Scientists see water ice in fresh meteorite craters on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 24, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (16) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are seeing sub-surface water ice that may be 99 percent pure halfway between the north pole and the equator on Mars, thanks to quick-turnaround observations from orbit of fresh ...

Radar Map of Buried Mars Layers Matches Climate Cycles

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 22, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (7) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- New, three-dimensional imaging of Martian north-polar ice layers by a radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is consistent with theoretical models of Martian climate swings ...

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's LAMP shedding light on permanently shadowed regions of the moon

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 17, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (4) | 0

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched on June 18 of this year, has begun its extensive exploration of the lunar environment and will return more data about the Moon than any previous mission. ...

Robotics desert test provides NASA with new set of wheels for moon

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 16, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, for two weeks in the Arizona desert at Black Point Lava Flow, NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies group (Desert RATS) conducts technology development tests in anticipation ...

Russia delays Mars probe launch until 2012: report

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 16, 2009 | 4 / 5 (3) | 2

Russia will pushed back its flagship satellite mission to Mars' moon until 2011 in a move which will delay the joint launch of China's first Mars probe, space sources were cited as saying Wednesday.

Patterns in Mars crater floors give picture of drying lakes

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 16, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (6) | 0

Networks of giant polygonal troughs etched across crater basins on Mars have been identified as desiccation cracks caused by evaporating lakes, providing further evidence of a warmer, wetter martian past.  ...

Telltale tells story of winds at Phoenix landing site

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 16, 2009 | 4 / 5 (2) | 0

Wind speeds and directions were measured for the first time in the Mars polar region using the Phoenix lander’s Telltale instrument. Astronomers recorded Easterly winds of approximately 15-20 kilometres per ...

Spacecraft Talk Continued During JPL Wildfire Threat

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 10, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

As the flames of the raging brush fire dubbed the Station Fire threatened the northern edge of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Saturday, Aug. 29, the managers of NASA's Deep Space Network prepared for ...

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Preventive Care Continues; Science on Hold

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 04, 2009 | 3.5 / 5 (2) | 0

During analysis of four safe-mode events this year, engineers for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project have identified a vulnerability to the effects of subsequent events.

Thousands of New Images Show Mars in High Resolution

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 03, 2009 | 4 / 5 (5) | 0

Thousands of newly released images from more than 1,500 telescopic observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a wide range of gullies, dunes, craters, geological layering and other features on ...

Mars Orbiter in Safe Mode Increases Communication Rate

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Aug 31, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project have stepped up the communication rate being received from the orbiter as an early step in the process of determining why the spacecraft ...

Mars Orbiter Puts Itself in Safe Mode Again

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Aug 27, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter put itself into a safe mode Wednesday morning, Aug. 26, for the fourth time this year, while maintaining spacecraft health and communications. While in safe ...

Dust Storm Passing Over Spirit

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Aug 26, 2009 | 5 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The amount of electricity generated by the solar panels on Spirit has been declining for the past several Martian days, or sols, as a regional dust storm moved southward and blocked some of ...

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Gets New View of Victoria Crater

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Aug 12, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (5) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- This image of Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at more ...

Orbiter Safe After Computer Swap

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Aug 10, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is in safe mode, a precautionary standby status, and in communications with Earth after unexpectedly switching to its backup computer on Thurs. Aug. 6.