Mar 18 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-182
NASA'S HIBERNATING MARS ROVER MAY NOT CALL HOME
WASHINGTON -- NASA mission controllers have not heard from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit since March 22, and the rover is facing its toughest challenge yet -- trying to survive the harsh Martian winter. The rover team anticipated Spirit would go into a low-power "hibernation mode since the rover was not able to get to a favorable slope for its fourth Martian winter, which runs from May through November. The low angle of sunlight during these months limits the power generated from the rover's solar panels. During hibernation, the rover suspends communications and other activities so available energy can be used to recharge and heat batteries, and to keep the mission clock running. On July 26, mission managers began using a paging technique called "sweep and beep in an effort to communicate with Spirit. "Instead of just listening, we send commands to the rover to respond back to us with a communications beep, said John Callas, project manager for Spirit and Opportunity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. If the rover is awake and hears us, she will send us that beep. Based on models of Mars' weather and its effect on available power, mission managers believe that if Spirit responds, it most likely will be in the next few months. However, there is a very distinct possibility Spirit may never respond. "It will be the miracle from Mars if our beloved rover phones home, said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program in Washington. It's never faced this type of severe condition before -- this is unknown territory. Because most of the rover's heaters were not being powered this winter, Spirit is likely experiencing its coldest internal temperatures yet -- minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit. During three previous Martian winters, Spirit communicated about once or twice a week with Earth and used its heaters to stay warm while parked on a sun-facing slope for the winter. As a result, the heaters were able to keep internal temperatures above minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Spirit is designed to wake up from its hibernation and communicate with Earth when its battery charge is adequate. But if the batteries have lost too much power, Spirit's clock may stop and lose track of time. The rover could still reawaken, but it would not know the time of day, a situation called a mission-clock fault. Spirit would start a new timer to wake up every four hours and listen for a signal from Earth for 20 minutes of every hour while the sun is up. The earliest date the rover could generate enough power to send a beep to Earth was calculated to be around July 23. However, mission managers don't anticipate the batteries will charge adequately until late September to mid-October. It may be even later if the rover is in a mission-clock fault mode. If Spirit does wake up, mission managers will do a complete health check on the rover's instruments and electronics. Based on previous Martian winters, the rover team anticipates the increasing haziness in the sky over Spirit will offset longer daylight for the next two months. The amount of solar energy available to Spirit then will increase until the southern Mars summer solstice in March 2011. If we haven't heard from it by March, it is unlikely that we will ever hear from it. "This has been a long winter for Spirit, and a long wait for us, said Steve Squyres, the principal investigator for NASA's two rovers who is based at Cornell University. Even if we never heard from Spirit again, I think her scientific legacy would be secure. But we're hopeful we will hear from her, and we're eager to get back to doing science with two rovers again. Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, began exploring Mars in January 2004 on missions planned to last three months. Spirit has been nearly stationary since April 2009, while Opportunity is driving toward a large crater named Endeavour. Opportunity covered more distance in 2009 than in any prior year. Both rovers have made important discoveries about wet environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting microbial life. NASA's JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
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RELEASE: 10-007
NASA'S NEW MUSEUM GRANT ALLIES WILL MAKE THE UNIVERSE ACCESSIBLE TO FAMILIES FROM ALASKA TO FLORIDA
WASHINGTON -- Interactive museum exhibits about climate change, Earth science, and missions beyond Earth are among the projects NASA has selected to receive agency funding. Nine informal education providers from Alaska to New York will share $6.2 million in grants through NASA's Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums. Participating organizations include museums, science centers, Challenger Centers and other institutions of informal education. Selected projects will partner with NASA's Museum Alliance, an Internet-based, nationwide network of more than 400 science centers, planetariums, museums, aquariums, zoos, observatory visitor centers, NASA visitor centers, nature centers and park visitor centers. Projects in the program will engage learners of all ages as well as educators who work in formal or informal science education. The projects will provide NASA-inspired space, science, technology, engineering or mathematics educational opportunities, including planetarium shows and exhibits. In conjunction with NASA's Museum Alliance, the grants focus on NASA-themed space exploration, aeronautics, space science, Earth science, microgravity or a combination of themes. Some projects will include partnerships with elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities. The projects are located in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and South Dakota. The nine grants have a maximum five-year period of performance and range in value from approximately $120,000 to $1.15 million. Selected projects work with the NASA Shared Service Center in Mississippi to complete the business review necessary before a NASA award is issued. Proposals were selected through a merit-based, external peer-review process. NASA's Office of Education and mission directorates collaborated to solicit and review the grant applications. This integrated approach distinguishes NASA's investment in informal education. NASA received 67 proposals from 32 states and the District of Columbia. Congress initially funded the Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums grants in 2008. The first group of projects began in fall 2009 in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Vermont and Washington. Congress has enacted funds to continue this program in 2010, and NASA anticipates selecting additional proposals to fund from those submitted in 2009. For a list of selected organizations and projects descriptions, click on Selected Proposals and look for Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums (CP4SMP) or solicitation NNH09ZNE005N at: http://nspires.nasaprs.com
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