Plasma beam for 90-day Mars visit
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Advocates of a propulsion idea for spacecraft claim that it would enable a 90-day round trip to Mars.
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Extreme PlanetThough both rovers are exploring Mars well beyond their initial 90-day missions, electrical connections and moving parts are showing signs of temperature-related fatigue.&quot;Every day we have a huge thermal cycle,&quot; notes Jake Matijevic, chief of the rover engineering team. &quot;That causes the solder in electrical connections to expand and contract until it breaks.&quot;Seasonal ChangeDuring their exploration of Mars, the rovers have recorded temperatures ranging from midday highs of about 35 degrees C. (95 degrees F.) in spring and summer to nighttime lows of about minus 110 degrees C. (minus 166 degrees F.) in winter. Spirit has experienced greater swings in temperature because its location is farther from the martian equator, which puts it seasonally closer to or farther from the Sun than Opportunity.Three Years of DataRover engineer Dan Porter has been tracking temperatures recorded by 50 or so sensors on each of the rovers since shortly after they landed on Mars in January 2004. The results are not only of interest to scientists, they're a favorite of human audiences as well.&quot;People ask about this all the time,&quot; says New Mexico geologist Larry Crumpler, a member of the Mars rover science team who created the charts showing monthly average temperatures superimposed on panoramic-camera images from each of the rovers. &quot;These plots of daily temperature are destined to become an important part of all my public outreach talks.&quot;Cold vs. ColderJust as on Earth, temperatures on Mars are not uniform everywhere. Objects exposed to direct sunlight are apt to be warmer than those in the shade. Some objects retain heat better than others. A source of relative warmth on Mars is rocky terrain, because it retains heat better than sandy terrain.A solar panel is sort of like a &quot;warm wall in mid-winter,&quot; says Crumpler. Components beneath the solar panels, such as the hazard avoidance cameras, are closer in temperature to the martian air. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a thick, atmospheric blanket to seal in warmth by night or minimize the Sun's heat by day.Wear and TearEngineers have traced stalls in a shoulder joint on Opportunity's robotic arm to a broken electrical wire. The shoulder motor has experienced greater temperature swings than other parts because of its location beside a heater that has been stuck in the &quot;on&quot; position since shortly after landing.Notes Matijevic, &quot;Our theory is that one of the wires in the electrical coil broke free and disabled the motor.&quot;Mechanical ProblemsExtremely cold temperatures have also caused mechanical problems. Recently, Opportunity's right front wheel began drawing excess electrical current, reminiscent of Spirit's right front wheel in 2004. The demand for more electrical current suggests that the wheel motor is working harder than usual. Engineers suspect that, like motor oil that can't handle freezing temperatures on Earth, gelid lubricant failed to flow properly and caused Spirit's right front wheel to fail.Adjusting ExpectationsRover drivers have compensated for Spirit's stuck wheel by driving on the other five wheels. They have compensated for Opportunity's stalled shoulder joint by unstowing it before going to sleep at night. This way, if the motor fails during the night, when temperatures are at their lowest, they would still have limited use of the arm by operating the remaining working joints. Each rover has lost a few temperature sensors as well, while dozens more continue operating.Time Will Tell
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Six researchers will get a chance to spend the summer on the most Mars-like place on Earth, an 8-meter diameter metal can in the Arctic desert. By Robert Lemos.
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By Rachel Shields Are you European or Canadian, aged between 25 and 50, in good health and ready for a unique challenge? The European Space Agency is offering 12 volunteers the most unusual and exotic opportunity of a lifetime: an 18-month simulated mission to Mars.
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By Dhara, S  Ion beam irradiation is a potential tool for phase formation and material modification as a non-equilibrium technique. Localized rise in temperature and ultra fast (~10^sup -12^ s) dissipations of impinging energy make it an attractive tool for metastable phase formation.
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SALT LAKE CITY - The first solar-wind samples recovered from the crashed Genesis space capsule have been sent to researchers in California.
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The Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, received another 6 months of funding from NASA. The two rovers were originally designed to complete a primary mission of three months, but have continued to operate for 5 additional months.
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NASA has funded another extension of their mission -- an additional six months, if they last. Word from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is that NASA has regained reliable contact with the rovers Spirit and Opportunity
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When the Mars rovers Opportunity and Spirit reached their distant destination in early 2004, NASA scientists hoped the vehicles would probe the planet's frigid landscape for 90 days before they pooped out or were undone by the harsh Martian environment.
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Opportunity peers into crater After weathering the dust storms of the past two months, the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have had their solar panels swept free off dust by kinder, gentler winds. With full power restored, the two explorers are now ready to renew their slow crawl over the surface of the red planet.â¦
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It's a mission to Mars &#151; without leaving Moscow. Russian scientists have finished fashioning a crucial section of a mock spacecraft that will simulate a voyage to the Red Planet, an official at the Moscow institute leading the project said Wednesday.
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NASA has decided to fund the missions of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars for an additional six months -- as long as the craft continue to operate.
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The Genesis desert crash has left scientists wondering about the delicate condition of its solar wind collection. The first release of samples to the community has begun, while new tests for oxygen-isotopes may help uncover which particles might have lunar, solar or terrestrial origins.
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Bored with your job? Fancy a challenge for the next 520 days? A new fixed-term position from the European Space Agency (ESA) may be just the ticket: the agency's scientists are looking for six people to go on a pretend trip to Mars.
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With each passing day, those peppy robots on Mars - Spirit and Opportunity - churn out extraordinary new views of the red planet. Each android is over a year in operation, relaying a steady stream of eye-catching photos.
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DENVER, Colo. -- The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is one giant spacecraft, built to take&nbsp;unprecedented photos of the red planet. Engineers are in test time mode here at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, builder of the spacecraft, as the countdown ticks down&nbsp;for the probe's summer launch.
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Scientists behind the Beagle 2 mission to Mars unveiled designs yesterday for a successor to the British spacecraft. Plans for the so-called Beagle 3 came to light as scientists outlined