April 2004 Top Stories
»» Spirit Finds Multi-Layer Hints of Past Water at Mars' Gusev Site
[Thursday, April 01, 2004] Clues from a wind-scalloped volcanic rock on Mars investigated by
NASA's Spirit rover suggest repeated possible exposures to water
inside Gusev Crater, scientists said Thursday.
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»» Mars Express Image of Lava Channels on Ascraeus Mons
[Friday, April 02, 2004] The image shows a small region on the southern side of the volcano Ascraeus Mons. These lava channels are formed when a cooling crust forms over flowing lava to make a temporary tunnel. Such features have also been viewed on Earth.
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»» EADS Space Defines Mars Sample Return Mission
[Friday, April 02, 2004] Following award of the [EURO] 600k study contract by ESA, EADS Space has
made significant progress in completing the first definition of a
European Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission.
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»» Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 - A call to the European Science Community
[Friday, April 02, 2004] This announcement is to invite the community to participate in a Call for Themes for
Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 to assist in developing the future plans of the Cosmic
Vision programme of the ESA Directorate of Science.
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»» NASA Opportunity Mars Rover Image: Lion King Surveys Homeland
[Saturday, April 03, 2004] The full panorama, dubbed "Lion King" was obtained on sols 58 and 60 of the mission as the rover was perched at the lip of Eagle Crater, majestically looking down into its former home. It is the largest panorama yet obtained by either rover.
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»» Mars Express Images: Claritas Fossae tectonic region on Mars
[Saturday, April 03, 2004] These Mars Express images show Claritas Fossae, an ancient tectonic region on Mars, west of Solis Planum, a tectonic and volcanic area south-east of the Tharsis volcano group.
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»» A UK-Led Micro-Mission to the Moons of Mars?
[Sunday, April 04, 2004] A recent study funded by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) aims to answer outstanding questions by sending two small spacecraft to orbit both moons, followed by a landing on one of them.
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»» NASA Extends Mars Rovers' Mission
[Thursday, April 08, 2004] NASA has approved an extended mission for the Mars Exploration Rovers,
handing them up to five months of overtime assignments as they finish
their three-month prime mission.
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»» Association of Mars Explorers holds first dinner
[Sunday, April 11, 2004] The Association of Mars Explorers held its first biennial dinner since its founding in 2002. Gathering in the luxurious Fairmont hotel in San Jose, California, the historic meeting was attended by notable veterans of human Mars exploration.
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»» State-of-the-art sequencing technology to detect life on Mars
[Monday, April 12, 2004] The same cutting-edge technology that speeded sequencing of the human genome could, by the end of the decade, tell us once and for all whether life ever existed on Mars, according to a University of California, Berkeley, chemist.
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»» Opportunity Finds Rock Resembling Meteorites That Fell to Earth
[Thursday, April 15, 2004] Opportunity has examined an odd volcanic rock on the plains of Mars' Meridiani Planum region with a composition unlike anything seen on Mars before, but scientists have found similarities to meteorites that fell to Earth.
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»» Public Comments Support of President's Vision for Space Exploration
[Friday, April 16, 2004] Thus far, public comments received by the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy are running 7 to 1 in support of President Bush's "Vision for Space Exploration".
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»» NASA's Mars Rovers Look Back
[Saturday, April 17, 2004] As Spirit and Opportunity look forward to their extended missions, they've looked back at the road they have traveled away from their landing sites.
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»» Dust devils on Mars might have high-voltage electric fields
[Tuesday, April 20, 2004] If martian dust grains have a variety of sizes and compositions, dust devils on Mars should become electrified the same way as their particles rub against each other. Martian dust storms are also expected to be strong generators of electric fields.
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»» NASA Opportunity Mars Rover Image: Rock Striations
[Tuesday, April 20, 2004] NASA's Opportunity Mars Rover took this image of several rocks which exhibit obvious striations on Sol 85 at 12:25:19 Mars local solar time.
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»» Mars Express Images of the Western flank of Olympus Mons
[Wednesday, April 21, 2004] These images from ESA's Mars Express show the western flank of the shield volcano Olympus Mons in the Tharsis region of Mars' western hemisphere. The images show the western flank and an escarpment that rises from the surface level to over 7000 metres.
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»» NASA Notice of availability of draft programmatic environmental impact statement (DPEIS) for implementation of the Mars Exploration Program
[Thursday, April 22, 2004] NASA has prepared and issued a DPEIS for the Mars Exploration Program. The DPEIS addresses the potential environmental impacts associated with continuing the preparations for and implementing the program.
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»» NASA Develops Decision Suport Software for Mars Rover Mission
[Tuesday, April 27, 2004] A new ground-based science planning support system developed for the
Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission is helping NASA scientists
create plans and program computer command sequences for the twin
rovers' daily operations.
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»» NASA Mars Rovers Finish Primary Mission and Roll Onward
[Thursday, April 29, 2004] Both rovers have completed their originally planned mission. Improvement to the rovers' mobility from new software has expanded options for planning their explorations - indeed both have driven farther in April than in the previous three months combined.
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»» Mars Express radar deployment postponed
[Thursday, April 29, 2004] The MARSIS team has advised ESA to delay the deployment of the MARSIS radar instrument on board Mars Express, scheduled for this week.
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