His commander aimed to go skiing after their space shot. But John Young didn’t want R&R. All he wanted was to go back up. As soon as possible. As often as possible. “I’ll be ready to go again as soon as I hit the water with Gemini 3,” the 34-year-old rookie astronaut promised before blasting off with Gus Grissom on America’s first two-man space flight.
April 2nd, 2000
NASA reaction to failures wrong, scientist says Space Today
The man who took NASA back to the moon with a low-budget spacecraft after a 25-year hiatus fears the nation’s civilian space agency is taking the wrong steps in reacting to the failures of two high-profile Mars missions. Alan Binder, a lunar and planetary scientist, said NASA should turn its space science missions over to small teams of experienced scientists and aerospace engineers who have sole responsibility for their project from conception through design, construction, launch and ultimately operations.
March 14th, 2000
Northern Mars once was wet, researchers believe Space Today
A gravitational map of Mars reveals that water-filled rivers once ran across the Red Planet’s northern hemisphere, researchers say. “Evidence is building of more water on the surface of Mars at one time,” said planetary scientist Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who led the study. The researchers combined laser measurements of Martian topography with a gravitational analysis provided by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft to depict the shape and thickness of the planet’s crust.
February 5th, 2000
Antennas around world listen for Mars signal Space Today
Giant dish antennas in Europe and North America were aimed toward Mars on Friday to begin another attempt to detect what may be a flicker of life from NASA’s Mars Polar Lander. It’s the largest effort to listen for a signal since Stanford University engineers announced last month that they received an extremely faint signal that could have originated from the $165 million probe.
January 25th, 2000
Mars Polar Lander: The search continues Space Today
Since mid-December 1999, the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft has been taking pictures of Mars Polar Lander’s landing zone near 76
January 9th, 2000
Space station, Mars probes need rethinking in 2000 Space Today
Now that NASA officials have shaken the New Year confetti out of their hair, they face the difficult task of reviving two deeply troubled programs on which the agency’s future rests: The International Space Station and the exploration of Mars. The projects dominate the nation’s space agenda, and the extent to which NASA succeeds or fails in restoring confidence in them will determine its support in Congress and with the American public.
January 8th, 2000
NASA starts investigation of Mars Polar Lander Space Today
NASA’s investigation into its failed Mars missions began in earnest Friday with the naming of a 16-member investigation team and an initial round of briefings at space agency headquarters. In the coming weeks, team members will travel to NASA centers and to the Lockheed Martin Astronautics facility near Denver as they analyze two failed Martian probes and other missions.
December 12th, 1999
NASA’s most recent woes merit concern, not panic Space Today
Bad luck or bad management? That’s the question many Americans – including some members of Congress – are asking about the failures and setbacks plaguing the nation’s space program. And no wonder.
December 12th, 1999
All we need is will to go to Mars Space Today
[Editorial] People will go to Mars. And they will go back to the moon, and to Europa, Titan, Vesta and many other interesting and exotic places in the solar system and beyond. It’s not a question of if, but when. We started down this inexorable path centuries ago, and the thirst for exploration still courses through our veins and resonates in our stories of the exploits of Ulysses, Columbus, Magellan, Cook, Hillary and, of course, Armstrong and Aldrin.
December 10th, 1999
Silence from missing Mars emissaries will echo for years Space Today
Today was supposed to be “Sol 7,” another full Martian day of work for the visitor from Earth – its robot arm digging, its eyes scanning the horizon, its microphone ear listening for the whisper of frigid wind. Instead, Mars Polar Lander is lost along with a companion satellite that was supposed to have parked itself in Martian orbit 10 weeks ago, taken pictures of the landscape and relayed the data back home.