August 2004 Top Stories
»» Opportunity Catches its Shadow on Sol 180
[Sunday, August 01, 2004] This self-portrait of Opportunity comes courtesy of the Sun and the rover's front hazard-avoidance camera. The dramatic snapshot of Opportunity's shadow was taken as the rover continues to move farther into Endurance Crater.
° Full Story
»» Spirit: High on West Spur
[Sunday, August 01, 2004] This view is a mosaic of images taken by the rover's navigation camera at a position labeled as Site 80, near the top of the "West Spur" portion of the "Columbia Hills."
° Full Story
»» NASA Mars Rover Status
[Wednesday, August 04, 2004] NASA's Spirit rover has climbed higher into rocky hills on Mars, and
its twin, Opportunity, has descended deeper into a crater, but both
rovers, for the time being, are operating with some restrictions while
team members diagnose unexpected behavior.
° Full Story
»» Rocks Tell Stories in Reports of NASA's Spirit Rover's First 90 Martian Days
[Thursday, August 05, 2004] Scientific findings from the NASA rover Spirit's first three months on Mars will be published Friday, marking the start of a flood of peer-reviewed discoveries in scientific journals from the continuing two-rover adventure (contains links).
° Full Story
»» Endurance Crater's Dazzling Dunes
[Friday, August 06, 2004] As Opportunity creeps farther into "Endurance Crater," the dune field on the crater floor appears even more dramatic. This approximate true-color panoramic camera image highlights the reddish-colored dust present throughout the scene.
° Full Story
»» MIT-NASA team to test first interplanetary laser communication link
[Friday, August 06, 2004] In 2010, the Mars Laser Communication Demonstration (MLCD) will test the first deep-space laser communication link, which promises to transmit data at a rate nearly ten times higher than any existing interplanetary radio communication link.
° Full Story
»» Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status 9 August 2004
[Monday, August 09, 2004] With one very busy year remaining before launch, the team preparing
NASA's next mission to Mars has begun integrating and testing the
spacecraft's versatile payload.
° Full Story
»» Carnegie Mellon To Demonstrate Autonomous Robot That Will Seek Life in Chile's Atacama Desert
[Tuesday, August 10, 2004] Carnegie Mellon University will demonstrate Zoe, a rover which will seek and identify life in hostile environments. The project is part of NASA's ASTEP program which concentrates on pushing the limits of technology in harsh environments.
° Full Story
»» Relays from Mars demonstrate international interplanetary networking
[Wednesday, August 11, 2004] ESA's Mars Express has relayed pictures from one of NASA's Mars rovers for the first time, as part of a set of interplanetary networking demonstrations.
° Full Story
»» NASA Spirit Rover Martian Panorama
[Wednesday, August 11, 2004] This image was taken as Spirit made its way up the side of the Columbia Hills.
° Full Story
»» Opportunity Image of Martian Clouds
[Wednesday, August 11, 2004] This image was taken as Oportunity made its way around the interior of Endeavour crater.
° Full Story
»» Water on Mars not easy to find, says Texas A&M researcher
[Wednesday, August 11, 2004] Suspected large lakebeds that once were scattered on the planet Mars have not yet been found, say the research team that operated the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Their work appears in the current issue of Science magazine.
° Full Story
»» Mars Express Image: Olympus Mons caldera in perspective
[Wednesday, August 11, 2004] This perspective view, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)
on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the complex caldera of
Olympus Mons on Mars, the highest volcano in our Solar System.
° Full Story
»» Beagle 2 Internal Inquiry Report to be Released
[Friday, August 13, 2004] A six month internal investigation by the Beagle 2 Project Team has led to the publication of two open reports, both of which will be available at this briefing on 24 August.
° Full Story
»» NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center Selected as Program Office for Discovery and New Frontiers Initiatives to Explore the Solar System
[Saturday, August 14, 2004] The Discovery and New Frontiers office provides opportunities for the science community to propose full investigations to be conducted under a fixed price cost cap - an initiative designed to address high-priority exploration initiatives.
° Full Story
»» Bedrock in Mars' Gusev Crater Hints at Watery Past
[Wednesday, August 18, 2004] Now that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is finally examining
bedrock in the "Columbia Hills," it is finding evidence that water
thoroughly altered some rocks in Mars' Gusev Crater.
° Full Story
»» Keck Foundation Awards $500,000 to Fund Search for Life on Mars
[Wednesday, August 18, 2004] A $500,000 challenge grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation will
enable Derek Sears and his students and colleagues to investigate how liquid
water forms on Mars and examine the existence of considerable amounts of
near-surface ice all over the planet.
° Full Story
»» Two Thirds of the Way to Mars
[Monday, August 23, 2004] Underway: Week 17 for Expedition 9. And it's Day 128 in space for Expedition 9 (almost two-thirds of the way to Mars!). Also: Day 1360 of permanent human station residency, and Day 2104 since first ISS launch (FGB).
° Full Story
»» Beagle 2 Mission Report and Lessons Learned Released
[Tuesday, August 24, 2004] A six month internal investigation by the Beagle 2 Project Team has led
to the publication of two open reports - "The Beagle 2 Mission Report" and a "Lessons Learned" report.
° Full Story
»» NASA Mars Odyssey Begins Overtime After Successfull Mission
[Wednesday, August 25, 2004] Odyssey begins working overtime
today after completing a prime mission that discovered vast
supplies of frozen water, ran a safety check for future
astronauts, and mapped surface textures and minerals all over
Mars, among other feats.
° Full Story
»» NASA Human & Robotic Technology BAA NOI's Selected for Full Proposals
[Tuesday, August 31, 2004] NASA's Office of Exploration Systems has announced a listing of Notices of Intent (NOI) letters submitted in response to the Human & Robotic Technology BAA which have been selected to submit full proposals.
° Full Story
