Mars has undergone a remarkable evolution since the first probe from Earth went sailing past the planet, sending back a few shots. Given what we saw, Mars was declared a dead planet, somewhat like our Moon, not really worthy of our attention.
Continue reading "The Changing Face of Mars"
Orbiters can explore all of Mars, but from a great distance. Rovers can examine Mars closely, but have limited mobility. Balloons have been proposed as a compromise, combining an ability to cover a large area with instruments that can study with great detail. The problem has been an ability to direct the balloon. One company has come up with a solution.
Still about 500 e-mails behind (new ones just keep coming in), so I have a feeling that these summary postings are going to be the mode of operations until I get caught up.
NASA will hold a one hour briefing (starting at 9:00 AM—I presume EDT but it doesn't say—on Monday, September 19, 2005) concerning the Exploration Systems Architecture Study. The White House has backed NASA's plans for the new architecture. No details on how they will address the gap between the stated retirement date for the shuttle (2010) and the first flights of the CEV (2012). If all goes well, look for a return to the Moon in 2018. Here are some shots of the proposed shuttle-derived launchers as well as proposed changes to processing, etc.
Continue reading "Another Big Update"
Scientists diverted water into a dry Antarctic stream channel. After the water hit freeze-dried microbes, they returned to life. Could a similar thing happen on Mars or Europa or another body in the Solar System?
A Voyage to Arcturus picks up on the same thing I noticed in some of the recently posted pictures from the Mars Global Surveyor. It appears that global warming is affecting Mars. Given the lack of beings that burn fossil fuels, perhaps the problem is not one local to Earth, but something that is affecting the entire Solar System? Hey, maybe we need one of those space program things after all!
The German Mars Society, in conjunction with the University of the German Federal Armed Forces Munich, recently tested a balloon that could be used as part of a scientific package to Mars during 2009.
Evidence from meteorites known to have originated on Mars suggests that the planet has been cold for a long time...at least four billion years. In fact, there is no evidence that the meteorites ever were warm.
On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence on Mars of the presence of liquid water. Landforms. Signs of erosion. Apparent channels. Chemicals detected in the rocks by Spirit and Opportunity.
Reconciling these two observations will be an interesting process!
I always thought one of the sillier sequences in the movie Mission to Mars (which swung from the good to the silly) was a sequence involving a controlled dust devil. So far, neither Spirit or Opportunity have encountered anything quite as wild. Future expeditions might encounter a devil in the dust that would give them trouble.
Astrobiology Magazine reprints a report from JPL about dust devils on Mars.
Rover science team member Ron Greeley, Director of the Planetary Geology Group, has been tracking and studying dust devil characteristics in detail on both Mars and Earth for the past couple of years. Scientists believe the small cyclones are seasonal, perhaps linked to wind storms that occur in the martian spring.
"We're trying to determine whether dust devils play a small or large role in changing the surface of Mars in the short-term," says Shane Thompson, Research Technician with the Planetary Geology Group at Arizona State University.