All the wheel spinning the Mars rover Spirit has done over the past few months, trying to free itself from deep sand, has produced some data that wouldn't have been gotten otherwise.
Spirit's wheels haven't been able to get enough traction to drive Spirit away, but they have broken through the surface crust and dug through the next layer of sand. Beneath the surface, NASA has found sulfate material. Sulfates are formed in the presence of streaming water, or in hot springs. The odds are surely long against one of the early Mars rovers just happening to get stuck on the site of an ancient hot springs, which in turn suggests water once flowed rather freely on Mars.
It's one more piece of evidence for a wetter Mars in the past. That's good for those looking for Martian life-- and for those planning future human missions to the planet.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Spirit's Wheel
Mars is full of surprises, and so, it seems, is the Mars rover, Spirit.
Spirit's right front wheel stopped working in 2006, due to an open electrical circuit, and engineers assumed it was lost for good. Since then, as a consequence, Spirit has been driven around Mars in reverse. Last week, however, attempting to extricate the rover from the deep sand that's had it trapped for months, engineers took a shot and tried to use the dead wheel. It spun.
It didn't spin easily, and it didn't get the rover unstuck, and it has since stopped spinning, but the wheel did respond to commands. Team members are allowing publicly that they may never get Spirit moving again, but the unfrozen wheel is a reminder that strange things can happen on the Red Planet.
Spirit's right front wheel stopped working in 2006, due to an open electrical circuit, and engineers assumed it was lost for good. Since then, as a consequence, Spirit has been driven around Mars in reverse. Last week, however, attempting to extricate the rover from the deep sand that's had it trapped for months, engineers took a shot and tried to use the dead wheel. It spun.
It didn't spin easily, and it didn't get the rover unstuck, and it has since stopped spinning, but the wheel did respond to commands. Team members are allowing publicly that they may never get Spirit moving again, but the unfrozen wheel is a reminder that strange things can happen on the Red Planet.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
ExoMars On Track
The European Space Agency has secured funding for the joint ESA/NASA ExoMars mission to launch in 2016 and 2018. ExoMars will include an orbiter, a lander, and a rover.
ESA officials say they will spend the next year negotiating with NASA to determine the exact role and responsibilities of each partner in the mission and will seek final approval for the mission from ESA member governments in 2012. They also say the budget for ExoMars of roughly $1.23 billion is a hard limit. Cost overruns could result in cancellation of some element of the mission. Any additional funding will require a unanimous vote of the member governments.
Of course, NASA will have something riding on a fully successful mission, as well. It's possible the Europeans might feel comfortable taking a hard line on the budget because they feel NASA might well pick up more of the tab rather than allow a headline Mars mission to be reduced in scope.
ESA officials say they will spend the next year negotiating with NASA to determine the exact role and responsibilities of each partner in the mission and will seek final approval for the mission from ESA member governments in 2012. They also say the budget for ExoMars of roughly $1.23 billion is a hard limit. Cost overruns could result in cancellation of some element of the mission. Any additional funding will require a unanimous vote of the member governments.
Of course, NASA will have something riding on a fully successful mission, as well. It's possible the Europeans might feel comfortable taking a hard line on the budget because they feel NASA might well pick up more of the tab rather than allow a headline Mars mission to be reduced in scope.
Friday, December 18, 2009
AVATAR
Today is opening day for James Cameron's much-hyped science fiction movie, Avatar. The project is said to set new technical standards for filmmaking, and with a budget of $400 million, it probably should.
The plot of the movie, judging from pre-release material on television, is much less avant-garde. Humans seem to be engaged in the military conquest of a people living on an extrasolar planet. Not only is that theme unfortunate, it's arguably unlikely. Projecting military power is hugely expensive. Projecting it into another star system would seem both a colossal waste of resources and a bizarre policy choice. Another problem with the movie might be its choice of alien. They might be ten feet tall, blue, and tough to kill, but they are definitely humanoid. Yes, the Screen Actors Guild only has humanoid types, but shouldn't that much money and that much technology get truly alien aliens?
Hopefully, by the time humans are capable of interstellar travel, we will also have left the notion of military conquest as a good thing far, far behind.
The plot of the movie, judging from pre-release material on television, is much less avant-garde. Humans seem to be engaged in the military conquest of a people living on an extrasolar planet. Not only is that theme unfortunate, it's arguably unlikely. Projecting military power is hugely expensive. Projecting it into another star system would seem both a colossal waste of resources and a bizarre policy choice. Another problem with the movie might be its choice of alien. They might be ten feet tall, blue, and tough to kill, but they are definitely humanoid. Yes, the Screen Actors Guild only has humanoid types, but shouldn't that much money and that much technology get truly alien aliens?
Hopefully, by the time humans are capable of interstellar travel, we will also have left the notion of military conquest as a good thing far, far behind.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Second Life For Phoenix?
The Mars Phoenix team lost contact with the Lander in November, 2008, as the harsh Martian winter closed in over the probe. Lander's electronics were not designed to survive the bitter cold of the Martian arctic, so everyone thought the mission was over.
Well, maybe not.
Next month, JPL engineers are going to try to re-establish contact with Lander. At last contact, all the cameras and scientific instruments were still working well, so if the electronics did survive the winter and contact can be regained, there's some chance that the scientific work could be picked up where it was left off.
Peter Smith, leader of the Phoenix team, says reviving the mission is unlikely, but worth a try.
After all, NASA's Mars rovers were designed to last 90 days, and they're both going on six years.
Well, maybe not.
Next month, JPL engineers are going to try to re-establish contact with Lander. At last contact, all the cameras and scientific instruments were still working well, so if the electronics did survive the winter and contact can be regained, there's some chance that the scientific work could be picked up where it was left off.
Peter Smith, leader of the Phoenix team, says reviving the mission is unlikely, but worth a try.
After all, NASA's Mars rovers were designed to last 90 days, and they're both going on six years.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Nearest Black Hole
New measurements show that the nearest black hole to Earth is only about half as far away as previously thought. Don't worry, though. There's still about 7,800 light years between it and us. That's a huge distance, even for something as powerful as a black hole.
Of course, our current search techniques aren't perfect, and the various objects in the galaxy are in constant motion, so there's no guarantee astronomers will never find a black hole closer to us than the current record holder. However, the Earth has been around for 4.5 billion years or so, and there's no reason to think it won't be around, orbiting a life sustaining Sun, for a very long time to come.
Black holes are not things to worry about, in any case. Time and energy and worry are best directed at matters that can be altered by human effort-- curing disease, ending wars, grappling with widespread poverty. If a black hole did have Earth in its crosshairs, there's absolutely nothing we could do about it. Not now, and not for thousands or perhaps millions of years.
Of course, our current search techniques aren't perfect, and the various objects in the galaxy are in constant motion, so there's no guarantee astronomers will never find a black hole closer to us than the current record holder. However, the Earth has been around for 4.5 billion years or so, and there's no reason to think it won't be around, orbiting a life sustaining Sun, for a very long time to come.
Black holes are not things to worry about, in any case. Time and energy and worry are best directed at matters that can be altered by human effort-- curing disease, ending wars, grappling with widespread poverty. If a black hole did have Earth in its crosshairs, there's absolutely nothing we could do about it. Not now, and not for thousands or perhaps millions of years.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
ALH84001
In 1996, a team of NASA researchers made big news by announcing they had found evidence for life on Mars in a meteor that had come from Mars. The meteor had been the first found in 1984 in the Allen Hills of Antarctica, and had been labeled ALH84001.
The claim was controversial. Many scientists argued the tiny structures inside the rock the NASA team saw as fossils could have non-biological explanations. Supporters of the life theory often conceded that point, but argued the most likely explanation was life.
After a decade of intensive study of Mars by numerous spacecraft designed to pursue numerous approaches to data-gathering, the case for life on Mars-- either in the past or currently existing-- is far from clinched. However, an argument for a warmer, wetter Mars early in its history-- and perhaps fairly recently-- seems to be strengthening. That Mars, of course, would have been more conducive to life.
Using better tools and more knowledge than were available in 1996, a team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, which, it should be noted, included the key members of the 1996 team, has reexamined the meteor. The 2009 conclusion? The most likely explanation of the structures in the rock is Martian life.
The claim was controversial. Many scientists argued the tiny structures inside the rock the NASA team saw as fossils could have non-biological explanations. Supporters of the life theory often conceded that point, but argued the most likely explanation was life.
After a decade of intensive study of Mars by numerous spacecraft designed to pursue numerous approaches to data-gathering, the case for life on Mars-- either in the past or currently existing-- is far from clinched. However, an argument for a warmer, wetter Mars early in its history-- and perhaps fairly recently-- seems to be strengthening. That Mars, of course, would have been more conducive to life.
Using better tools and more knowledge than were available in 1996, a team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, which, it should be noted, included the key members of the 1996 team, has reexamined the meteor. The 2009 conclusion? The most likely explanation of the structures in the rock is Martian life.
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