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During the last set of drive commands uploaded to the Martian rover Spirit, engineers have encountered a problem in one of the rover's wheels, which jammed when the time came to spin. The entire drive attempt was therefore stopped by the robot's onboard computer, so as not to make its situation even worse t... |
26 November 2009
14:01 GMT |
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In a new set of actions destined to return the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to its full capabilities, experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are planning to upload a new set of commands to the ailing Martian probe. They argue that the glitch that prompted the orbiter's computer to reboot on August 2... |
25 November 2009
17:01 GMT |
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On Sol 2092 (Saturday, November 21), the Spirit rover received a new set of commands to drive, as experts were trying to move ahead with the plan of extricating it from its trap. The robot drove into a patch of loose soil called Troy in late April, and the powder-like dust did not allow for it to move since. Only rec... |
24 November 2009
09:08 GMT |
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The Cassini spacecraft has just sent back the latest pictures that it made of Saturn's moon Enceladus, during the last planned flyby it made of the celestial body as part of its mission. For the next eight years, the moon will enter the “shadows” of winter, as the planet begins its long, cold season.... |
23 November 2009
04:31 GMT |
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For the first time in more than six months, the rover Spirit took a tiny step towards freeing itself from the grasp of the loose patch of soil known as Troy. The powder-like sand was covered by a thin crust, which gave way as the robot was climbing a 12-degree slope, which led to a formation known as Home Plate. Engi... |
21 November 2009
03:40 GMT |
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In addition to supplying space agencies with invaluable data on the moons of Saturn and the gas giant itself, the Cassini spacecraft is also helping in our quest to learn more about our solar system. As we move through the local Milky Way galaxy, the space probe is taking non-stop measurements as to the nature of our... |
20 November 2009
06:17 GMT |
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Following Tuesday's attempt at moving the jammed rover Spirit, engineers and mission planners at the American space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have decided to upload a new set of commands into the robot's onboard computer earlier today. The machine has been stuck in a patch of loose soil ... |
19 November 2009
03:24 GMT |
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As most of you know, the rover Spirit has been stuck on the surface of Mars since May 6, when it drove straight into a patch of loose soil known as Troy. All efforts to free the robot resulted at the time in failure, so the scientists took to the lab, in an attempt to discover what the best course of action might be.... |
18 November 2009
02:58 GMT |
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Stuck on the surface of the Red Planet for more than six month, the rover Spirit was finally going to begin its complex and long-lasting extrication procedure, scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced. They said that the first commands to the resilient robot had been sent late last night or would be... |
17 November 2009
02:28 GMT |
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Using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has recently snapped some amazing photos of unique features on the surface of the Red Planet, fluidized-ejecta craters (also known as rampart craters). The geological formations, which result from comet, a... |
14 November 2009
07:07 GMT |
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After recently making the rover “stretch” for the first time in six months, experts and engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, are currently making the last preparations for beginning their attempts at extricating Spirit from its predicament. The robot has been tra... |
13 November 2009
02:14 GMT |
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The battered exploration rover Spirit, which has been stuck in a patch of loose soil on Mars for the better part of the last six months, has recently wiggled its wheels for the first time. The move is the first since the robot became embedded in Troy, and represents the beginning of efforts to extricate the rover, wh... |
11 November 2009
06:03 GMT |
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Since May 6, the rover Spirit has been trapped on the surface of the Red Planet in a patch of loose soil known as Troy. The exploration robot, which has been driving backwards on only five wheels for the last three years, was climbing a 12-degree slope when its wheels got buried in the sand up to their hubcaps. After... |
6 November 2009
05:50 GMT |
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After almost six months of being stuck in a patch of loose soil on the surface of the Red Planet, the rover Spirit has begun experiencing a new bout of amnesia, its controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) say. This behavior was recorded in four different instances this year, and so experts have been t... |
31 October 2009
03:44 GMT |
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According to experts at the American space agency, it may be that the space rock that exploded over Indonesia earlier this month is the largest to have hit the Earth since 1994. The asteroid did not exactly hit the surface, but rather exploded in the atmosphere, far away enough to not cause any damage or casualties. ... |
30 October 2009
02:28 GMT |
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Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in Pasadena, believe that we are on the verge of a new paradigm shift in space exploration, one that could see the replacement of single robotic explorers on or around a planet or moon with a fleet of instruments, all of them in constant communication wi... |
28 October 2009
06:29 GMT |
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In the presence of lawmakers and local dignitaries, officials at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, cut the ribbon on a new, environmentally friendly Flight Projects Center building at the lab today. The new structure is the American space agency's g... |
27 October 2009
08:54 GMT |
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Since May 6, the Mars rover Spirit has been trapped in Troy, a patch of loosely bound soil on the surface of the Red Planet. Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, who manage the robot, say that, over the past few months, a number of drive tests has been conducted with two test rov... |
20 October 2009
02:57 GMT |
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The last nine weeks have been very eventful for the Martian rover Opportunity, which has spent the first six of them looking at Block Island, a large meteorite it found on the surface of the Red Planet. After it looked at it from most possible angles – in a bid to provide its mission controllers with enough dat... |
13 October 2009
03:44 GMT |
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Despite its ongoing “health problems,” the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is still apt to take beautiful, high-resolution pictures of the Red Planet. Some 233 recent telescopic observations of the surface yielded thousands of detailed images of various features on the planet, ranging from sand dunes to... |
9 October 2009
05:09 GMT |
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Saturn has been around the solar system for a while. But, of all the equinoxes it had since its formation, it was only this one that was observed directly with a probe right on the spot, the Cassini spacecraft. It revealed new and stunning images, which show new, previously unidentified quirks in the gas giant's... |
22 September 2009
02:40 GMT |
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As the months go by, it becomes painfully obvious to all those involved with getting Spirit out of its predicament that it isn't going to be an easy task. Though they knew from day one that it was going to be very difficult to remove the rover from the loose patch of Martian soil called Troy, engineers at NASA&#... |
15 September 2009
02:34 GMT |
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Experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, have recently released a new report, detailing the condition of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Having suffered its fourth glitch this year, the craft is not exactly in the best shape of its life, mission planners say. Analysis of the lat... |
14 September 2009
19:51 GMT |
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From the beginning of April through early August of 2009, the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) recorded a number of about 1,500 new photographs of the Martian surface. The amazing snapshots, taken with a resolution as small as 25 centimeters per p... |
14 September 2009
09:00 GMT |
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Scientists working with the American space agency NASA have recently devised a new machine that allows them to simulate various levels of gravity. Made of high-capacity, super-conducting magnets, the device proved able to maintain a three-week-old mouse in 0-gravity. Because the rodent is very similar to us genetical... |
10 September 2009
06:02 GMT |
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After the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) again entered safe mode recently, experts and managers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, are currently working on reestablishing contact with the space probe. After the August 26th glitch, the orbiter rebooted its computer, but did not engage i... |
29 August 2009
04:50 GMT |
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The Martian rover Spirit remains blocked in its sandy patch of soil on the surface of the Red Planet, as an incoming dust storm continues to significantly reduce the amount of electricity the exploration robot is receiving. The average amount of sunlight Spirit was getting has now been blocked and, as a response, mis... |
27 August 2009
01:25 GMT |
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Experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, announce that the NASA-operated Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) entered 'safe mode' again on Wednesday, for the fourth time this year. While in this mode, the spacecraft maintains its altitude and direction controls, but all its othe... |
27 August 2009
01:10 GMT |
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Experts at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, have just added a second rover to their experiments designed to figure out a way to get the Martian rover Spirit out of its sand trap on the Red Planet. The team has added a lighter-weight version of the two MER components, and it will begi... |
24 August 2009
04:40 GMT |
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Questions related to how the solar system appeared some 4.7 billion years ago have been around since the first people started using their brains for more than capturing their next meal. Science has only recently been able to provide some preliminary answers to this type of questions, although numerous ones still rema... |
21 August 2009
10:53 GMT |
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Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, announced yesterday that the test rover at the facility would undergo a full week of test trials starting next Monday, as the team attempts to discover the best possible methods of getting Spirit unstuck. The Martian rover is stuck in a patch ... |
14 August 2009
09:49 GMT |
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Tomorrow, August 11, the planet Saturn will perform one of the most amazing “magic” tricks ever seen in the solar system, as it will make its enormous rings, comprised of trillions of trillions of ice and dust, simply vanish and not show on any telescopes. All it needs to do this is the correct sunlight, ... |
10 August 2009
05:44 GMT |
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Engineers from the jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, have recently obtained one of the most peculiar pictures that the rover Spirit ever sent back from the Red Planet. By combining three photographs taken seconds apart from each other, and snapped in different color filters, they obtained the first ... |
5 August 2009
19:01 GMT |
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After having recently tried all possible combinations of basic moves in an attempt to extract the test rover from its sandbox, researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, have recently decided to increase their efforts. In a press release, they announced that the robot would begin to ... |
29 July 2009
05:38 GMT |
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The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is, at this point, the NASA spacecraft that has returned the highest amount of scientific data of all missions to the Red Planet. The volume of information engineers back on Earth received since November 2006 can now fill about 1,000 CDs, and is on par with the amount of data bea... |
23 July 2009
02:31 GMT |
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In the specially designed sandbox at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, Mars Exploration Rovers engineers are looking at all possible rover movement options, in order to determine the most appropriate sequence of getting Spirit out of Troy. Yesterday, the experts analyzed if modifying the s... |
22 July 2009
16:41 GMT |
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While engineers at NASA's jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, are working with the test rover, trying to find solutions on how to get Spirit out of Troy, the exploration rover is stuck on Mars, with nothing to do. Having collected an impressive number of images of its surroundings, the robo... |
20 July 2009
02:23 GMT |
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The American space agency NASA has recently announced the creation of a new, false-color image of the lunar South Pole, in a bid to make it easier for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission planners to select a spot where to slam their impactor. The new topographical map, among the most c... |
10 July 2009
14:01 GMT |
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With the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) component Spirit stuck in Martian soil since May 6th, a team of engineers at the NASA-operated Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, which also doubles as the control crew for the rover and its twin, Opportunity, is currently engaged in a valiant effort to simulate... |
8 July 2009
06:25 GMT |
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According to officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, the Martian rovers' twin test brother is finally located in its sandbox at the laboratory, ready to begin its investigations into how to extract Spirit from its sandy trap. Since May 6th, the most battered rover of the MER mi... |
1 July 2009
04:51 GMT |
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With NASA's Spirit rover stuck in loose Martian soil since May 6th, its mission control team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, is working around the clock to recreate the exact conditions on the Red Planet inside a test sandbox, using an exact replica of the MER rover. Because engineers ... |
27 June 2009
04:12 GMT |
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The ambitious design of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has sparked, since it first appeared, criticism as to the number of instruments it includes, and also on account of its size. Quite simply put, the MSL, which has recently been appropriately named Curiosity, is the largest rover ever to be sent to the Red Plan... |
16 June 2009
04:47 GMT |
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Though the Martian ice has nothing to do with its counterpart back on Earth, astronomers have noticed that the first signs of heating have occurred. The seasonal carbon dioxide polar caps, which are formed around the poles in the midst of winter, have begun to melt and even vaporize directly from solid “ice&rdq... |
1 April 2009
04:38 GMT |
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Next week, the team managing NASA's Mars Odissey spacecraft will perform a risky computer reboot, in order to address a long-standing, known issue with the probe's internal memory. If left unchecked, this vulnerability could cause a lot of damage to the craft, and could hinder the astronomers behind the pro... |
5 March 2009
10:02 GMT |
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On Saturday, experts at NASA finally resumed breathing, after the Mars rover Spirit eventually snapped out of its mysterious set of problems and started moving on the Martian surface again, following several days of not recording any images and not moving a single inch. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in ... |
4 February 2009
06:59 GMT |
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