NASA
April 27th, 2005
Europe
Future hunts for past or present life on Mars, hauling back to Earth samples of martian rock and soil, as well as setting the stage for a human voyage to the red planet is taking on a decidedly European look. European Space Agency (ESA) officials are taking steps to shift into high gear the building of the ExoMars robotic rover mission. The lander would be launched in 2011, likely onboard a Soyuz Fregat 2b booster from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
April 27th, 2005
Hard-Working Mars Rovers: On the Scent Of Science
There is never a dull moment for a robot on Mars. A fleeting dust devil comes into view — just right for picture taking. An outcrop of rock is found that yields insight into the planet
April 19th, 2005
NASA Scientist: ‘Mars Could be Biologically Alive’
Evidence for intense local enhancements in methane on Mars has been bolstered by ground-based observations. The methane, as well as water on Mars, was detected using state-of-the-art infrared spectrometers stationed atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii and in Cerro Pach
April 19th, 2005
Reaching for the Moon, Mars the Nuclear Way
The head of NASA’s nuclear push says a scientific mission to the inner solar system — perhaps to the moon, Mars or an asteroid — will be used to demonstrate a new propulsion system in place of a mission to Jupiter’s icy moons. But the Jupiter trip is only delayed, not canceled, Ray Taylor said. It could fly in 2017, a few years later than the demonstration mission. In the meantime, “we have a range of options being looked at in the analysis,” he said. “They’re all in the inner solar system . . . and they’re all shorter mission duration.”
April 18th, 2005
Possible Ancient Equator of Mars Revealed
A new look at ancient craters on Mars finds five that are arrayed along an arc that’s part of a giant circle around the planet. The circle may have been Mars’ equator long ago. The craters might all have been formed when one giant asteroid broke apart, its fragments slamming into the planet at different times and locations around the then-equator, says Jafar Arkani-Hamed of McGill University in Montreal. If the analysis is right, it has implication for where water might lurk beneath the Martian surface today.
April 10th, 2005
Space Exploration Overhaul: Next Five Years ‘Critical’
After decades of sending probes across the void of interplanetary space, officials are now reshaping how solar system exploration is accomplished. The renovation is due in large measure to the visionary Moon, Mars and beyond directive given to NASA by U.S. President George W. Bush just more than a year ago. While money and mandate are in a state of near-rendezvous, the melding of space science objectives with human exploration goals is still to be fully played out, as is the prospect of broader international collaboration. “The scientific exploration agenda NASA has been pursuing for the past decade or so is bearing enormous fruit, providing key early inputs to how NASA implements the vision,” said James Garvin, NASA Chief Scientist in Washington, D.C. “Initial robotic steps in the vision implementation will inform and guide future decisions that will ultimately steer how human beings explore the Moon and Mars.”
March 24th, 2005
‘Pumping Iron’ Director Spotlights Mars Mission in IMAX Film
The filmmaker who made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name in the 1977 film “Pumping Iron” is making an IMAX documentary about NASA’s dual rover mission to Mars. George Butler previewed his project here Tuesday at Flight School 05 and PC Forum, a combined meeting of top space industry officials and entrepreneurs as well as leaders in the tech industry. Several people in the small audience expressed awe at both the mission’s scope and the telling of the story in the film, titled “Mars.”
March 22nd, 2005
Moon-Watching Mars Rover Catches Deimos Crossing the Sun
That dynamic duo on Mars, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, are satellite watchers too. Turning their respective camera systems up into the martian sky, the robots have caught sight of the moons of Mars