[Friday, September 1, 2006] Arizona's high desert is a long way from the moon and Mars, but its temperature extremes, gusty winds and dust make NASA's robots, rovers and latest space gear feel right at home.

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[Friday, September 1, 2006] This image shows dunes in the martian north polar region. The dunes are composed of dark, coarse sand. The white areas around the dunes are the last remaining areas of seasonal carbon dioxide frost cover.

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[Sunday, September 3, 2006] Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer note: "The TES spectrometer is currently being used intermittently. At this time we're no longer producing daily images or movies of 15 micron atmospheric temperature or dust opacity.

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[Sunday, September 3, 2006] NASA JPL manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. THEMIS was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in cooporation with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing.

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[Sunday, September 3, 2006] This image shows polygonal cracks formed in the material that nearly fills an impact crater on the martian northern plains. The light-toned patches in the cracks are the remains of ice, left over from the preceding winter.

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[Tuesday, September 5, 2006] Viking 2 landed 30 years ago today, on 3 September 1976. It was the second of the two Viking landings on Mars. Viking 1 touched down on 20 July 1976.

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[Tuesday, September 5, 2006] This image shows layered, light-toned outcrops of sedimentary rock in Becquerel Crater. The outcrops are juxtaposed against a dark-toned substrate which occupies the upper (northern) portion of the image.

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[Tuesday, September 5, 2006] This picture is a composite of daily global images acquired at Ls 107 degrees during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 107 degrees occurs in mid-September 2006. The picture shows the Tharsis face of Mars.

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[Tuesday, September 5, 2006] NASA has prepared and issued a DEIS for the proposed MSL mission. The DEIS addresses the potential environmental impacts associated with implementing the mission.

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[Wednesday, September 6, 2006] Opportunity is healthy and still 218 meters (715 feet) from "Victoria Crater." Over the weekend, the rover's shoulder azimuth joint stalled as Opportunity was trying to start measurements on a trench it dug on Sol 919 (Aug. 25, 2006).

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[Wednesday, September 6, 2006] Spirit experienced a software reset during the evening overpass of the Odyssey orbiter on sol 944 (Aug. 29, 2006). The rover was in the process of receiving command sequences for the following two Martian days, sols 945 and 946 (Aug. 30-31, 2006).

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[Wednesday, September 6, 2006] During the next two weeks, the robotic geologist is likely to reach the rim of a hole in the Martian surface wider and deeper than any it has visited. The crater, known as "Victoria," is approximately 750 meters wide and 70 meters deep.

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[Wednesday, September 6, 2006] This image shows the termination (end) of a group of layers in the north polar region of Mars, where they have been buried by younger, smoother-surfaced material.

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[Thursday, September 7, 2006] NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its six intermediate-size thrusters for 210 seconds Tuesday in a maneuver to make the shape of its orbit closer to the planned geometry for the mission's main science phase, beginning in November.

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[Thursday, September 7, 2006] This image shows a crater approximately 2.5 kilometers in diameter located in Terra Cimmeria. Layered rocks and gullies are visible in the northern walls of the crater. A small patch of large, windblown ripples cover part of the crater floor.

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[Friday, September 8, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned ripples covering the floors of troughs in the Adamas Labyrinthus region of northern Elysium Planitia.

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[Monday, September 11, 2006] The TES spectrometer is currently being used intermittently. At this time we're no longer producing daily images or movies of 15 micron atmospheric temperature or dust opacity.

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[Monday, September 11, 2006] This image shows a suite of rings on the martian northern plains. Each ring marks the location of a filled and buried (or, in some cases, mostly-filled and nearly-buried) impact crater.

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[Monday, September 11, 2006] This image shows dark sand dunes, formed by winds blowing from the southwest (lower left), in Wirtz Crater. The crater is named for Carl Wilhelm Wirtz (1876 - 1939), a German astronomer.

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[Monday, September 11, 2006] This image shows dark lava flows that have embayed - flowed up against and into - higher, more rugged terrain in the Cyclopia/Aethiopis region of Mars (southwest of Cerberus).

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[Monday, September 11, 2006] NASA will fund a dozen new research proposals to better understand and reduce the risks that crews of future moon and Mars missions could face from space radiation. The total potential value of the selected proposals is approximately $14 million.

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[Monday, September 11, 2006] The Desert RATS is a NASA-led team of research partners working together to prepare for human-robotic exploration. This "working group," led by NASA personnel, is comprised of both NASA and non-NASA Members.

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[Tuesday, September 12, 2006] Mars Global Surveyor has now been orbiting Mars for 9 years! It was early in the morning on 12 September 1997, Greenwich Mean Time, when MGS fired its engines to slow down and drop into an elliptical orbit around Mars.

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[Tuesday, September 12, 2006] NASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has completed the challenging half-year task of shaping its orbit to the nearly circular, low-altitude pattern from which it will scrutinize the planet.

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[Wednesday, September 13, 2006] This picture is a composite of daily global images acquired at Ls 107 deg during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 107 deg occurs in mid-September 2006. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars.

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[Thursday, September 14, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes, with a thin coating of autumn frost, in the Ogygis Regio west of Argyre basin.

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[Friday, September 15, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a landslide that occurred off of a steep slope in Tithonium Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system.

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[Sunday, September 17, 2006] Alliance Spacesystems, LLC, which has already built three robotic arms for Mars spacecraft, has been awarded the engineering contract for NASA's next major Mars rover mission, the Mars Science Laboratory, targeted for a 2009 launch.

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[Sunday, September 17, 2006] This image shows an impact crater that is approximately 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) in diameter. It is located to the northeast of Olympus Mons, in the Tharsis Region. Layered rock units are visible on the inside of the raised crater rim.

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[Sunday, September 17, 2006] This image shows rugged terrain in the northern plains. The circular features are old, buried impact craters. The bright spots are small patches of the seasonal frost that has been almost entirely removed from the area by sublimation.

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[Tuesday, September 19, 2006] Opportunity is healthy and just over 100 meters from "Victoria Crater." The rover completed robotic arm work on a scuff mark it made on sol 919. On sol 929 Opportunity almost got a hole-in-one by driving 100.31 metersto the small crater "Emma Dean."

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[Tuesday, September 19, 2006] NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its panoramic camera (Pancam) to record a 360-degree vista, dubbed the "Everest" panorama, from the top of "Husband Hill" in early October 2005.

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[Tuesday, September 19, 2006] This animation created by the U.S. Geological Survey uses a digital elevation model generated from computer analysis of three images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.

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[Tuesday, September 19, 2006] NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has extended the long-armed antenna of its radar, preparing the instrument to begin probing for underground layers of Mars.

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[Tuesday, September 19, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a narrow channel on the upper east flank of the martian volcano, Hadriaca Patera.

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[Tuesday, September 19, 2006] This picture is a composite of daily global images acquired at Ls 107 degrees; during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 107 degrees occurs in mid-September 2006. The picture shows the Syrtis Major face of Mars.

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[Wednesday, September 20, 2006] The very ancient and the modern come together in this small, approximately 3 km by 3 km (1.9 mi by 1.9 mi) area on the floor of an unnamed impact crater in western Arabia Terra.

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[Thursday, September 21, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows cracked, layered plains-forming material in the western part of Utopia Planitia, Mars.

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[Thursday, September 21, 2006] ESA's Mars Express has obtained images of the Cydonia region, site of the famous 'Face on Mars.' The High Resolution Stereo Camera photos include some of the most spectacular views of the Red Planet ever.

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[Sunday, September 24, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows outcrops of light-toned, massively-bedded rock in western Candor Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris trough system.

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[Sunday, September 24, 2006] This image shows a mesa and an impact grater just east of Phlegra Montes. The mesa is the eroded remnant of a once more extensive terrain. An apron of material surrounds the mesa.

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[Sunday, September 24, 2006] This image shows the contact between a group of yardangs, tapered ridges formed by the removal of relatively easily-eroded material and a concentration of dark-toned windblown sand on the floor of a crater in the Terra Sabaea region of Mars.

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[Sunday, September 24, 2006] Following some dramatic scrambling by rover handlers to command both Mars Exploration Rovers to switch to new flight software during a bit of a traffic jam at the Red Planet, Spirit successfully woke up and began operating with the new software.

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[Sunday, September 24, 2006] NASA officials will be available on Sept. 27, 2006 to exchange information and receive public comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) recently released for the proposed Mars Science Laboratory that would launch in 2009.

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[Monday, September 25, 2006] NASA JPL manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in cooporation with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing.

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[Monday, September 25, 2006] "The TES spectrometer is currently being used intermittently. At this time we're no longer producing daily images or movies of 15 micron atmospheric temperature or dust opacity.

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[Monday, September 25, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the patterned ground of the cold, martian northern plains. The circular features are the sites of buried impact craters.

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[Monday, September 25, 2006] NASA's Mars robotic missions are performing so well, they are being prepared for additional overtime work. NASA is adding two more years of operations for Mars Global Surveyor and the Mars Odyssey orbiter.

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[Monday, September 25, 2006] Opportunity is very near "Victoria Crater." The rover spent its week completing an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer observation of rock target "Cape Faraday," successfully booting its new flight software and exercising its mobility functions.

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[Tuesday, September 26, 2006] The most powerful camera ever to orbit Mars will get its first close look at the Red Planet on Friday.

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[Wednesday, September 27, 2006] The first NASA 21st Century Explorer Podcast Competition challenges students to create unique audio and video podcasts. The topic: How will space exploration benefit your life in the future?

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[Wednesday, September 27, 2006] This picture is a composite of daily global images acquired at Ls 107 deg during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 107 deg occurred in mid-September 2006. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars.

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[Wednesday, September 27, 2006] This picture is a composite of daily global images acquired at Ls 107 deg during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 107 deg occurred in mid-September 2006. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars.

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[Thursday, September 28, 2006] This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layers exposed in the north polar region of Mars. The north polar cap is underlain by a thick sequence of layered material.

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[Friday, September 29, 2006] This image shows gullies and cracked and stressed gully apron deposits in a south mid-latitude crater. These gullies might have formed by the erosive action of liquid water, sometime in the not-too-distant martian past.

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[Friday, September 29, 2006] Once it was more like a distant dream, the ultimate bonus to an already marvelous Martian mission. Now, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is on the brink of the expansive "Victoria Crater."

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[Friday, September 29, 2006] Mars is ready for its close-up. The highest-resolution camera ever to orbit Mars is returning low-altitude images to Earth from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

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[Friday, September 29, 2006] NASA's Mars rover Opportunity edged 3.7 meters (12 feet) closer to the top of the "Duck Bay" alcove along the rim of "Victoria Crater" during the rover's 952nd Martian day, or sol (overnight Sept. 27 to Sept. 28), and gained this vista of the crater.

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