| 13-Nov-2002 |
Mars Rover Takes Baby Steps |
 |
Like any travelers worth their frequent flyer miles, the twin rovers of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission must prepare for a long journey. Unlike airline passengers, however, the rovers won't have an attentive flight crew to tend to their needs. Instead, the twins face a daunting 460 million kilometer (286 million mile) voyage to Mars.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 18-Oct-2002 |
Fostering the Next Generation of Mars Explorers |
 |
The Mars Student Imaging Project allows students from the fifth
grade through community college to take their own pictures of Mars
using a thermal infrared visible camera system onboard NASA's Mars
Odyssey spacecraft, which is currently circling the red planet.
Read More...
View Video Clip
|
|
|
| 08-Aug-2002 |
JPL's Bionic Woman, Dr. Ayanna Howard |
 |
Howard is JPL's own bionic woman who, at the moment, is
helping develop an advanced Entry, Descent and Landing software
application that can look at virtual terrain on Mars.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 29-Jul-2002 |
Building Blocks and Designing Students |
 |
Just as a toddler uses a set of blocks to build a structure, engineers
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., design conceptual
space missions using a set of "blocks," each representing a
different segment of requirements, to make sure that all aspects of a
mission mesh with the final design.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 01-Jul-2002 |
Pathfinder's 5th Anniversary Reveals Big Future for Mars Exploration |
 |
On Friday, July 4, 1997, American flags dressed the nation in a giant Independence Day celebration. It was National Hot Dog Month, and an estimated 155 million hot dogs hit the grill that weekend alone. Space must have been on moviegoers minds, as the alien flick "Men in Black" took in a whopping $84 million during its holiday opening.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 03-May-2002 |
Mars Global Surveyor Aging Gracefully |
 |
As an automobile ages, it usually requires more trips to a mechanic. Spacecraft are designed for a primary mission; when all is going well, the mission is often extended to obtain more data for other research objectives. But spacecraft are also subject to the ravages of time and wear.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 29-Apr-2002 |
Sending RATs to Mars |
 |
NASA and JPL are sending RATS to Mars to work as field geologists. A
RAT is not quite a furry little friend, but rather a high-tech robot with
diamond teeth, called a Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT).
Read More...
View Animation
|
|
|
| 26-Apr-2002 |
Global Surveyor Continues Its Watch on the Red Planet |
 |
Weather reports from Mars, global mapping, inspection of potential
landing sites, more data about the red planet than from all previous
missions - no problem for the hardworking Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 05-Apr-2002 |
Mars Odyssey Observes First Anniversary in Space |
 |
| What a year this has been for the Mars Odyssey team!
The excitement of launch last April 7, the arrival at Mars, the long,
sometimes tedious aerobraking concluded so successfully, the beginning
of the mapping phase ....
Read More...
|
|
|
| 25-Mar-2002 |
How to Land Softly on a Hard Planet |
 |
Just one of the many problems in landing on another planet, after it's
been determined where to land and the method to get there, is landing
safely. For NASA'a Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a safe landing is
"the name of the game," as engineers work to prepare
two rovers for the journey to Mars.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 15-Mar-2002 |
Odyssey Lead Navigator and Entire Team Honored for Flawless Performance |
 |
Caught unawares, Odyssey lead navigator Bob Mase mumbled
"what?" when Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's
Office of Space Science announced that Mase and the Odyssey navigation
team had won one of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine's
annual Laurel awards.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 11-Mar-2002 |
Long-time Mission Manager Dreams of Humans Exploring Mars Someday |
 |
After spending a career in planetary exploration, Charley Kohlhase
dreams not of the past, but of the future. What does he envision
someday? Humans living on Mars, continuing to study the planet in
great detail. Of course, NASA has a lot of work to do before human
missions are possible, but today's robotic missions are paving the way
by helping us understand the Martian environment and its potential
impact on human health. Once we learn more, Kohlhase believes,
the spirit of exploration will make Mars an irresistible destination for
future astronauts.
Read More...
View Animation
|
|
|
| 06-Mar-2002 |
Student Navigators Drive Mars Rover Testbed |
 |
Intense discussion, various viewpoints, chairs being scooted around,
slightly raised voices, and eventual consensus: just a typical meeting of
scientists in the lab; in this case a rover lab at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.
Read More...
|
|
|
| 16-Jan-2002 |
Steve Alfery - Dealing for Rover Wheeling on Mars |
 |
No banks, stock exchanges or other financial institutions are known to
exist on Mars. So how does a business and economics graduate of the
University of California at Santa Barbara end up in a key role on a mission
to the red planet?
Read More...
|
|
Team Member
|
Role
|
Mission |
|
Steve Alfery |
acquisitions representative |
2003 Mars Exploration Rover Mission |
|
| 11-Jan-2002 |
Happy Navigators Prepare to Say "Goodnight and Goodbye" to Odyssey's Successful Aerobraking |
 |
|
With the successful completion of the aerobraking effort, the Odyssey
navigation team is leaving a legacy of well-honed interdisciplinary tools
and techniques certain to be used on future missions using aerobraking.
Read More...
|
|
Team Member
|
Role
|
Mission |
|
Peter Antreasian |
navigator |
2001 Mars Odyssey |
|
Darren Baird |
navigator |
2001 Mars Odyssey |
|
Brian Kennedy |
navigator |
2001 Mars Odyssey |
|
