For a behind-the-scenes view of Mars exploration, we hope you enjoy our spotlight stories. See also our press releases.
10-Aug-2009 |
JPL Blog: Five Things About Viewing Mars in August |
![Read 'Jane Houston Jones' JPL Blog: Five Things About Viewing Mars in August'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/images/20090810a/Jane_Houston-Jones_th100.jpg) |
If you’re like me, you may have received an e-mail this summer telling you go outside on August 27 and look up in the sky. The e-mail, most likely forwarded to you by a friend or relative, promises that Mars will look as big as the moon on that date, and that no one will ever see this view again.
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07-August-2009 |
More Testing Before Driving on Mars |
![Read more about 'More Testing Before Driving on Mars'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090807a/Hartman_Matijevic_090806-13_th100.jpg) |
A review on Aug. 6 of test results to date yielded a decision to conduct further checkouts in an augmented testing set-up on Earth before beginning to send driving commands to Spirit.
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31-July-2009 |
Possible Meteorite Imaged by Opportunity Rover |
![Read more about 'Free Spirit Testing Nearing Completion'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20090731a/20090731_anim_th100.gif) |
The Opportunity rover has eyed an odd-shaped, dark rock, about 0.6 meters (2 feet) across on the surface of Mars, which may be a meteorite.
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30-July-2009 |
Free Spirit Testing Nearing Completion |
![Read more about 'Free Spirit Testing Nearing Completion'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090730a/mer20090729_th100.jpg) |
Mars rover engineers at JPL are winding down testing of different escape maneuvers using a test rover in a sand box filled with soil to mimic the Martian surface.
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24-July-2009 |
Longer Tests Beginning |
![Read more about 'Longer Tests Beginning'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090724a/VanKirk-Carsten-Lichtenberg-Hwang-44_th100.jpg) |
Mars rover team members have begun a new phase of testing at JPL -- using longer-duration experiments -- in their preparations for driving Spirit again on Mars.
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21-July-2009 |
Next Step: Combinations of Basic Moves |
![Read more about 'Next Step: Combinations of Basic Moves'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090721a/Herrera-Verma-Banerdt-090721_th100.jpg) |
As the Mars rover team uses testing at JPL to evaluate possible ways to drive Spirit out of loose soil on Mars, the team is finishing tests of individual "building block" maneuvers and is about to begin stringing some of those together.
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16-July-2009 |
Test Rover Checks Pivoting Technique |
![Read more about 'Test Rover Checks Pivoting Technique'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090716b/Banerdt_090715-014_th100.jpg) |
The Mars rover team is using a test rover at JPL to assess various extraction techniques that might get Spirit out of the loose soil of "Troy" on Mars.
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14-July-2009 |
Mars Dust Devil Has Colorful Effect in Image Series |
![Read more about 'Mars Dust Devil Has Colorful Effect in Image Series'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090714a/20090714_anim_th100.gif) |
Scientists have combined a trio of shots taken seconds apart through different colored filters to create a special-effects portrait of a moving dust devil on Mars.
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13-July-2009 |
Rover Engineers Test More Maneuvers |
![Read more about 'Rover Engineers Test More Maneuvers'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090713a/Franklin_Townsend_090713-039_th100.jpg) |
Engineers checking possible rover movements to get Spirit out of the "Troy" sand trap on Mars are evaluating how a comparable rover at JPL fares in a crablike backward drive, with all four corner wheels turned 60 degrees toward the right.
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10-July-2009 |
Tests Evaluating Crabwalk Moves |
![Read the update 'Tests Evaluating Crabwalk Moves'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090710a/Maxwell_Lichtenberg_Hwang_090709_th100.jpg) |
On firm ground, NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers can make crablike moves by turning all four steerable wheels to the same side angle, then rotating the wheels either forward or backward.
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08-July-2009 |
Second Rover Test Maneuver is Backwards |
![Read the update 'Second Rover Test Maneuver is Backwards'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090708a/Seibert_Laubach_090707_th100.jpg) |
Engineers used straight-backward driving of a test rover on Earth on Wednesday, July 8, as they evaluate maneuvers that might be useful for getting Spirit out of a sandtrap on Mars.
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06-July-2009 |
Rover Extraction Tests Begin |
![Read the update 'Rover Extraction Tests Begin'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov//gallery/press/spirit/20090706a/DSC_0630_th100.jpg) |
Using a test rover in a sandbox at JPL with special soil simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars, engineers are assessing possible maneuvers for getting Spirit out and onto firmer ground.
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02-July-2009 |
NASA Phoenix Results Point to Martian Climate Cycles |
![Read the update 'NASA Phoenix Results Point to Martian Climate Cycles'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20090702a_PHX/20090702_PHX_amin_th100.gif) |
Favorable chemistry and episodes with thin films of liquid water during ongoing, long-term climate cycles may sometimes make the area where NASA's Phoenix Mars mission landed last year a favorable environment for microbes.
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01-July-2009 |
Rock Under the Belly |
![Read the update 'Rock Under the Belly'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090701a/closeup_rock_under_rover_090701_th100.jpg) |
Engineers placed a rock underneath the test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 1, 2009, to more closely simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars.
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30-June-2009 |
Test Rover Rolls In |
![Read the update 'Test Rover Rolls In'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/20090630a/20090630a-free-spirit_th100.gif) |
After several days of preparing a sloped area of soft, fine soil to simulate Spirit's current sandtrap on Mars, the rover team drove a test rover into the material on June 30, 2009.
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26-June-2009 |
The Mixing Begins |
![Read the update 'The Mixing Begins'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090626a/20090626a_Mixing_001_th100.jpg) |
Rover team members mix materials to fill the testbed box. Once filled, the rover will be driven into the test area and set in place to mimic how the actual rover sits on Mars.
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25-June-2009 |
Mars Team Digs in To Free Spirit |
![Read the update 'Mars Team Digs in To Free Spirit'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/20090625a/20090625a-testbed_th100.gif) |
Mars team members have rolled up their sleeves and will be shaping a few tons of diatomaceous Earth and clay into an exact replica of the area where the Spirit rover is embedded on Mars.
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12-June-2009 |
The Rover Gets Strong-Armed |
![View the spotlight 'The Rover Gets Strong-Armed'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/images/MSL_Spotlight20090612_th100.jpg) |
The Mars Science Laboratory rover will sport the biggest, toughest robotic arm the red planet's ever seen! This super-limb must lift 34 kilograms (almost 75 pounds) of instruments to reach out and test martian rocks and soil, which may hold clues about whether Mars could have supported life.
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08-June-2009 |
'Curiosity,' Meet Clara |
![View the spotlight ''Curiosity,' Meet Clara'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/images/msl-20090608_clara_anima_th100.gif) |
Twelve-year-old Clara Ma flew from Kansas to JPL to meet and sign the next rover that will zoom millions of miles to Mars. The trip is Clara's prize for winning an essay contest in which she named the rover "Curiosity."
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03-June-2009 |
Spirit Takes a Peek at Her Belly |
![Read the release 'Spirit Takes a Peek at Her Belly'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/images/20090603a-spirit-underbelly_th100.jpg) |
A new image of Spirit's underbelly is helping engineers assess the rover's current state and plan her escape from soft soil. The panoramic mosaic of multiple images was taken by the microscopic imager instrument at the end of Spirit's robotic arm--the first time that imager has been used to assess the underside and wheels of the rover.
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19-May-2009 |
JPL Blog: Got Water? |
![Read 'Sue Smrekar's JPL Blog: Got Water?'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/spotlight/images/20090520a/Sue_Smrekar_th100.jpg) |
A theme of Mars exploration is "Follow the Water," since understanding the history of water on our planetary neighbor will help us understand if there were environments favorable for life to occur and how climate has changed over time.
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15-Apr-2009 |
Martian Dust Storm near South Polar Cap |
![View the spotlight 'Martian Dust Storm near South Polar Cap'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/spotlight/20090415a/2009_0402marci_th100.jpg) |
This nearly global mosaic of observations made by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows billowing clouds of dust being lifted into the atmosphere by a storm near the edge of the seasonal polar cap of southern Mars.
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14-April-2009 |
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification |
![View the spotlight 'Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/images/msl_20090414_th100.jpg) |
The parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory passed flight-qualification testing in March and April 2009 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
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28-March-2009 |
Heavy Duty Trust Building |
![Read more about 'Heavy Duty Trust Building'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/images/20090328a_DSC05955_th100.jpg) |
Trust--it's vital for each step of the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Engineers must trust each other and all the tests they've done while building the rover.
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24-February-2009 |
Mars Science Laboratory Talks, Rocks, Bakes and Chills |
![Read more about 'Mars Science Laboratory Talks, Rocks, Bakes and Chills'](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090812234240im_/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/images/20090224a_Chills_Team_th100.jpg) |
Before leaving Earth, Mars Science Laboratory is really put to the test to make sure it can survive the trip to the red planet.
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