Scientists Revisit Mars Sample Return Plans: related news

International Group Studies Mars Sample Return Mission

Until humans can actually set foot on the Red Planet, the next best thing would be a sample return mission, to bring Martian soil samples back to Earth. A sample return would exponentially increase our knowledge and understanding Mars and its environment. And in order to pull off a mission of this magnitude, international cooperation might be required, and in fact, may be preferred. The International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), organized an international committee to study an international architecture for a Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission concept. After several months of collective work by scientists and engineers from several countries worldwide, the “iMARS� group is ready to publish the outcome of its deliberations and the envisioned common architecture for a future international MSR mission, and they will discuss thei

Scientists Revisit Mars Sample Return Plans

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — International planning is under way to reinvigorate plans for a Mars sample return mission, with researchers assessing science priorities and strategies to maximize the scientific output from such an undertaking.

Unidentified Phoenix Mars Lander scientists celebrate after the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft landed successfully in the first-ever touchdown near Mars' north pole.

Phoenix Mars Lander scientists celebrate after the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft landed successfully in the first-ever touchdown near Mars' north pole at the mission control room of the Jet Propulsion lab in Pasadena, California May 25, 2008. The scientists are (L-R) Barry Goldstein, JPL project manager for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, Ed Sedivy, Phoenix spacecraft manager, Lockheed Martin, Phoenix principal investigator, Peter Smith (white hair) of the University of Arizona and Fuk Li, manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Exploration Program. [Agencies]

NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells

Add our medical news to digg - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to NewsVine - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to Fark - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to Furl - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to Shadows - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to YahooMyWeb - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to Reddit -NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to StumbleUpon - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells Add our medical news to Facebook - NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells

Digging in the Dirt, Scientists Succeed on Mars

Using a robotic arm on the Phoenix Mars lander Wednesday, scientists successfully gathered a sample of the planet's soil, clearing the way for further research on the possibility of life on Mars. The head of the Mars Phoenix mission joins Science Friday for an update.

Large Defined Benefit Plans Produce Better Returns Than Comparable 401(k) Plans

From Spencer's Benefits Reports: Companies that sponsor both large defined benefit plans and 401(k) plans see better investment returns from their defined benefit plans, according to Watson Wyatt. This generally is true because larger plans have access to a wider variety of investment options and economies of scale. As reported in a recent Insider newsletter, Watson Wyatt used 5500 form data to calculate the median rate of return for plan sponsors that sponsored both a defined benefit plan and a 401(k) plan, each with at least 100 participants.

Phoenix Suffers Unknown Problem with Sample Analysis Oven

The first sample for scientific analysis dug from the surface of the Mars has failed to make it to the onboard oven used to test for organic compounds and water. Mission scientists have been overviewing a picture taken by the lander after Phoenix's 8-foot long robotic arm dropped the sample on-target, but a sensor inside the chamber has reported seeing nothing falling into the oven. The regolith sample can be clearly seen scattered over the oven doors (pictured), and the vibration plate appears to be functioning. Mission control is currently trying to understand what went wrong, so sample analysis has been postponed, possibly for a few days…

Phoenix gears up to begin Mars dig

A photo taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captur... Scientists celebrate after the Phoenix Mars spacecraft la... Two Phoenix Mars Lander scientists celebrate after the sp... One of the first images from the Phoenix Mars Lander show... More...

Scientists & Evidence Mars Could Support Life

Scientists say an analysis of a soil sample by the Mars Lander Phoenix shows that Mars could support life. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.

Scientists feel sure of ice on Mars

A NASA handout image shows the Robotic Arm on NASAs Phoenix Mars Lander with a sample of martian soil. A NASA statement said that analysis of images from NASAs Phoenix Mars Lander has scientists increasingly convinced of ice near the Red Planets Nort ...

NASA Mars Phoenix Landing Area Viewed by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Color Imager

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is scheduled to land on the Martian northern plains near 68 degrees north latitude, 127 degrees west longitude on May 25, 2008. In preparation for the landing, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been monitoring weather in the region around the landing site. On April 20, 2008, the orbiter's Mars Color Imager camera captured this view of a large region of northern Mars that includes the landing target area in the lower right quadrant.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander: Exploring the arctic plains of Mars

Photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, this picture shows the Phoenix Mars Lander on its final descent on to the red planet. This image has been brightened to show the landscape of Mars in the background. This is one of the first images broadcast from the Phoenix after landing on the surface of Mars. It shows the tiny pebbles and polygonal cracking of the Martian landscape. The same image is seen here, brightened to Earth day standards. This black and white image shows a region of polygonal cracking in the Martian ground. This cracking occurs in a similar fashion in the icy ground of the Arctic regions of Earth. Here the image is converted to full colour, showing red Martian ‘soil’. The Phoenix lander photographs its own footpad to check stability.

Phoenix Digs First Mars Soil Sample To Analyze

An anonymous reader writes "Nearly two weeks after its historic landing, the US Mars probe Phoenix has scooped up its first sample of Martian soil and begun analyzing it for water and organic compounds. The test dig made Sunday by the Phoenix Mars Lander's 8-foot-long robotic arm uncovered bits of bright specks in the soil believed to be ice or salt. Mission controllers will send instructions to the lander to dump the sample into one of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) ovens. The TEGA ovens, which are about an inch long and the diameter of a pencil lead, will heat up the soil samples and use a mass spectrometer to detect the gases that come off the samples, which will shed light on some of the materials in the soil, specifically those formed by the process of liquid water.

Mars Sample Return: the next step in exploring the Red Planet

ESA and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) will be co-hosting, in cooperation with NASA and the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), an International Conference on 9 and 10 July in the Auditorium of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris* to discuss the next step in the exploration of Mars.

Mars Polar Lander - Space Probe, USA

The Mars Surveyor '98 Programme was comprised of two spacecraft launched separately: the Mars Climate Orbiter (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter) launched in 1996, and the Mars Polar Lander (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander).

NASA probe confirms ice on Mars

NASA scientists say photos sent from Mars by the Phoenix Lander confirm ice on the red planet. The presence of water is crucial for research because it helps answer questions on whether life forms, perhaps microbes, exist or existed on Mars. Phoenix dug a trench near Mars' north pole and a sequence of photos shows eight white chucks slowly vanishing. Over the next few weeks Phoenix will analyse the Martian soil and look for organic material. In 2002 another unmanned craft, the Mars Odyssey Orbiter first detected what's thought to be a vast sheet of ice under the barren polar surface.

Scientists Say Mars Lander Photos Show Ice

Scientists say new photographs from NASA's Mars lander show the robotic probe has dug up pieces of ice on the planet's surface. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports, the finding is a strong boost to the mission, which hopes to uncover signs of life on Mars.

UPDATE: Comms Glitch Delays Mars Phoenix Digging

UPDATE (6:15 PM): For the second time, a communications glitch between spacecraft orbiting Mars and the Phoenix Mars Lander sitting on the surface has slowed down the Mars mission. The satellite Odyssey, the AP reports, failed to relay a signal to the Lander to start digging after high-energy space particles essentially crashed the craft's OS. NASA scientists will now start relaying signals through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which had its own glitch last month. But the good news is that the Lander is fine and digging will commence tomorrow.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Relays Second-Day Information From NASA Mars Lander

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully received information from the Phoenix Mars Lander Tuesday evening and relayed the information to Earth. The relayed transmission included images and other data collected by Phoenix during the mission's second day after landing on Mars.

Scientists dance as Mars lander gets dirt into lab

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After days of struggling with sticky Martian dirt, the Phoenix Mars Lander has unexpectedly succeeded in getting its first soil sample into an onboard laboratory for analysis, jubilant NASA scientists said on Wednesday.

Scientists dance as Mars lander gets dirt into lab

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After days of struggling with sticky Martian dirt, the Phoenix Mars Lander has unexpectedly succeeded in getting its first soil sample into an onboard laboratory for analysis, jubilant NASA scientists said on Wednesday.

Scientists dance as Mars lander gets dirt into lab

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After days of struggling with sticky Martian dirt, the Phoenix Mars Lander has unexpectedly succeeded in getting its first soil sample into an onboard laboratory for analysis, jubilant NASA scientists said on Wednesday.

Huge Impact Created Mars' Split PersonalityStudy: Mars Had Drizzle and DewAstronomers on Verge of Finding Earth's TwinPhoenix Lander Prepares to Taste Martian DirtBlack Holes All Eat the Same Way

This artistic representation of a giant impact on Mars was created from simulations by Marinova et al. (Nature, 2008). Mars is shown using a combination of Viking color images and shaded relief from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Credit: Jeff Andrews-Hanna

Visions of Mars Goes to Mars

Louis Friedman, the executive director of The Planetary Society; project director and editor-in-chief for Visions of Mars,Jon Lomberg; and Bruce Betts, director of projects for The Planetary Society show off the DVD that is carrying the thoughts and words of Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke as well as the names of 250,000 other Earthlings. Phoenix will deposit the Visions of Mars DVD on Mars when it lands. Credit: The Planetary Society / A.J.S. Rayl

Mars Is REALLY Cold

We knew Mars was cold, but new observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate that the crust and upper mantle of Mars are stiffer and colder than previously thought. And scientists say any liquid water that might exist below the planet's surface, and any possible organisms living in that water, would be found deeper than anyone suspected.

Search took 0.58 seconds.