March 2004 Top Stories
»» Hydrogen Peroxide Detected in Mars' Atmosphere
[Monday, March 01, 2004] Astronomers have detected hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the atmosphere of Mars
for the first time. This is the first time that a chemical catalyst of this
sort has been found in a planetary atmosphere other than the Earth's.
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»» NASA Set to Make Major Mars Science Announcement
[Monday, March 01, 2004] After several days of growing speculation NASA has scheduled an announcement at NASA Headquarters regarding discoveries made by the Mars Exploration Rovers.
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»» NASA Mars Opportunity Rover Finds Evidence of Past Liquid Water
[Tuesday, March 02, 2004] NASA scientists have concluded the part of Mars NASA's Opportunity rover is exploring was once drenched in liquid water.
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»» Briefing Charts: NASA Associate Administrator Craig Steidle, Office of Exploration Systems
[Tuesday, March 02, 2004] NASA Associate Administrator Craig Steidle, from the newly formed Office of Exploration Systems briefed NASA employees today on plans for the initial implementation of the President's new space policy.
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»» Tumbleweed Rover Goes on a Roll Across Antarctica
[Wednesday, March 03, 2004] A balloon-shaped robot explorer that one day could search for evidence that water existed on other planets has survived some of the most trying conditions on planet Earth during a 70-kilometer (40-mile), wind-driven trek across Antarctica.
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»» Curious Cautionary Caveat on NASA Future Mission Artwork
[Thursday, March 04, 2004] Why do virtually all of the images in the NASA Human Spaceflight website gallery of exploration concepts still have this cautionary caveat attached to them? "Note: NASA currently has no formal plans for a human expedition to Mars or the Moon"
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»» Volcanic Rock in Mars' Gusev Crater Hints at Past Water
[Friday, March 05, 2004] NASA's Spirit has found hints of a water history in a rock at Mars'
Gusev Crater, but it is a very different type of rock than those in
which NASA's Opportunity found clues to a wet past on the opposite
side of the planet.
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»» NASA Rovers Watching Solar Eclipses By Mars Moons
[Monday, March 08, 2004] Viking Landers observed the shadow of Phobos moving across the surface of Mars and Pathfinder observed Phobos emerge from the shadow of Mars. Yet no mission has ever directly observed a moon pass in front of the sun from the surface of another world.
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»» NASA Spirit Mars Rover Peers Inside Bonneville Crater
[Wednesday, March 10, 2004] Spirit climbed up a very steep part of "Bonneville" and ended this sol's drive tilted at a forward pitch of about 15 degrees bringing its total odometry to 314 meters (1,030 feet) - 14 meters (45.9 feet) past the minimum mission success criterion.
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»» NASA Opportunity Rover Views Another Martian Moon Eclipse
[Thursday, March 11, 2004] On Sol 45 Opportunity snapped two images of Mars' moon Phobos as it passed across the face of the sun.
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»» Spirit Looks Down Into Crater After Reaching Rim
[Friday, March 12, 2004] NASA's Spirit has begun looking down into a crater it has been
approaching for several weeks, providing a view of what's below the
surrounding surface.
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»» Mars is the Focus of the Lunar and Planetary Conference
[Friday, March 12, 2004] With robotic missions to Mars and plans to send humans back to the Moon and to Mars stirring special excitement, hundreds of leading scientists from around the world will meet in Houston next week for the 35th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
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»» NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Southern Spring in False Color
[Friday, March 12, 2004] This image was collected June 25, 2003 during the southern spring season. This false color image shows both the layered ice cap and darker "spots" that are seen only when the sun first lights the polar surface.
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»» NASA Mars Spirit Rover Image: Earth as seen from Mars
[Friday, March 12, 2004] This is the first image ever taken of Earth from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd martian day, or sol, of its mission.
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»» Mineral in Mars 'Berries' Adds to Water Story
[Friday, March 19, 2004] A major ingredient in small mineral spheres analyzed by Opportunity furthers understanding of past water at Opportunity's landing site and points to a way of determining whether the vast plains surrounding the site also have a wet history.
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»» Mars Express Confirms Presence of Water at Mars' South Pole
[Friday, March 19, 2004] Thanks to ESA's Mars Express, we now know that Mars has vast fields of perennial water ice, stretching out from the south pole of the Red Planet.
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»» NASA to Announce Major Mars Rover Finding
[Monday, March 22, 2004] NASA will announce a major scientific finding at a Space Science Update Tuesday at 2 p.m. EST, in the headquarters Webb Auditorium, 300 E St. SW, Washington, D.C.
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»» It's Official. Mars is Now a Career Opportunity!
[Tuesday, March 23, 2004] During the months of March, April and May, NASA is sending its finest to speak with students and teachers at NASA Explorer Schools across the country about the new Vision for Space Exploration outlined by President Bush in January.
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»» Mars Rover Opportunity Landed in What Was Once a Salty Sea
[Tuesday, March 23, 2004] NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity has provided new evidence that it landed on a shoreline of what was once a salty sea. The Opportunity rover will now travel to a newly named crater called Endurance to look for further evidence of water.
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»» Beachcombing On the Shores of Barsoom
[Tuesday, March 23, 2004] This morning in Washington DC, on the 198th anniversary of the start of the long trek home by Lewis and Clark, NASA revealed evidence that the Mars Opportunity rover landed on what they believe to be "the shoreline of a salty sea on Mars".
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»» Research Partnership Seeks to Help NASA Live off the Land on Other Planets
[Wednesday, March 24, 2004] Sludge. That's what most people think of when they envision the gray, powdery soil -- called regolith -- covering the airless surface of the Moon. Not Dr. Mike Duke. He sees gold.
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»» Mars Polar Cap Mysery Solved
[Thursday, March 25, 2004] The spiral troughs of Mars' polar ice caps have been called the most
enigmatic landforms in the solar system. The deep canyons spiraling out
from the Red Planet's North and South poles cover hundreds of miles. No
other planet has such structures.
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»» NASA Mars Terraforming Debate at Astrobiology Conference
[Thursday, March 25, 2004] A group of science fiction writers, academic luminaries and NASA scientists will hold a lively debate about terraforming Mars at NASA Ames Research Center on March 30, 2004.
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»» New Phase of Exploration Beginning for Mars Rovers
[Friday, March 26, 2004] Spirit will begin trekking toward hills on its eastern horizon in the next few days, entering a new phase of the rover's exploration of Mars just before its prime three-month mission ends and its extended mission begins, rover team members said today.
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»» Mars Express confirms methane in the Martian atmosphere
[Tuesday, March 30, 2004] During recent observations from the ESA Mars Express spacecraft in orbit around Mars, methane was detected in its atmosphere.
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»» Mars Express Commissioning Almost Complete
[Wednesday, March 31, 2004] Remaining payload-commissioning activities are being performed until mid-April. The MARSIS radar will be deployed on 20 April and subsequently the spacecraft will be fully commissioned.
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