An United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft was launched 10:02 a.m. EST. First stage and second operations were nominal. Spacecraft is in coast phase […]
Mars
Posted inSpace & Planetary Science
ESA Contact With Phobos-Grunt – Off and On and Off
ESA station unable to establish new link with Phobos-Grunt “After establishing contact with Russia’s Phobos-Grunt Mars mission earlier this week, ESA’s tracking station in Australia received no signal from the […]
Posted inSpace & Planetary Science
NASA Mars Science Laboratory Launch Delayed
According to NASA PAO: “The launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V carrying NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has been delayed one day to allow time for the team […]
Posted inSpace & Planetary Science
Is Something Wrong With the Drill on MSL? (Update)
Keith’s 18 Nov 12:25 pm EST update: NASA PAO just provided the following response: “The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, including the Curiosity rover and the rock-sampling drill on the rover, […]
Posted inSpace & Planetary Science
The OMB Staffer Who Is Holding Up Mars Mission Decisions
Conferees OK $17.8 Billion For NASA, Aviation Week “I have had the opportunity to engage in conversation with individuals in the Office of Management and Budget [OMB],” said Steven Squyres […]
Posted inAstrobiology
NASA Can't Explain What MSL Is Looking For – And What It Can Find
Keith’s note: In a Mars Science Laboratory pre-launch press conference today, NASA’s Doug McCuistion said “MSL is seeking signs of life but this is not a life detection mission”. NASA […]
Posted inSpace & Planetary Science
Phobos-Grunt Mission Threatened
Russia’s Mars Mission May Be In Trouble, Discovery News “We had a difficult night,” Russian space agency head Vladimir Popovkin told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, RussianSpaceWeb.com reports. “We […]
Posted inBudget
NASA Budget: What to Cut, What To Save?
Budget pressures squeeze the dreams of Mars explorers, Washington Post “At a White House meeting during the last week of October, administration officials “were clearly not very keen on signing […]
Posted inPersonnel News
Ron Greeley
In Memory: Planetary Geologist Ronald Greeley “Ronald Greeley, a Regents’ Professor of planetary geology at Arizona State University who has been involved in lunar and planetary studies since 1967 and […]
Posted inSpace & Planetary Science
NASA and ESA Can't Agree on Mars Strategy
NASA, ESA: No Agreement on Mars Mission, Aviation Week “NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and his European Space Agency counterpart, Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, failed to settle their differences on restructuring […]