Something NASA did well
- From: Rich <none@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 18:42:09 -0400
Caltech: NASA Grant For New Work On Mars With Rovers
When it comes to longevity, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars
are giving some real competition to the pink bunny from those battery
advertisements. The two rovers in a couple of months will celebrate
their second anniversary on the red planet, even though their original
missions were only 90 days.
With no end to the rover missions in sight, NASA has selected a
planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology to see
if he and his team can learn new things about the ground the rovers
are currently rolling on. With any luck, the researchers will uncover
further evidence about water or water vapor once present on the
planet's surface.
Oded Aharonson, assistant professor of planetary science at Caltech,
was chosen as part of the Mars Exploration Rover Participating
Scientist Program. Aharonson and seven other investigators have been
selected from 35 applicants.
According to NASA, the eight successful proposals were chosen on the
basis of merit, relevance, and cost-effectiveness. Aharonson and the
seven other finalists will become official members of the Mars
Exploration Rovers science team, according to Michael Meyer, lead
scientist for the Mars Exploration Program.
"Spirit and Opportunity have exceeded all expectations for their
longevity on Mars, and both rovers are in good position to continue
providing even more great science," said Meyer. "Because of this, we
want to add to the rover team that collectively chooses how to use the
rover's science instruments each day."
Aharonson's proposal is formally titled "Soil Structure and
Stratification as Indicators of Aqueous Transport at the MER Landing
Sites." In nontechnical talk, that means the researchers will be using
the rovers to look at Martian dirt and rocks to see if liquid water
has ever altered them.
The search for evidence of running water on Mars has been a "Holy
Grail" for the entire exploratory program. Although the details of how
life originally evolved are still largely conjectural, experts think
that liquid water is required for the sort of chemistry thought to be
conducive to the emergence of life as we know it.
Although there is no liquid water on the Martian surface at present,
Opportunity has found geological evidence that water formerly flowed
there. Thus, Aharonson will be looking for the telltale signatures of
ancient as well as more recent aqueous transport and alteration.
"My experiments would normally take a couple of weeks, but it's not
clear exactly how much time we'll devote to them," Aharonson said. "If
we find something interesting, it could be much longer. But we might
also cut the time shorter if, for example, we come upon an interesting
rock we want to look at more closely."
Aharonson will work with a new Caltech faculty member, John
Grotzinger, who comes from MIT as the Fletcher Jones Professor of
Geology and is already a member of the rovers' science team. In
addition, Caltech postdoctoral researcher Deanne Rogers will be
involved in the research.
Spirit and Opportunity have been exploring sites on opposite sides of
Mars since January 2004. They have found geological evidence of
ancient environmental conditions that were wet and possibly habitable.
They completed their primary missions three months later and are
currently in the third extension of thse missions. NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
Copyright 2005 by Space Daily, Distributed United Press International
As opposed to this money-sucking white-elephant:
ISS Orbit To Be Corrected After Emergency
Russia's Mission Control Center may correct the International Space
Station's orbit once again, following an emergency situation involving
a space vehicle that is currently docked with it, an expert at the
center said Wednesday, reports RIA Novosti.
"The emergency that occurred in the early hours of Wednesday was
caused by an engine shutoff of the Progress M-54 cargo vehicle during
initial ISS orbit correction maneuvers," he said. "The decision to
perform a second ISS orbit correction will most likely be made today."
According to the expert, the shutoff was not spontaneous but executed
by a special computer system that controls the engines' synchronous
operation.
The expert said the first orbit correction, aimed at raising the
station's orbit by 10 kilometers, had been performed to prepare the
station to dock with another cargo vehicle, the Progress M-55, which
is set to be launched from Earth December 21.
The situation is therefore not a cause for concern since the center
has plenty of time to complete an orbit correction and the current ISS
orbit parameters are satisfactory.
Copyright 2005 by Space Daily, Distributed United Press International
This news is brought to you by PhysOrg.com
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