December 2004 Top Stories
»» Reports Detail NASA Rover Discoveries of Wet Martian History
[Thursday, December 02, 2004] The most dramatic findings so far from NASA's twin Mars
rovers -- telltale evidence for a wet and possibly habitable
environment in the arid planet's past -- passed rigorous
scientific scrutiny for publication in a major research journal.
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»» Conditions on vast plain on Mars could have been suitable for life
[Friday, December 03, 2004] Although present conditions on Mars would seem to be inhospitable to life, the data sent back by NASA's two exploration rovers showed a world that might once have been warmer and wetter.
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»» Ultra-Sharp Mars-Bound Camera Delivered
[Monday, December 06, 2004] The camera that will take thousands of the sharpest, most detailed pictures
of Mars ever produced from an orbiting spacecraft was delivered today for
installation on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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»» Surveying Burns Cliff
[Wednesday, December 08, 2004] Opportunity has completed its super-high-resolution imaging and other remote sensing operations from the base of "Burns Cliff," collecting more than 985 megabits of telemetry.
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»» NASA Mars Rover Spirit's Amazing Trek Continues
[Wednesday, December 08, 2004] This view from where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit stood on the rover's 149th martian day shows terrain the rover has crossed since then. The yellow line traces the path Spirit has taken since arriving at the "Columbia Hills."
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»» NASA's Mars Rovers Spot Water-Clue Mineral, Frost, Clouds
[Monday, December 13, 2004] Scientists have identified a water-signature mineral called goethite in bedrock that the NASA's Mars rover Spirit examined in the "Columbia Hills," one of the mission's surest indicators yet for a wet history on Spirit's side of Mars.
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»» NASA Selects Investigations for the Mars Science Laboratory
[Tuesday, December 14, 2004] NASA has selected eight proposals to provide instrumentation and associated science investigations for the mobile Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, scheduled for
launch in 2009.
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»» Trekking Toward 'Husband Hill'
[Tuesday, December 14, 2004] Spirit drove five of the last seven days, continuing its trek towards the top of "Husband Hill." Spirit's intermediate goal is a ridge dubbed "Larry's Lookout," which is roughly 75 meters (246 feet) away.
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»» Out of 'Endurance'
[Tuesday, December 14, 2004] Opportunity has finished its work inside "Endurance Crater" and climbed out. Before leaving, the rover examined a transition point between dark and light rock layers about 20 meters (about 66 feet) from the rim of the crater.
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»» Science Magazine names Cornell-led Mars rover mission science program as Breakthrough of the Year
[Thursday, December 16, 2004] The Mars discoveries by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which bounced down on opposite sides of the planet last January, lead nine other research advances that make up Science's list of the top 10 scientific developments of 2004.
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»» Research team discovers first evidence of microbes living in a rock glacier
[Saturday, December 18, 2004] Scientists have discovered evidence of microbial activity in a rock glacier high above tree line in the Rocky Mountains, a barren environment previously thought to be devoid of life.
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»» NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Approaches Location of Crashed Heatshield
[Wednesday, December 22, 2004] Having emerged from Endurance crater, Opportunity is now approaching the location where its heatshield crashed almost a year ago.
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»» NASA Opportunity Mars Rover Looks Back at Endurance Crater
[Wednesday, December 22, 2004] This image shows Oportunity's path outward toward the heatshield crash site from Endeavour crater.
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»» Potato-size Rock in Spirit's Wheel Well
[Wednesday, December 29, 2004] In recent days, controllers directed NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to back up and turn to try to dislodge a potato-size rock from Spirit's right rear wheel.
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»» Opportunity's Trek Across the Plains of Meridiani
[Wednesday, December 29, 2004] Opportunity is approaching the heat shield that protected the rover from frictional high temperatures during descent through the martian atmosphere in January 2004. The spacecraft carrying the rover jettisoned the heat shield just prior to landing.
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»» Gusev Crater Geology as Seen from Above
[Wednesday, December 29, 2004] As Spirit continues to explore the "Columbia Hills" within Gusev Crater, scientists are planning to take a closer look for layered rocks in a steep valley straight ahead before directing the rover to turn south toward the summit of "Husband Hill."
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»» Opportunity Visits its Heat Shield Impact Site
[Wednesday, December 29, 2004] NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity gained this view of its own heat shield during the rover's 325th martian day (Dec. 22, 2004). The main structure from the successfully used shield is to the far left.
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»» NASA Workshop on Granular Materials in Lunar and Martian Exploration
[Wednesday, December 29, 2004] For humans to explore the Moon and Mars, most mission scenarios require that we shall make use of in-situ resources. This requires us to understand the properties and mechanics of the extraterrestrial regoliths.
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»» NASA Events Commemorate Rover Anniversary on Mars
[Thursday, December 30, 2004] On Jan. 3, 2004, cheers erupted from mission control at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), when the first robotic rover successfully
landed on Mars. Three weeks later, the second rover successfully landed
on the opposite side of Mars.
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