Browse by Tags

All Tags » Mars » Missions   (RSS)
01 December 2008
Who Listens For Phoenix?
Phoenix isn't merely dead; it's really most sincerely dead. NASA has now stopped listening for any residual beeps sent by the Phoenix lander with the spacecraft orbiting Mars. After nearly a month of daily checks to listen for any last communications from the lander, the Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
20 November 2008
MSL News: Landing Sites and Naming Contest
Landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory have been narrowed down to four intriguing places on the Red Planet. The car-sized rover will have the capability to travel to more scientifically compelling sites, and with its radioisotope power source, it won't need to rely on solar power, allowing for more flexibility in locations say project [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
11 November 2008
Spirit Rover in Trouble
Martian dust storms are wreaking havoc with human spacecraft. Not only did a dust storm cut short the Phoenix lander's extended mission, but now, another dust storm around Gusev Crater has cut into the amount of sunlight reaching the solar array on Spirit, one of the Mars Exploration Rovers, leaving the rover in [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
04 November 2008
5 Years At Mars: The Best of Mars Express
In December, the Mars Express spacecraft will celebrate the fifth anniversary of its arrival at Mars. In observation of this milestone the German Aerospace Center DLR has put together a collection of some of the best images from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), the main camera on board the spacecraft. The stunning, high [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
30 October 2008
Phoenix Not Responding to Communications
The Phoenix Lander is not responding to attempts to communicate with it. Earlier today, we reported that Phoenix had gone into safe mode. The lander experienced a low-power fault in the electrical system due to the reduction of solar-electric power to shorter daylight hours and a dust storm, as well as extremely cold [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
28 October 2008
Engineers Begin Shutting Down Phoenix Lander Instruments
It appears the end is nigh for the Phoenix Mars Lander. Today, engineers have begun to shut down some of the lander's instruments and heaters. But this is in hopes of extending the mission by saving power as available sunlight begins to wane with the approach of Martian autumn. But at the [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
20 October 2008
Phoenix Lander May Have Been Blasted by Dust Devil
A series of images put together to form a movie of the Mars Phoenix lander's telltale instrument show the telltale waving wildly in the Martian wind. According to Phoenix scientists, movement in one image seemed to be "out-of-phase" with other images, possibly indicating a dust devil whirled nearby or even over the lander. Preliminary [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
14 October 2008
Martian Dust Storm Hampers Phoenix Lander's Activities
The science team for the Phoenix Lander was forced to curtail many of their activities over the weekend because of a regional dust storm that temporarily lowered the lander's solar power. But Phoenix weathered the storm well, and the team is back investigating the Red Planet's northern plains. The 37,000 square-kilometer storm (nearly 23,000 [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
13 October 2008
Mars Satellite's First Weather Report
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling Mars for over two years now, and has provided unprecedented views of the Red Planet with its HiRISE Camera. But did you also know that MRO is a weather-monitoring satellite, too? The Mars Climate Sounder instrument is examining the Martian atmosphere and has issued its first [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
10 October 2008
Mars Science Laboratory: Still Alive, For Now
The Mars Science Laboratory, the next generation of Mars rovers slated to head to Mars in 2009, is still alive, for the time being. The car-sized rover designed to look for life on Mars is over budget and behind schedule due to technical problems, and NASA officials met today to discuss their options. Potentially, [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: , ,
 
10 October 2008
Energizer-Bunny Odyssey Spacecraft Will Keep Going
Seems like everyone at Mars is getting an extended mission these days – every spacecraft, that is. The Mars Odyssey orbiting spacecraft, the longest-serving of six spacecraft now studying Mars, has gotten another two-year extension of its mission. And mission extensions are great opportunities to try something new, so Odyssey is altering its [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
09 October 2008
Mission's End Approaching for Phoenix Lander
The days are getting shorter for the Phoenix Mars Lander, and as fall approaches on Mars’ northern plains, the scientists and engineers for the mission are quickly trying get as much done before power levels on the lander drop too low for any more scientific activities. In the image here, blue-ish white frost appears [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
07 October 2008
Will the Mars Science Laboratory Be Cut?
The Mars Science Laboratory, a souped-up Mars rover scheduled to launch next year might be delayed, scaled down or canceled due to technical problems and cost overruns. The nuclear powered rover designed to search for microbial life on the Red Planet, has already cost $1.5 billion and if it reaches a 30-percent cost overrun, [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
01 October 2008
Phoenix Lander Will Listen to the Sounds of Mars
We may be able to hear, for the first time, what it sounds like on the surface of Mars. The Phoenix Lander has a microphone on board, which will be switched on in upcoming days of operations. "This is definitely a first," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith. The microphone is a [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
29 September 2008
Snow is Falling From Martian Clouds
Remember the movies of clouds floating above the Phoenix Lander? Further study with the lander's Lidar instrument has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. "The clouds are composed of ice crystals, and some of the crystals are large enough to fall through the atmosphere," said Jim Whiteway, lead scientist for the Meteorological Station on [...]
Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
0 Comments
Filed under: ,
 
More Posts Next page »