’d seen when working on the Viking missions to Mars in the 1970s.
Kochel and Trop trekked to where the shots were taken overlooking a glacier. Spotting triangle-shaped landforms called “fans” sealed the deal: They looked strikingly similar to photographs taken of features on Mars.
How Mars and Alaska Are Alike
Mars Lander Exposes More Ice
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander used its robotic arm to expose more of the hard icy layer just below the Martian surface so that it can more easily gather a sample of the material for analysis.
The trench, informally called “Snow White,” was about 8 by 12 inches (20 by 30 centimeters) after digging by the arm Saturday. Mission controllers sent commands to the spacecraft Monday to further extend the length of the trench by about 6 inches (15 centimeters).
Scientists said tests in a lab on Earth suggested more area must be exposed in order to collect a proper sample.
Martian Soil Sample Clogs Phoenix Probe’s Oven
Scientists ran into a snag when trying to deliver a sample of Martian arctic soil to one of the instruments on NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, mission controllers said on Saturday.
The lander’s robotic arm released a handful of clumpy Martian soil onto a screened opening of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) on Friday, but the instrument did not confirm that any of the sample passed through the screen.
Images taken on Friday show soil resting on the screen over an open sample-delivery door of TEGA, which is designed to heat up soil samples and analyze the vapors they give off to determine the soil’s composition.
The researchers have not yet determined why none of the sample appears to have gotten past the screen, but they have begun proposing possibilities.
“I think it’s the cloddiness of the soil and not having enough fine granular material,” said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, the digging czar for the $420 million Phoenix mission.
Phoenix Mars Lander Spotted from Space
A spacecraft orbiting Mars has photographed the Phoenix Mars Lander on the surface of the red planet, NASA scientists announced today. Mission controllers also said the mission seems to have hit its first snag as the radio on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which communicates with Phoenix, has shut itself off due to an unknown problem. Despite this setback, Phoenix seems to be doing just fine.
Touchdown! Phoenix Spacecraft Lands on Mars
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has apparently survived the fiery plunge through the Martian atmosphere and landed on the red planet’s arctic plains, with mission scientists eagerly awaiting word on the health of the spacecraft. “Phoenix has landed! Phoenix has landed!” shouted a NASA commentator. “Welcome to the northern plains of Mars!”
Brrr! Mars Colder Than Expected
Peering beneath the ice at the north pole of Mars has now revealed the red planet may be surprisingly colder than was thought.
Any liquid water that might exist on Mars therefore might be hidden deeper than once suspected, closer to that world’s warm heart, researchers suggested.
An international team of scientists used the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to probe the north pole of the red planet with radar. The ice cap there goes about 1.2 miles deep (2 km) and is roughly the size of Pakistan at 310,000 square miles large (800,000 square km).
These scans revealed the polar cap has up to four layers of ice rich in sand and dust, each separated by clearer sheets of nearly pure ice. Each dirty and clean layer is some 1,000 feet thick (300 meters).
Scientists Revisit Mars Sample Return Plans
International planning is under way to reinvigorate plans for a Mars sample return mission, with researchers assessing science priorities and strategies to maximize the scientific output from such an undertaking.
Over the last several years, an armada of orbital and surface missions has revealed Mars to be surprisingly more complex than once thought, imbued with a variety of distinct environments — each of value in terms of possible scientific payback given a sample return effort.
Mars samples returned to state-of-the-art Earth laboratories are considered by many to be the only way to unravel a host of unresolved questions about the red planet. A sample return mission also is viewed by many as a key tool to help space agencies prepare for future human expeditions to Mars.
Private Space Station Prototype Hits Orbital Milestone
A prototype module for a private space station has passed an orbital milestone after completing its 10,000th trip around the Earth.
Genesis 1, an inflatable module built by the Las Vegas, Nev.-based firm Bigelow Aerospace, passed the 10,000-orbit mark as it nears the beginning of its third year of unmanned operations, its builders announced late Thursday.
Bigelow Aerospace launched Genesis 1 atop a converted intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12, 2006 to test its ability to self-inflate and operate in Earth orbit. Led by businessman Robert Bigelow, owner of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain and other enterprises, Bigelow Aerospace followed Genesis 1 with a successor, Genesis 2, in June 2007. That module also continues to function as designed.
Phoenix Lander Takes Aim at Martian Arctic
NASA’s Mars-bound Phoenix spacecraft is gearing up for a landmark landing near the martian north pole this month to find out whether the region could have once supported microbial life.
Phoenix is on course for a planned May 25 touchdown in the martian arctic that, if successful, will mark the first powered landing on Mars since NASA’s hefty Viking 2 lander set down in 1976. But first, the probe is expected to fire its thrusters several times in the next few weeks to fine-tune its flight path.
“It’s scary how smooth it’s been,” said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “The vehicle has just been behaving beautifully.”
Mars Features Resemble Hydrothermal Springs
There’s a growing buzz in the astrobiology community that ancient hydrothermal springs may have been spotted on Mars.
Thanks to the eagle-eyed work of Carlton Allen and Dorothy Oehler of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, “spring-like” mounds have been found in Vernal Crater in Arabia Terra on the red planet.
The high-powered zoom lens of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has picked up the features – two possible ancient hydrothermal springs are viewed as light-toned, elliptical structures.
The martian features have a striking similarity to spring mounds here on Earth, such as those in Dalhousie, Australia.