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Updated – Spirit Alive, But in “Critical” Condition. Mars Express Sees Water Ice and Ancient River Channel

 

NASA artist's concept of Spirit rover working in the Gusev crater on Mars. Image: NASA/JPL.
NASA artist's concept of Spirit rover working in the Gusev crater on Mars. Image: NASA/JPL.

Updated - January 24, 2004  Pasadena, California -

Spirit Communication Revived Briefly,
But Rover's In "Critical" Condition

On January 23, the flight team for NASA's Spirit rover finally received data from the silent robot in a communication session that began at 5:26 a.m. PST and lasted 20 minutes at a data rate of 120 bits per second. Spirit's response was provoked by a JPL command to Spirit at 5:02 PST via the NASA Deep Space Network antenna complex near Madrid, Spain, telling Spirit to begin transmitting about its problems.

 

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Spirit Rover’s First Martian Soil Analysis Has Surprises

This image shows the patch of soil scientists examined at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial lander. Image credit: NASA/JPL.
This image shows the patch of soil scientists examined at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial lander. Image credit: NASA/JPL.

January 21, 2004 Pasadena, California - Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena yesterday were puzzled about the first soil examined by the Spirit rover in its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer as it begins its exploration of the Martian Gusev crater.

 

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Martian Soil “Clumpy” – Electrostatic Binding of Dust?

"Scientists liken the alien soil to clumpy cocoa powder."

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

January 19, 2004  Pasadena, California - The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit deployed its robotic arm early Friday morning, January 16, 2004, to use its microscopic imager, one of four geological instruments located on the arm. The instrument will help scientists analyze and understand Martian rocks and soils by taking very high resolution, close-up images. The first surprise was the clumpy nature of the red soil and some planetary geologists wonder if an electrostatic binding of the dust could be at work.

 

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Part 2 – Is Dark Matter the “Heavy Shadow” of Light Matter?

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Quarks and leptons are the major atomic particle building blocks of the universe. The muon is in the bottom, center row. Image courtesy Fermi National Laboratory.
Quarks and leptons are the major atomic particle building blocks of the universe. The muon is in the bottom, center row. Image courtesy Fermi National Laboratory.

January 17, 2004  Urbana-Champaign, Illinois - Not everyone is certain that Supersymmetry of super atomic particles is the answer to Dark Matter. In fact, some theoretical physicists argue about whether the Brookhaven muon magnetic moment measurement is even a meaningful discrepancy.

 

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Spirit Is Moving in the Martian Crater

On January 15, 2004, at 3 a.m. ET, NASA's Spirit land rover finally moved out from its air bag-shrouded lander leaving tracks on the Martian soil of the Gusev crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL.
On January 15, 2004, at 3 a.m. ET, NASA's Spirit land rover finally moved out from its air bag-shrouded lander leaving tracks on the Martian soil of the Gusev crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL.

January 15, 2004  Pasadena, California - NASA reported early today after the 3 a.m. ET roll out of Spirit onto the Martian crater soil: "This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's rear hazard identification camera shows the rover's hind view of the lander platform, its nest for the past 12 'sols,' or Martian days. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the air bag-cushioned lander, facing northwest. Note the tracks left in the Martian soil by the rovers' wheels, all six of which have rolled off the lander. This is the first time the rover has touched Martian soil."

 

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President Bush Sets “New Course for America’s Space Program”

On January 14, 2004, President George Bush announced "new course for America's space program" at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D. C. Image courtesy NASA.
On January 14, 2004, President George Bush announced "new course for America's space program" at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D. C. Image courtesy NASA.

January 14, 2004  Washington, D. C. - At NASA's headquarters this afternoon, President George Bush was greeted by NASA Director Sean O'Keefe and Astronaut Mike Foale, who spoke from the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting Earth.

President Bush began, "Today we set a new course for America's space program. We will give NASA a new focus. We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe to gain a new foothold on the moon and prepare for new journeys beyond Earth. ... We will expand human presence across our solar system."

 

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Part 1 – Is Dark Matter the “Heavy Shadow” of Visible Matter?

Graphic depicting visible matter worlds above the blue rectangle and bigger, heavier "shadow," or partner, particles below the blue rectangle that are not seen in the visible matter worlds. Supersymmetry theory in physics postulates that every particle we observe has a massive "shadow-partner" particle. No supersymmetric particle has yet been seen. Image courtesy CERN, Switzerland.
Graphic depicting visible matter worlds above the blue rectangle and bigger, heavier "shadow," or partner, particles below the blue rectangle that are not seen in the visible matter worlds. Supersymmetry theory in physics postulates that every particle we observe has a massive "shadow-partner" particle. No supersymmetric particle has yet been seen. Image courtesy CERN, Switzerland.

January 13, 2004  Ann Arbor, Michigan - In February 2001, the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Long Island, New York, announced that physicists there had made a new measurement of what is called, "the muon anomalous magnetic moment." The number looks like this:

 

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Robotic “Geologists” on Mars

 

Panoramic view inside the Gusev crater that surrounds NASA's Spirit lander and its robotic rover. NASA has received 73 percent of a 360-degree crater view. Image courtesy NASA and JPL.
Panoramic view inside the Gusev crater that surrounds NASA's Spirit lander and its robotic rover. NASA has received 73 percent of a 360-degree crater view. Image courtesy NASA and JPL.

January 9, 2004  Ithaca, New York - As the New Year of 2004 gets underway, the Bush Administration announced this week that the President will soon propose a plan to send a manned American mission to Mars and to the moon.

 

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Earth’s Speeded Rotation Puzzles Scientists

Photograph of Earth by NASA.
Photograph of Earth by NASA.

January 2, 2004  Boulder, Colorado - In 1949, the U. S. Bureau of Standards produced the world's first atomic clock which counted the rates of vibration in cesium atoms. Then in 1972, the world adopted an international time keeping system based on atomic clocks. That's when it became necessary to synchronize the resonance of the cesium atom and earth time as measured by the earth's spin. After 1972, the Bureau of Standards had to insert what are called 'leap seconds' into the atomic time keeping system because the earth's rotation slowed a little bit each year.

 

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Beagle 2 Spacecraft Will Land on Mars Christmas Day.

A heat shield will protect the Beagle 2 spacecraft during descent to Mars on December 25, 2003. Image courtesy www.beagle2.com
A heat shield will protect the Beagle 2 spacecraft during descent to Mars on December 25, 2003. Image courtesy www.beagle2.com

December 19, 2003 Washington, D. C. - NASA Science News has released a story worth sharing about next Thursday's projected landing of the Beagle 2 spacecraft on Mars. NASA begins: "It's wintertime in the northern hemisphere of Mars and a flying saucer is about to land.

 

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