Mar 12 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-117
NASA'S MARS ROVERS SET LONGEVITY RECORD ON THE RED PLANET; SATELLITE INTERVIEWS WITH EXPERT AVAILABLE
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project will pass a historic Martian longevity record on Thursday, May 20. The Opportunity rover will surpass the duration record set by NASA's Viking 1 Lander of six years and 116 days operating on the surface of Mars. The effects of favorable weather on the red planet could also help the rovers generate more power. NASA will offer live satellite interviews with Mars Exploration Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Interviews are available from 9:30 to 11:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday. To participate, reporters should contact Mark Petrovich at 818-393-4359 or Elena Mejia at 818-393-5467 by 8 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Opportunity's twin rover, Spirit, began working on Mars three weeks before Opportunity. However, Spirit has been out of communication since March 22. If it awakens from hibernation and resumes communication, that rover will attain the Martian surface longevity record. Spirit's hibernation was anticipated, based on energy forecasts, as the amount of sunshine hitting the robot's solar panels declined during autumn on Mars' southern hemisphere. Unfortunately, mobility problems prevented rover operators from positioning Spirit with a favorable tilt toward the north, as during the first three winters it experienced. The rovers' fourth winter solstice, the day of the Martian year with the least sunshine at their locations, was Wednesday, May 12. Opportunity, and likely Spirit, surpassing the Viking Lander 1 longevity record is truly remarkable, considering these rovers were designed for only a 90-day mission on the surface of Mars, Callas said. Passing the solstice means we're over the hump for the cold, dark, winter season. Unless dust interferes, which is unlikely in the coming months, the solar panels on both rovers should gradually generate more electricity. Operators hope that Spirit will recharge its batteries enough to awaken from hibernation, start communicating and resume science tasks. Unlike recent operations, Opportunity will not have to rest to regain energy between driving days. The gradual increase in available sunshine will eventually improve the rate of Opportunity's progress across a vast plain toward its long-term destination, the Endeavour Crater. This month, some of Opportunity's drives have been planned to end at an energy-favorable tilt on the northern face of small Martian plain surface ripples. The positioning sacrifices some distance to regain energy sooner for the next drive. Opportunity's cameras can see a portion of the rim of Endeavour on the horizon, approximately eight miles away, across the plain's ripples of windblown sand. "The ripples look like waves on the ocean, like we're out in the middle of the ocean with land on the horizon, our destination, said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Squyres is the principal investigator for Opportunity and Spirit. Even though we know we might never get there, Endeavour is the goal that drives our exploration. The team chose Endeavour as a destination in mid-2008, after Opportunity finished two years examining the smaller Victoria Crater. Since then, the goal became even more alluring when orbital observations found clay minerals exposed at Endeavour. Clay minerals have been found extensively on Mars from orbit, but have not been examined on the surface. "Those minerals form under wet conditions more neutral than the wet, acidic environment that formed the sulfates we've found with Opportunity, said Squyres. The clay minerals at Endeavour speak to a time when the chemistry was much friendlier to life than the environments that formed the minerals Opportunity has seen so far. We want to get there to learn their context. Was there flowing water? Were there steam vents? Hot springs? We want to find out. Launched in 1975, Project Viking consisted of two orbiters, each carrying a stationary lander. Viking Lander 1 was the first successful mission to the surface of Mars, touching down on July 20, 1976. It operated until Nov. 13, 1982, more than two years longer than its twin lander or either of the Viking orbiters. The record for longest working lifetime by a spacecraft at Mars belongs to a later orbiter: NASA's Mars Global Surveyor operated for more than 9 years after arriving in 1997. NASA's Mars Odyssey, in orbit since in 2001, has been working at Mars longer than any other current mission and is on track to take the Mars longevity record late this year. Science discoveries by the Mars Exploration Rover have included Opportunity finding the first mineralogical evidence that Mars had liquid water and Spirit finding evidence for hot springs or steam vents and a past environment of explosive volcanism. Thursday's interviews will be conducted on the NASA TV Live Interactive Media Outlet Channel and carried live on the NASA TV Public Channel. For NASA TV coordinates and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv JPL manages the Mars rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
-end-
RELEASE: 10-092
NASA'S STARRY-EYED HUBBLE TELESCOPE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF DISCOVERY
WASHINGTON -- As the Hubble Space Telescope achieves the major milestone of two decades on orbit, NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute, or STScI, in Baltimore are celebrating Hubble's journey of exploration with a stunning new picture and several online educational activities. There are also opportunities for people to explore galaxies as armchair scientists and send personal greetings to Hubble for posterity. NASA is releasing a new Hubble photo of a small portion of one of the largest known star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Three light-year-tall towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's classic Pillars of Creation photo from 1995, but even more striking. To view the photo, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble NASA's best-recognized, longest-lived and most prolific space observatory was launched April 24, 1990, aboard the space shuttle Discovery during the STS-31 mission. Hubble discoveries revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research from planetary science to cosmology. Over the years, Hubble has suffered broken equipment, a bleary-eyed primary mirror, and the cancellation of a planned shuttle servicing mission. But the ingenuity and dedication of Hubble scientists, engineers and NASA astronauts allowed the observatory to rebound and thrive. The telescope's crisp vision continues to challenge scientists and the public with new discoveries and evocative images. "Hubble is undoubtedly one of the most recognized and successful scientific projects in history, said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Last year's space shuttle servicing mission left the observatory operating at peak capacity, giving it a new beginning for scientific achievements that impact our society. Hubble fans worldwide are being invited to take an interactive journey with Hubble by visiting http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/Hubble20/. They can also visit http://www.hubblesite.org to share the ways the telescope has affected them. Follow the Messages to Hubble link to send an e-mail, post a Facebook message, or send a cell phone text message. Fan messages will be stored in the Hubble data archive along with the telescope's science data. For those who use Twitter, you can follow @HubbleTelescope or post tweets using the Twitter hashtag #hst20. The public also will have an opportunity to become at-home scientists by helping astronomers sort out the thousands of galaxies seen in a Hubble deep field observation. STScI is partnering with the Galaxy Zoo consortium of scientists to launch an Internet-based astronomy project where amateur astronomers can peruse and sort galaxies from Hubble's deepest view of the universe into their classic shapes: spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Dividing the galaxies into categories will allow astronomers to study how they relate to each other and provide clues that might help scientists understand how they formed. To visit the Galaxy Zoo page, go to: http://www.hubble.galaxyzoo.org For educators and students, STScI is creating an educational website called Celebrating Hubble's 20th Anniversary. It offers links to facts and trivia about Hubble, a news story that chronicles the observatory's life and discoveries, and the IMAX Hubble 3D educator's guide. An anniversary poster containing Hubble's "hall-of-fame images, including the Eagle Nebula and Saturn, also is being offered with downloadable classroom activity information. Visit the website at: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/hubble_20 To date, Hubble has observed more than 30,000 celestial targets and amassed more than a half-million pictures in its archive. The last astronaut servicing mission to Hubble in May 2009 made the telescope 100 times more powerful than when it was launched. For Hubble 20th anniversary image files and more information, visit: http://hubblesite.org/news/2010/13 http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1007/
-end-
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
