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| One Day to Go for Beagle 2 |
Dec 23, 2003 - This time of year, I usually wind things down at Universe Today since the various news sources are all on holiday and there isn't much to report. This year; however, it's an entirely different story. The British-built Beagle 2 lander will be touching down on Mars on December 25. Stardust reaches Comet Wild 2 on January 2, and the Mars Exploration Rover arrives on January 3. Things couldn't be busier.
So, first up... Beagle 2 and Mars Express. The lander is expected to arrive at 0254 UTC on December 25 (9:54 pm EST December 24). We won't know if Beagle 2 arrived safely for another four hours or so, when Mars Express enters orbit - data won't arrive back on Earth until 0700 UTC (2:00am EST). Keep your fingers crossed.
The European Space Agency has said they'll be broadcasting information about the landing live on television, but I haven't been able to find a link on the web for it (if you know of one, let me know). You can visit their special coverage of the landing and Mars Express arrival here. Or go straight to the Beagle 2 website, where they'll just be focused on the lander. As I find cool stuff on the web, I'll let you know.
And make sure you come visit the Universe Today forum and share your thoughts and ideas about the missions with the rest of our community.
Have a happy and safe holiday. See you on Mars!
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
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| Image credit: NASA/JPL |
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| JIMO Ion Engine Passes the Test |
| Dec 23, 2003 - A new ion engine design, under consideration for NASA's Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission, has been successfully tested. This was the first performance test of the Nuclear Electric Xenon Ion System, which will use a nuclear reactor to generate electricity for the spacecraft's ion engine - previous ion engines, like on Deep Space 1 and SMART-1 are solar powered. The new engine operated with 10 times the thrust of Deep Space 1, and should be able to run for 10 years; enough time to visit each of Jupiter's icy moons which are potential candidates for life. |
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| Image credit: SDSS |
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| Dark Matter Bends Light from a Distant Quasar |
| Dec 23, 2003 - Gravitational lensing happens when the light from a distant object, such as a quasar, is distorted by the gravity of a closer object. Astronomers have discovered just such a lens, where the distortions are so great, they have to be caused by a significant amount of dark matter - the visible material alone couldn't be responsible. Dark matter is predicted by its gravitational influence on galaxies and stars in the Universe, but so far, astronomers aren't really sure what it is; whether it's just regular matter which is too cold to be seen from Earth, or some kind of exotic particle. |
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| Image credit: NASA/JPL |
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| Rover Cameras Will Be Like Human Vision on Mars |
| Dec 23, 2003 - The mast-mounted cameras on board the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, will provide the best view so far of the surface of the Red Planet. The cameras are the equivalent of 20/20 human vision - with a resolution of one pixel/millimeter at a range of three metres. Their cameras can pan up and down 90-degrees, and look completely around 360-degrees. The first rover, Spirit, will arrive on Mars on January 3, with Opportunity arriving on January 25. |
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