Postcards from Mars

Leonard David (at Space.com) interviews Jim Bell about his new book, Postcards from Mars (once again, the wallet cringes).

Old Dogs. New Tricks.

Can this really be true? Next week will see the start of MER Spirit's fourth year on Mars? January 24 will see the start of MER Opportunity's fourth year as well?

What to do with these long-lived robots? Teach them some new tricks! The rovers will, in addition to their scientific duties, be acting as testbeds for new capabilities that, if they work on this mission, can be utilized on future missions.

Moving On

A "movie" showing Opportunity as it explores Victoria Crater.

Spirit

One of the recently released images from the MRO shows the landing site for Mars Exploration Rover Spirit.

1,000 Sols

Spirit has been on Mars for over 1,000 "sols" now. NASA released a panorama from its "winter haven" at McMurdo.

Bored Out Of Its Mind

Is Spirit starting to show more than wear and tear on Mars?

"Once, when we radioed her to please leave the lecturing and hypothesis-making to the mission project team, she responded by forming her robotic arm into an obscene gesture," Banerdt said. "That arm contains a state-of-the-art spectrometer meant to provide crucial mineralogy data."

Holy Mackerel

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images the mars rover Opportunity at Victoria Crater. The rover, tracks and the shadow of its camera mast. Wow. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)

Mission Extensions

The rovers Spirit and Opportunity (operating on the surface since January 2004) have gotten an additional year of mission funding, and the orbiters Mars Global Surveyor (orbiting since 1997) and Mars Odyssey (orbiting since 2001) have each gotten an additional two years of mission funding.

It is nice to see NASA not throwing away these vehicles. The long-duration of the MGS mission, for example, has lead to greater understanding of some of the martian weather cycles and showsn (quite possibly) that Mars is undergoing a period of global warming. The rovers continue to operate, perhaps not quite as well as when they landed, but as long as they operate, they ought to be funded.

Thank you, Mike.

Victoria!

Opportunity, still working on Mars more than 10 times longer than hoped for, has reached the rim of Victoria Crater. If it succeeds in exploring the crater, this could really dramatically increase our knowledge of how Mars came to be.

Continue reading "Victoria!"

The Road to Victoria

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows what Opportunity found on the way to Victoria Crater: a smaller, eroded crater nicknamed Beagle. (Specific rights apply.)

Treasure Trove? (Sep 10, 2006)
Let's Go! (May 29, 2006)
Cobbles in Troughs (May 28, 2006)
Version 2.0 (May 28, 2006)
Double Duty (May 26, 2006)
Rover Update (Apr 27, 2006)
A Change in Management (Mar 20, 2006)
The Amazing Pan Cams (Mar 13, 2006)
Psssttttt....Buddy... (Mar 7, 2006)
Playing It Safe at "Home Plate" (Mar 2, 2006)
Party Time on Mars (Feb 23, 2006)
Safe Haven (Feb 20, 2006)
Home Plate (Feb 13, 2006)
Two Years on Mars (Feb 1, 2006)
Two Reviews (Jan 30, 2006)
Celebration (Jan 24, 2006)
I'm Ready for My Close-Up, Mr. DeMille (Jan 19, 2006)
Good Stuff from Both Sides (Jan 19, 2006)
Scale Rover (Jan 10, 2006)
A "Lucky Break" On Mars (Jan 6, 2006)
Comanche, Olympia and Water (Dec 29, 2005)
How Much Water? (Dec 21, 2005)
Probing the Depths (Dec 19, 2005)
One for Dad (Dec 14, 2005)
Orbital Eyes (Dec 12, 2005)
Opportunity Flexes (Dec 9, 2005)
Hanging In There (Dec 6, 2005)
Wet Planet (Dec 6, 2005)
Looking at the Signs (Nov 29, 2005)
East Basin (Nov 23, 2005)
Over a Martian Year on Mars (Nov 22, 2005)
Virtual Presence (Nov 22, 2005)
Eclipse (Nov 16, 2005)
Clicking on Mars (Nov 16, 2005)
Dodging the Drifts (Nov 8, 2005)
Everest (Nov 8, 2005)
And More Panoramas! (Oct 28, 2005)
Around Gusev Crater (Oct 28, 2005)
On the Road to the Mogollon Rim (Oct 24, 2005)
Signs of Life (Oct 24, 2005)
Opportunity at Erebus (Oct 24, 2005)
Extending the Missions (Oct 22, 2005)
The Changing Face of Mars (Oct 18, 2005)
Roving on Mars (Oct 18, 2005)
Water and Life (Oct 11, 2005)
The Best May Be Yet To Come (Oct 6, 2005)
Nothing Good Ever Comes from the Space Program (Oct 5, 2005)
A Profusion of Names (Sep 27, 2005)
The Case for Water in Gusev (Sep 19, 2005)
Summit (Sep 19, 2005)
Follow the Water (Sep 12, 2005)
Under the Hurtling Moons of Mars (Sep 12, 2005)
Husband Hill (Sep 1, 2005)
News Briefing: Martian Update (Aug 29, 2005)
Travels with Steve (Aug 22, 2005)
The View from Husband Hill (Aug 22, 2005)
Roving Mars (Aug 20, 2005)
Opportunity Takes Center Stage (Aug 15, 2005)
On the Road at Voltaire and in Meridiani (Aug 14, 2005)
Roving Mars (Aug 13, 2005)
Dancing in the Dust (Aug 13, 2005)
Squyres is Out! (Aug 3, 2005)
Wake Up (Aug 3, 2005)
A Busy Week (Jul 31, 2005)
Endurance Mission on Mars (Jul 19, 2005)
Animation Profile (Jul 4, 2005)
A Good Week on Mars (Jun 29, 2005)
Spirit is on the Move (Jun 17, 2005)
Martian Hot Spots (Jun 17, 2005)
Nightfall in Gusev (Jun 13, 2005)
Opportunity's Escape from the Dune (Jun 10, 2005)
1000 Sols (Jun 9, 2005)
500 Sols (Jun 6, 2005)
Opportunity to Earth: "I'm Free!!!" (Jun 4, 2005)
Spirit, the Problem Child (Jun 2, 2005)
Windows on the World (Jun 2, 2005)
Shooting Stars (Jun 1, 2005)
Rover Update (May 31, 2005)
A Wet and Violent Past (May 25, 2005)
A Little Progress (May 20, 2005)
Getting Better Every Day (May 16, 2005)
Putting It Into Drive (May 15, 2005)
Too Many Puns (May 9, 2005)
Getting Ready for Martian Moves (May 8, 2005)
MGS Finds Viking Lander 2 and Mars Polar Lander (Maybe) (May 5, 2005)
Drifting Along (May 5, 2005)
Looking for Clues (May 2, 2005)
Stop the Presses! (May 1, 2005)
The View from Lookout Point and More (Apr 29, 2005)
Opportunity Bogs Down (Apr 28, 2005)
Driving to Methuselah (Apr 25, 2005)
Devils in Motion (Apr 23, 2005)
Driving Me Backwards (Apr 23, 2005)
Opportunity Suffers a Fault (Apr 17, 2005)
Showing Spirit (Apr 10, 2005)
Marathon Machines Get Triple Overtime (Apr 5, 2005)
Spirit Damaged by High Winds? (Apr 1, 2005)
Building the Rover (Mar 27, 2005)
Rover Update (Mar 26, 2005)
Rover Updates (Mar 19, 2005)