Only 11 Space Shuttle Missions Remain

Space shuttle Discovery now sits majestically out on launch pad 39A, preparing for the upcoming STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. With the shuttle program slated to terminate in 2010, there’s a limited amount of times we’ll see that sight again: a space shuttle will crawl out to the pad only 10 more times –or possibly only 9 more. And whether that thought chokes you up a bit, or evokes a shout of “It’s about time!” here’s a quick look at the remaining shuttle missions and what each will accomplish. All dates and personnel are subject to change. (Updated 7/7/08)


Mission: STS-124
Proposed Launch Date: May 31, 2008, 5:02 pm EDT
Shuttle: Discovery
Mission Description: Discovery will bring the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS) to the ISS. This is the 10th flight since the Columbia disaster, and the first mission that includes all the design modification to the external tank. Crew: Mark Kelly, Ken Ham, Mike Fossum, Karen Nyberg, Ronald Garan and Akihiko Hoshide, as well as bringing Greg Chamitoff to the station as part of Expedition 18.


Mission: STS-125
Proposed Launch Date: ~ October 8, 2008
Shuttle: Atlantis
Mission Description: Atlantis will fly to the Hubble Space Telescope for the fifth and final servicing mission for the venerable telescope, improving the observatory’s capabilities through 2013. Since the shuttle won’t be going to the ISS, which provides a safe haven in the event of an emergency, another shuttle, Endeavour, must be ready to go at the pad. Hence, the delay from the original launch date of August 28, 2008 as an additional new and improved external tank won’t be ready by then.
Crew: Scott Altman, Greg Johnson, Megan McArthur, Michael Good, John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino and Andrew Feustel.


Mission: STS-126
Proposed Launch Date: ~ November 10, 2008
Shuttle: Endeavour
Mission Description: Endeavour, on ISS flight ULF2, will deliver supplies to the station in a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, and execute crew exchange for the ISS.
Crew: Chris Ferguson, Eric Boe, Stephen Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Don Pettit, R. Shane Kimbrough, as well as bringing Sandra Magnus to the station as part of Expedition 18, and returning Greg Chamitoff back home after his stint as part of Exp. 18.

Mission: STS-119
Proposed Launch Date: February 12, 2009
Shuttle: Discovery
Mission Description: Discovery will bring the fourth starboard truss segment to the ISS on assembly flight 15A, as well as the fourth set of solar arrays and batteries. Click here for a video of how the assembly will be accomplished.
Crew: Lee Archambault, Dominic Antonelli, John Phillips, Steven R. Swanson, Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold (Acaba and Arnold are Educator Astronauts). Additionally, STS-119 will bring JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata to the station as part of Expedition 18, and bring home astronaut Sandy Magnus.

Mission: STS-127
Proposed Launch Date: May 15, 2009
Shuttle: Endeavour
Mission Description: Endeavour will deliver and install the final component of the Japanese Experiment Module, the Exposed Facility.
Crew: Mark Polansky, Doug Hurley, Christopher Cassidy, Thomas Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Julie Payette, as well as bringing ISS Expedition 19 Flight Engineer Timothy Kopra to the station and returning Koichi Wakata back home.

Mission: STS-128
Proposed Launch Date: July 30, 2009
Shuttle: Atlantis
Mission Description: Atlantis’ primary payload will be the Italian Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Donatello, which will deliver equipment to allow for bringing the station crew from three to six.
Crew: Not yet set, but currently, Nicole Stott is scheduled to be brought to the station as part of the Expedition 19, and Tim Kopra will get a ride home. The additional astronauts for the increased ISS crew size have not yet been named.


Mission: STS-129
Proposed Launch Date: October 15, 2009
Shuttle: Discovery
Mission Description: Discovery will deliver the first two ExPRESS(Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) Logistics Carriers, which allows for “outdoor” experiments at the ISS.
Crew: Not yet named, but astronaut Jeff Williams is scheduled to be brought on board as part of Expedition 20, and Nicole Stott brought home.

Mission: STS-130
Proposed Launch Date: December 10, 2009
Shuttle: Endeavour, (possibly its last flight (see below)
Mission Description: Endeavour will bring supplies to the ISS in the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. No crew for the shuttle or station has yet been named.

Mission: STS-131
Proposed Launch Date: February 11, 2010
Shuttle: Atlantis, on its final flight
Mission Description: Atlantis will deliver the Docking Cargo Module and the third and fourth EXPRESS Logistics Carriers to the ISS on Assembly Flight ULF5.

Mission: STS-132
Proposed Launch Date: April 8, 2010
Shuttle: Discovery, its final flight
Mission Description: deliver the Node 3 components to the ISS, which includes advanced life support systems and a Cupola with a robotic workstation. It’s possible that this flight could be the final space shuttle mission if an additional contingency mission is not needed.

Mission: STS-133
Proposed Launch Date: May 31, 2010
Shuttle: Endeavour (for sure the final flight!)
Mission Description: This is a contingency flight to finish any remaining construction or bring up any remaining components, and possibly bring the 5th ExPRESS Logistics Carrier. If needed, this will be the final space shuttle mission.

Another (Better) Opportunity to Send Your Name to Space

Kepler spacecraft. IMage credit: NASA

It’s a great idea, so all the missions might as well join in. Earlier today, Ian reported on how the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is offering the chance for the public to ‘ride along’ to the moon by sending their names to be added to a computer chip which will be embedded on the spacecraft. Well, not to be outdone, the upcoming Kepler mission that will search for Earth-sized exoplanets is offering the same chance. But this is no sluff opportunity where you just fill in your name and you’re done: you’ve got to work a little and be creative! The Kepler folks would like you to also state in 100 words or less why you think the Kepler mission is important. I think that’s a great idea, and I’m going to add my name and statement right away. But there’s more reasons why I prefer the Kepler mission’s approach to sending your name to space:

Your name will be in an exciting Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit, going around the sun every 372.5 days.

This activity is done in association with the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Your name will be on the spacecraft that will likely identify the first Earth-sized or smaller planet orbiting another star.

Your name will be launched on board a Delta II rocket.

Your name will be part of the mission that will determine the frequency of terrestrial and larger planets in or near the habitable zone of a wide variety of spectral types of stars.

Oh, the list goes on, but as you can see the Kepler mission will be THE mission to have your name be included.

So, here’s where you can add your name, as well as your statement of the importance of the Kepler mission. The deadline is November 1, 2008. And learn more about the mission here. Current plans are for a February 2009 launch for Kepler.

Original News Source: JPL press release

Mission to the Sun

Astronomy
Solar Probe Spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

A mission to the sun is difficult stuff. For 30 years scientists and engineers have struggled with developing a spacecraft that could survive the harsh environment close to the sun, but always ended up running into insurmountable technology limitations or blowing the top off the budget. But now the Applied Physics Lab believes they have come up with a plan that will work, and NASA has given them the go-ahead to get a mission ready by 2015. And contrary to the old joke about a mission to the sun, the new Solar Probe won’t have an easy time of it by just heading to the sun at night!

The Solar Probe mission will come within 6.6 million kilometers (4.1 million miles) of the sun to study the streams of charged particles the sun hurls into space. The spacecraft will actually be within the sun’s corona — its outer atmosphere — where the solar wind is produced. At closest approach the Solar Probe will zip past the sun at 210 km (125 miles) per second, protected by a carbon-composite heat shield able to withstand up to 1425 degrees Celsius (2,600 degrees Fahrenheit) and survive blasts of radiation and energized dust at levels not experienced by any previous spacecraft.

The spacecraft will weigh about 1,000 pounds. Preliminary designs include a 2.7 meter (9 feet) diameter, 15 centimeter (6 inches) -thick, carbon-foam-filled solar shield atop the spacecraft body, similar to APL’s MESSENGER spacecraft.

The probe will be solar powered (no problem there!) with two sets of solar arrays that will retract or extend as the spacecraft swings toward or away from the sun during several loops around the inner solar system, making sure the panels stay at proper temperatures and power levels. At its closest passes the spacecraft must survive solar intensity more than 500 times what spacecraft experience while orbiting Earth.

“Solar Probe is a true mission of exploration,” says Dr. Robert Decker, Solar Probe project scientist at APL. “For example, the spacecraft will go close enough to the sun to watch the solar wind speed up from subsonic to supersonic, and it will fly though the birthplace of the highest energy solar particles. And, as with all missions of discovery, Solar Probe is likely to raise more questions than it answers.”

Solar Probe will use seven Venus flybys over nearly seven years to gradually shrink its orbit around the sun, coming as close as 4.1 million miles to the sun, about eight times closer than any spacecraft has come before.

The main goals of the Solar Probe are to determine the structure and dynamics of the sun’s magnetic field, trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind, and explore dusty plasma near the sun and its influence on solar wind and energetic particle formation. This mission will also help us learn more about the sun-Earth relationship.

Original News Source: Eureka Alert

Searching for Water and Minerals on Mars – Implications for Colonization

A Vastitas Borealis crater plus ice in the north polar region - reconstructed image by HRSC (ESA)

New results from the The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) reveal the mineral composition of the bottom of Chandor Chasma. There is a rich mix of sulfate and pyroxene-containing deposits in this region and the CRISM instrument continues to find deposits of minerals never thought to exist on the planet’s surface. However, the primary mission objective is to find evidence of water, past and present, aiding the hunt for the best location of the first Mars settlements. SETI Institute principal investigator and CRISM scientist Dr Adrian Brown answers some of my questions about CRISM and how the results may be useful for future manned missions to the Red Planet…

Part of my duties as Communications Officer with the Mars Foundation (a non-profit organization for Mars settlement designers) is to contact and interview key mission scientists working on missions that could be useful for getting us closer to realising the first manned settlement on the Red Planet. Dr Adrian Brown is one such scientist; the CRISM instrument is one such mission. CRISM, an advanced spectrometer, has been looking out for the mineral fingerprint of water since 2006. Minerals will have dissolved in ancient liquid water, so looking for the dry remnants of these minerals today will help to reveal the surface conditions of the past. Another mission objective is to characterize present water on Mars, seeing how surface water ice forms and how it varies with the seasons. Dr Brown’s current project is to map the seasonal variations of water ice in the Martian southern polar region.

Sulfate- and pyroxene-containing deposits in the Candor Chasma region of Mars (NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/ASU)

In a timely news release, the CRISM mission site has announced new results to come from the analysis of the mineral distribution at the bottom of Candor Chasma (pictured), part of the vast Valles Marineris. Candor Chasma is a deep, long and steep-sided valley about 813 km (505 miles) long and has been cited as a possible location for the Hillside Settlement concept as conceived by the Mars Foundation. In fact, this settlement concept was the inspiration behind the first permanent settlement aptly called “Underhill” in Kim Stanley Robinson’s epic novel Red Mars. So, there is obvious interest as to what Candor Chasma can offer the colonists inhabiting the Hillside Settlement with easy access to locally mined minerals.

The CRISM instrument has discovered quantities of sulfate and pyroxene rich deposits in the region, useful for many industrial processes. In our interview, Dr Brown outlined other important minerals that CRISM has found and some of their common uses here on Earth:

These [minerals] include kaolinite (chinaware is made of this mineral), talc (the main constituent of many soaps) and hydrated silica (perhaps like chert, which Indian knives were carved out from). The small amounts of these minerals means it has been impossible to discover them before CRISM, and previously they were discounted in all our modelling of Mars.” – Dr Adrian Brown, SETI Institute principal investigator and CRISM scientist.

For me, the most revealing part of our conversation was Brown’s estimate on the sheer quantity of water held as ice in the north polar cap. The north pole hides under a 1000 km (620 mile) diameter disk of near-pure water ice (with some impurities like sand and dust, giving a pink hue). This disk is 3 km (1.9 miles) high, holding staggering 2.35 million cubic kilometers of water. That’s enough water to cover the continental US to a depth of 200 meters! Throw in the water that is held at the south pole (a carbon dioxide/water ice disk 300 km in diameter and 2 km high) and we’re looking at the equivalent volume of water ice held in the Greenland ice sheet (or 500 times less than the amount of water in our oceans). It’s not that hard to imagine that if a permanent Mars colony is established, mining operations for water ice would be common.

Turning on the Tap - Commissioned artwork - Colonist tapping into a sub-surface aquifer (©Mars Foundation)

But it doesn’t stop there; water could also be extracted from the atmosphere. One of Dr Brown’s studies focus on measuring the variation of water ice crystals in the clouds throughout the seasons. There should also be quantities of water vapour in the warmer equatorial regions.

There is also the possibility of extracting water from the permafrost layers below the Martian regolith. The Phoenix Mars lander (set to arrive at the Red Planet on May 25th) will be able to investigate the possibility of sources of frozen water below the surface. Dr Brown also indicated that the observations by the Mars Orbital Camera (on board NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor, lost in November 2006) of apparent gullies may reveal the location of possible sub-surface aquifers (after gushing across the surface) for future colonists to “tap” into (pictured). However, there have been studies that dispute this in favour of dry debris flows creating the gullies, but a definitive answer will not be arrived at until the gullies are analysed in-situ. And if he had the chance, I think Dr Brown would be the first to look into this exciting possibility after I asked him the question: Would you like to go to Mars?

Of course I would love to travel to Mars, most of all to go to the polar regions and observe them with my own eyes. If I could actually go to the surface of Mars to investigate the fascinating geology of Nili Fossae and Valles Marineris, that would be so awesome. And to visit a gully site and dig behind it to try and find its source… and to witness the cold volcanoes of mud that erupt in the polar cryptic region during springtime… to go and understand these things that have us puzzled at the moment would be so amazing… and of course more questions would be raised, more geological problems unearthed, and the cycle of understanding the Red Planet would continue.” – Dr Adrian Brown

I share his enthusiasm and look forward to more discoveries by CRISM.

For more on Dr Adrian Brown’s work, check out his website: http://abrown.seti.org/

Sources: The Mars Foundation, CRISM

Spirit’s Dust Dilemma

Steve Squyres and the Mars Exploration Rover team knew from the beginning that dust could cause a problem for the rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. When a thick layer of dust coats the solar panels, it blocks the sunlight that generates power for the six-wheeled robots. In the summer of 2007 a huge dust storm blanketed Mars, and deposited a fair amount of dust on solar panels of both rovers. Spirit, especially accumulated a lot of dust on its solar array. Currently, only about one-third of incoming sunlight is able to penetrate dust on Spirit’s solar panels to be converted to electricity. As a result, Spirit is experiencing the lowest energy levels to date and accumulating a backlog of data waiting to be transmitted to Earth. If only a dust devil would come along!

Spirit’s solar array input has been approximately 240 watt-hours per Martian day, or sol (100 watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour). The skies in the area are now clear, which means additional dust shouldn’t be accumulating on the solar panels, and sunlight should be abundant. But clear skies also mean lower temperatures on the surface of Mars, increasing the bitter cold experienced by Spirit’s rover electronics module during the current Mars winter. Nighttime temperatures are creeping closer to the point where they will trigger the survival heaters, which draw a large amount of power.

The rover team has been using the strategy of keeping Spirit awake long enough each day to keep the electronics module sufficiently warm with heat from normal operations, providing more time for science observations. However, recently the team has done less science operations in order to allow Spirit’s batteries to recharge. The engineers are being creative in the trade-offs the team makes each day to keep Spirit going through the Martian winter. Another way they are conserving energy is by restricting the number of sols on which Spirit receives direct-from-Earth instructions via the rover’s high-gain antenna and transmits data to Earth via the Odyssey orbiter.

The MER team is hoping for a dust devil event to come and clear off the solar panels, like these dust devils did back in 2005.

This image shows the difference in the dust accumulation before and after the dust-cleaning event back in 2005.

And this is a self-portrait the rover took of its cleaned solar panels in 2005. Here’s hoping Spirit can be wiped clean again, and the sooner the better.

Original News Source: Mars Rover website

10 Satellites Launched in Record Setting Mission for India (Video)

India’s space agency sent a record 10 satellites into Earth orbit with a single launch early Monday. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket ejected all the satellites within minutes of each other after liftoff from the Sriharikota space station in southern India. Initial signals indicated all the satellites were working normally. India is seeking to compete with other space-faring nations for commercial launch services, and this mission’s success demonstrates India’s ability to launch multiple payloads into precise orbit. The flight breaks the previous record of eight satellites launched at once by a Russian rocket, according to Indian news reports.


It was the 13th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which has “repeatedly proved itself as a reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle,” said Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO.) Later this year India will launch its own a lunar mission, Chandrayaan which will orbit the moon to create chemical and topographical maps.

The satellites included a 690-kilogram (1,518-pound) remote-sensing satellite, Cartosat-2A, an 83-kilogram mini-satellite and a cluster of eight so-called nano-satellites, each weighing between three kilograms and 16 kilograms. The two larger satellites were built by the ISRO, but the nano-satellites were built by research institutions from Europe, Canada and Japan.

“[India] wants to market its launch systems and also its capability in earth imagery,” said Ajay Lele, a space expert at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi. “The mission is very significant from a commercial point of view.”

“The mission was perfect,” said ISRO chairman G. Madhavan after the launch was telecast live.

“It is a historic moment for us because it is the first time that we have launched 10 satellites in a single mission,” he added.

Cartosat-2A, the main satellite launched Monday to an altitude of 630 kilometres (391 miles) above earth, also has a domestic economic dimension and can be used for intelligence gathering as well, officials say.

Here’s a YouTube Video from an Indian television station (in English) with more information about the launch.

Last year, India launched an Italian spacecraft into orbit, and in January 2008, it launched an Israeli spy satellite.

For more information about India’s space agency: ISRO.

Original News Source: AFP

Japanese Moon Mission Returns Detailed Maps of the Lunar Surface

The JAXA Moon satellite Selene map of the Lunar relief (JAXA)

The Japanese SELENE lunar orbiter has returned some of the most detailed maps of the Moon to date. The new collection of high-definition maps includes topological data and mineral location. Critically, the locations of uranium, thorium and potassium have been mapped, essential for mission planners when considering the future of manned settlements on the Moon. Seeing the lunar relief mapped to such fine detail makes for an impressive sight. So far six million data points have been collected and there’s more to come…

Selene topological map of the surface of the Moon (JAXA)
The SELENE mission was launched on September 14th, 2007 from Tanegashima Space Center on a H-IIA carrier rocket. SELENE stands for “Selenological and Engineering Explorer”, but Selene was also the Greek lunar deity. The orbiter arrived into lunar orbit on October 3rd and began science operations soon after. Since then, the spacecraft has been using a large number of instruments to characterise the surface of the Moon from analysing its mineral distribution to measuring its terrain. It has been described as the largest Moon mission since the US Apollo program.
A full-disk map of the Moon (JAXA)
According to the JAXA press release, these new maps are ten-times more accurate than previous maps. Using the laser altimeter (LALT) instrument, 3D data of the shapes and altitudes of surface features are promising to give the most advanced relief mapping capabilities ever performed on a planetary body other than the Earth. It has also been indicated that deposits of uranium, potassium and thorium have been pinpointed through the use of one of its onboard spectrometers. This will have massive implications for the future of manned exploration of the natural satellite. It is likely that a nuclear source of energy would be required for future lunar settlements, if there are quantities of uranium to be mined, this will have an impact on where the settlement should be located.
SELENE relief map (colour) (JAXA)
So, when venturing out onto the cold, lonely lunar surface, be sure to pack the newest edition of the Selene high-definition map to plot your journey…

Sources: JAXA, Gizmodo

NASA to Burn Sponsor Logos into the Surface of Mars

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NOTE: This was the Universe Today’s contribution to April Fools Day (April 1st), but it isn’t all a joke… International efforts in space are being seriously hindered by budget cuts, forcing agencies to think up alternative methods to raise money. The following article could be a possibility…

In an effort to raise additional funds, NASA has announced new partnerships with corporate sponsors. It is becoming increasingly difficult for government-backed space agencies to support the vast range of missions currently exploring the solar system, so urgent measures are being taken. Planetary missions in particular, such as the Mars Exploration Rover project, have fallen on tough times. As already demonstrated by research groups in the UK, funds from private companies are essential for survival and some weird and wonderful methods to capture public interest have already been exploited.

Now it is the perfect time for the biggest marketing stunt yet: tattoo Mars with corporate logos for orbiting spacecraft and ground-based telescopes to observe…

With millions of dollars being injected into the commercial space market, companies such as Virgin Galactic, Astrium and XCOR are all beginning to dominate the fledgling space flight industry. Where government space agencies such as NASA and ESA have spearheaded technological advancement, the void left behind is slowly being filled by space tourism companies all competing for short trips into space and, eventually, tours to the Moon with the prospect of Mars in a few decades time.

But what about all the robotic missions exploring the solar system now? Who pays for them? Well, that is up to government funding and initiatives. As recently highlighted by the UK’s £80 million ($160 million) research budget shortfall, and the attempt to cut $4 million from the NASA Mars rovers, there appears to be international pressure on government-funded groups to think “out of the box” where money is concerned. After all, scientific research (on the whole) is not political, but scientific funding is.

The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank (credit: Jodrell Bank)

So, in an unprecedented move, UK astronomers carried out an unorthodox measure and transmitted Doritos ads into space to help fund the beleaguered Jodrell Bank Telescope in Cheshire currently under threat from closure due to funding cuts. This might sound silly, but the undisclosed advertising revenue was much needed.

Although there is a slim-to-no-chance of aliens picking up the interstellar ad, NASA was obviously paying attention. Today, the space agency has announced an offbeat plan of their own: to burn sponsor logos into the surface of Mars. It’s not quite as reckless as it sounds, but existing technology on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will be used to etch sponsor logos into the top layers of the Martian regolith. The stunt is expected to have minimal effect on the planet, as winds and dust storms will erase the ads within a couple of sols (Martian days).

Just think, 3 years ago, we wouldn’t have the optical capabilities to spot an advertisement from orbit. But now, with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and its ability to resolve objects as small as half a meter, we’ll be able to see our sponsors ads clearly etched into the Martian surface.” – Dr. Francis Rae, NASA Outreach Spokeswoman.

The MRO has a laser-ranging instrument on board that usually takes highly accurate measurements of landscape features. Scientists have modified the laser to emit a higher powered beam so small areas of Martian regolith can be fused together. It is expected to use the surplus power available from the ultra-efficient solar panels on the satellite. After a few orbits, corporate logos and other ads may be constructed, creating logos spanning small 5×5 meter areas of Mars plains and crater bottoms. Of course, the logos created will be crude, and will only be available in shades of red, but the marketing and psychological impact will be huge. It is hoped the advertising revenue will follow suit.

An artists impression of what a large-scale logo may look like from space (credit: NASA)

This is only for starters. If all goes well, huge areas of the surface may be used, possibly allowing Earth-observable logos. Doritos, famed with the UK’s ad transmission into space, has already backed NASA’s plans and fully intends to support any marketing campaign carried out by the robotic explorers. An excerpt from a Pepsi Co, Inc. statement reads, “…the Doritos snack division of our corporation is always looking for new and novel ways to promote our products, branding an alien planet with our logo will not only be historic, it will revolutionize product marketing.” They add at the bottom of the press release, “Besides, it will be very cool.” An artists impression of a huge Doritos logo next to a crater observed by the MRO (HiRISE instrument) has also been released (pictured).

Other Mars missions are now being evaluated for their potential marketing skills, and an obvious mission that comes to mind are the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Easier than tattooing the planet from orbit, the rovers could quickly create tire tracks into shapes that can be observed from space.

Tracks from Opportunity are clearly seen from orbit by the HiRISE camera (credit: NASA)

When asked whether the Phoenix lander had any such capability, Rae commented, “I really wish we’d thought that through better.” The lander will only be able to dig crude shapes into the regolith should it be called into fund-raising action. It seems doubtful that sponsors would be interested in this mission which is arriving at the Red Planet in May.

This leads to the question: Will a NASA mission be measured more for its revenue building ability, or for its scientific merit? “I doubt it will come to that, we’re not a private enterprise, science is our priority,” Rae added.

Other marketing tools are at mission planners’ fingertips. Some fun options include:

  • Physically moving rocks around the Martian landscape by future advanced rovers to assemble messages, take photos and send them back to Earth – the ultimate personal postcard message!
  • The future of terraforming the planet could include growing lichen in the shape of sponsor logos (imagine how much Pizza Hut would pay to have the very first life on Mars growing in the shape of their hut logo!)
  • Send a personal item on a Mars-bound mission and get the lander to place it on the planet, take a photo and pay for the pleasure of seeing something you own in the Martian dirt! Just don’t expect it back… (An orbital version has already been done by Bigalow Aerospace…)

Source: NASA Press Release

What is Phoenix? It’s a Mars Mission Question on Jeopardy!

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The answer was: “A NASA Mars lander has this mythic name because it was made of parts from a scrapped 2001 mission,” and the correct question was “What is Phoenix?“. The Mars mission currently en-route to Mars hasn’t only set the science world alight, it appears to be growing into the public mindset. Appearing as the subject for one of the questions on the highly popular US gameshow Jeopardy! before it has even arrived at Mars, I wonder how popular it will become when the mission actually begins…


It seems that even gameshows consider the next Mars mission to be significant enough for their contestants to answer.

Getting space science missions into the public domain is never an easy task – there needs to be a certain balance between how much science and information is released to make the mission accessible to non-specialists. Personal experience of this includes giving my first public outreach lecture on physics and astronomy in the Arctic where I chatted all about the “cool” physics we were doing up there (including plasma physics, particle dynamics and some magnetohydrodynamic interactions in the magnetosphere thrown in for good measure… eh?). I later found out that I hadn’t connected with my audience at all (surprise), just because I found it exciting didn’t mean everyone else would. In future presentations I focused on what you could see up there (I mean, a huge picture of the aurora was a good starting point) and the fact we had to travel to the frozen observatories with rifles (not to hijack the telescope, but to protect us from polar bears) engaged my audience far more effectively. The science could then be related much better, giving it a meaning and an importance.

So this brings me to NASA’s Phoenix Mars mission. Not only does the mission have one of the best research/mission websites out there (hosted not by NASA but by the University of Arizona, Phoenix), I’ve noticed with each news release there is a genuine and informed effort to get people excited about this superb mission. And people not familiar with planetary missions are taking note.

One indicator is that the long-running US TV show Jeopardy! featured a question on the Phoenix mission due to arrive at Mars on May 25th. The clue was “A NASA Mars lander has this mythic name because it was made of parts from a scrapped 2001 mission,” and the answer was “What is Phoenix?” (note: for those outside the US or those not familiar with the show, the “answer” is stated and the “question” to that “answer” must be guessed by the contestants).

It’s not clear from the Phoenix news release whether it was answered correctly or not, but what is significant is that it was chosen as a question on a non-specialized TV show (a prime-time show at that) in the first place. Obviously the Phoenix mission public outreach guys are doing a great job, beginning to make the Phoenix Mars Mission a household name…

Roll on May 25th!

Credit: Phoenix Mars Mission

NASA U-Turn Over Mars Rover Funding

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No sooner had news hit the web that NASA had cut funding to the Mars Exploratory Rovers (MER), NASA took a huge U-turn and voided the letter that was sent to MER mission scientists. Apparently both Spirit and Opportunity can continue to roll around the Mars landscape as if nothing had ever happened; in fact the two robots will probably be unaware of the drama that unfolded here on Earth in the last 24 hours. Talk about a storm in a teacup…

But what caused the change of heart? What was behind all this funding craziness? Unfortunately, this ordeal highlights the pressures government-funded space agencies are under, and it is unlikely this will be the end of it…


You could almost hear the news sites and blogs rumble to life last night as the news surged through the web about NASA needing to cut $4 million from the MER program. Reports flooded in that the rover scientists were shocked and saddened by this surprise turn of events, the whole world seemed to react. Every other story on Digg.com showed a new article about the budget cut, and looking through the comments, most reactions were of shear disgust about the short-sightedness of the government funded space agency. After all, Spirit and Opportunity represent the most successful robotic planetary mission ever; to simply switch one of them off seemed like a crime. Rushing to the keyboard I posted my five cents worth on the Universe Today, thinking to myself “this is insane”, but wondering why it was happening.

Spirit and Opportunity landed on the Red Planet in 2004 and were only expected to live for a few months. The previous successful rover, Sojourner (of NASA’s Pathfinder mission in 1997), was expected to last for a couple of weeks, it survived for three months. So expectations were high for the MER program. Not only did the 2004 mission surpass the few months the rovers were designed for, they have both independently survived the last four years and the science they are carrying out has surpassed even the most extreme predictions. Every day we read about new discoveries coming from our intrepid explorers on Mars, they have been embraced by the international community, and they are as popular as ever.

So it is understandable that when it is announced that Spirit will need to be “turned off” for a few weeks and Opportunity will be on a “go slow”, the news sites should go crazy. I spotted several commenters and blogs requesting a petition to be sent to Congress.

The disappointment extends beyond the two rovers, what about the 300+ highly trained scientists in the Californian Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL)? Where would they go? Would they be transferred or laid off? The worry was obvious when MER principal investigator, Steve Squyres, gave a statement: “It’s very demoralizing for the team […] we would have to make some very tough decisions about which one we would hibernate and which one we would keep active. That’s a situation I do not want to face … but that’s a future worry.”

The reasons for this false alarm have been attributed to the “unexpected” long overrun of the MER mission and the ever increasing bill for the future Mars Science Laboratory Mission; a cut of $4 million was therefore inevitable.

But why the turnaround? Did NASA change its mind after being shocked by the outpouring of shock from the public? It is hard to say. So far, the only piece of extra information I have found is from the Associated Press where a letter was sent to JPL instructing mission scientists of the budget cut, but the letter was not approved by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. When the cut was announced at JPL, NASA withdrew the letter and instructed the MER team to continue as if the letter was never sent.

I’m sure there are some questions as to why an unapproved financial letter was ever sent to JPL in the first place (I personally think NASA needs to get its paperwork in order).

So the Mars rovers can breathe a sigh of relief. However, the fact remains that NASA is under increasing pressure to save money, and an overrunning rover mission on Mars (although a massive success) still costs millions in research funding.

Original Source: AP