What on Mars and Moon ?

This “Easter Egg” is a oval shaped crater around 33.21 S / 173.95 W. on
Mars. I think it is the result of a oblique impact 3.0 billion years
ago.
The picture was reconstructed by using three very garbled picture
frames sent back to Earth in 1976 by Viking Orbiter 1 (photos: 489a06,
08, 10) only containing 25 to 33 percent information in form of single
lines separated by dark bars three pixel wide. Adding these three
pictures allows filling most of the gaps.
The picture is certainly far from optimum but the best shot I found of this region.
– Dr. Norbert Gasch –

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows evidence of wind deposition of fine sediment in the form of drifts in the lee of obstacles in the martian south polar region. The picture is located near 83.4°S, 8.1°W.
[NASA/JPL/MSSS]

[NASA/JPL/ASU]
This daytime infrared image was collected Aug. 13, 2003 during southern spring. The upper part of the image shows the relatively young volcanic flows from Arsia Mons, while the bottom exhibits the flow front texture of older flows. The older flows are most likely also from Arsia Mons
[ASU THEMIS Science Team]

Current Missions

NASA TV Online
JPL Mars Rovers
NASA Mars Rovers
Athena Mars Rovers
Astrobot Diaries
ESA’s Mars Express Orbiter
ASU: Mars 2001 Odyssey
NASA: 2001 Mars
TES Project Homepage
MSSS: Mars Global Surveyor
NASA: Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Desert Research Station

Past Missions

Beagle 2
Nozomi (Planet-B)
Nozomi
Mars Polar Lander
Deep Space 2
Mars Climate Orbiter
Mars Pathfinder
Mars 96 Orbiter
Mars 96 Homepage
Mars Observer
Phobos 2
Phobos 1
Viking 1 & 2
Mars 7
Mars 6
Mars 5 & 4
Mariner 9
Mariner 8 & 9
Mars 3 Orbiter
Mars 3 Lander
Mars 2 Orbiter
Mars 2 Lander
Cosmos 419
Mariner 8
Mars 1969B
Mars 1969A
Mariner 7
Mariner 6
Zond 3

What on moon Archives

Index of Image of the Day
WOM Reference Desk
More Links
Liquid Surface Water
MOLA Data Products
Mola 3D Map
PDS moon Global Surveyor
Nineplanets.org/moon
Images of moon and Satellites
Martian Landscape
moon Topography
Full Moon 2024
Pleine lune  2024 Atlas of moon
USGS Astrogeology: moon
The Case for moon
Rootless cones on moon
Ancient moon
Von Braun moon
To moon with MER
Renderings of moon
moon Life Home page
Crewed Mission to moon
History of Observation
Clues from the Red Planet
Ways to Look at moon
moon Ice
Human Mission to moon
Viking Labeled Release
moon Missions
moonOWEB
moon Launch Sequence

Future Missions

moon Reconnaissance Orbiter
HiRISE
Phoenix Lander
Phoenix Lander Info
Orbiters, Netlanders
moon Science Laboratory
moon Smart Lander
2005 and Beyond
2005 Missions and Beyond
News and Latest Info
MartianSoil
moonNews.com
The Meridiani Journal
Project Constellation
moondaily.com
moon Society
moon Blog
San Diego moon Society
moon Society of Houston
UVic moon Society
Amateur images of moon
Zond 2
Mariner 4
Mariner 3
Sputnik 24
moon 1
Sputnik 22
moonnik 2
moonnik 1
LIFE ON moon!
Landing Site Selection
Early moon
moon Direct Home Page
Craters on Earth & moon
moon Atmospheric Modeling
Magnetic Field
moon’ Phobos and Deimos

Downloads

NASAVIEW™ SOFTWARE

NASAView is a Free Planetary Data System archive product display tool that runs on Sun/Solaries, Windows/NT/95, and PowerMac platforms with a common look-and-feel Graphical User Interface (GUI). Weak but quick and opens .qub files with ease.

MultiSpec©

A Multispectral Image Data Analysis System.
MultiSpec© with its documentation© is distributed without charge.
Win9X,2000,XP,MAC. Nice and opens .qub files if you know how.

UTHSCSA ImageTool

UTHSCSA ImageTool (IT) is a free image processing and analysis program for Microsoft Windows 9x, Windows ME or Windows NT.

ImageJ

Free Image Processing and Analysis Tool in Java. ImageJ runs on Linux, Mac OS 9, Mac OS X and Windows. ImageJ is the world’s fastest pure Java image processing program. Extend ImageJ by developing plugins.

ENVI FreeLook

ENVI FreeLook is designed to provide basic viewing, data selection, and data quality assessment capabilities for a wide variety of image data. Nice if you just want to look. Opens .qub files if you know how.

Free ENVI Download

The downloaded products are fully functional and they run in a restricted mode for seven-minute sessions. This enables trial use of the software. No doubt the best but about $5000. Opens .qub files if you know how.

Voyager Image Display

An easy to use shareware Windows 95/98/NT/2000 based image processing program that can read and enhance images from various NASA spacecraft.
How to Open a THEMIS QUB File In ENVI and MultiSpec

Prospecting the Moon and Mars for Supplies

Universe Today - May 23, 2024
The Chief Scientist for NASA’s Mars Program, David Beaty, has spent more than 20 years searching the Earth for metals and oil, and this makes the right man to help future astronauts survive off-Earth.

Exploration
Checking Out ‘Cheyenne’ and Testing Relay for Phoenix
NASA - May 23, 2024
Opportunity and NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter are conducting a set of demonstrations using the relay between the rover and orbiter to aid planning for communications during NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander mission, slated for launch in August 2007 and landing in May 2008.

Communication | NASA Update | ODY | Opportunity | Phoenix Lander
NASA outer space communications in peril
FCW.com - May 23, 2024
NASA’s extraterrestrial communications system could encounter a major service disruption if managers do not keep a closer eye on the deteriorating network’s needs, according to federal auditors.

Communication
Mars Express - Lava tubes on Pavonis Mons
ESA - May 23, 2024
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express, show Pavonis Mons, the central volcano of the three ‘shield’ volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes.

Mars Express | Press Release Images | Volcanos
Surviving the Tough Life
University of Arkansas - May 23, 2024
University of Arkansas researchers have shown that methane-producing microorganisms can survive for up to 25 days without water, which might make such creatures even more likely candidates for the type of life that could be found on Mars.

Life on Earth | Life on Mars | Methane
Arctic drilling could determine if life exists on Mars
canada.com - May 23, 2024
On an Arctic island 3,000 kilometres north of the nearest city, scientists tested a drill this May that could one day open the next chapter in space exploration the quest to discover what lies beneath the surface of the moon and Mars.

Drill | Life on Mars
THEMIS Feature Image - Gale Crater’s History Book
ASU THEMIS - May 22, 2024
Gale Crater forms a large natural repository for a lot of Martian geologic history. This ancient impact scar has a diameter of about 150 kilometers (90 miles) and lies close to where the cratered highlands drop off onto the northern lowlands in Elysium. Based on its size and state of preservation, scientists estimate Gale formed 3.8 to 3.5 billion years ago.

Craters | ODY | Press Release Images
New Software System Offers Better, Faster Spacecraft
Technology News Daily - May 22, 2024
Developed by a team of engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., the new system was created to support the NASA design teams charged with engineering the spacecraft of tomorrow – advanced vehicles to realize the Vision for Space Exploration.

Software | SpaceCraft
NASA’s Deep Space Network
Technology News Daily - May 22, 2024
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) - the agency’s primary system for communicating with spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit - is not well positioned to meet the coming demands of the Vision for Exploration and future deep space science missions.

Communication
ExoMars boot camp in Tenerife
ZDnet.com - May 22, 2024
And the Telegraph adds that the robot has been nicknamed Bridget and has taken its first steps on its road to Mars.

ExoMars
Mars mission poses extreme psychological puzzle
Star-Telegram.com - May 22, 2024
It’s the moment every wannabe astronaut dreams of: landing on Mars.

Human Exploration
Apollo-style capsule just not advanced enough, critic says
VenturaCountyStar.com - May 22, 2024
NASA’s decision to use an Apollo-style capsule to return to the moon has received criticism for using old technology to build the next generation of space vehicles.

Human Exploration | SpaceCraft
A lifetime of gazing with eye on Mars
nj.com - May 22, 2024
Mountain climbing on Mars is not as out of this world as some might think.

Human Exploration | Mars Observers
Firm growing crops inside Marengo cave
FortWayne.com - May 21, 2024
In the chilled blackness of a cave-like chamber carved deep into a southern Indiana cliff, Doug Ausenbaugh is raising corn and tomatoes as vibrant as anything that might grow in a sun-drenched field.

Plants
MGS Public Target Images - Posted 15 May 2024
Malin Space Science Systems - May 15, 2024
Images Acquired Through MGS MOC Public Target Request Program. Data Acquired in April 2024.

Data Release | MGS
Bright Soil Near ‘McCool’
NASA - April 4, 2024
While driving eastward toward the northwestern flank of “McCool Hill,” the wheels of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit churned up the largest amount of bright soil discovered so far in the mission. This image from Spirit’s panoramic camera (Pancam), taken on the rover’s 788th Martian day, or sol, of exploration (March 22, 2024), shows the strikingly bright colors and large extent of the materials uncovered.

Press Release Images | Spirit
Spirit Struggles to Survive the Martian Winter
NASA - April 4, 2024
As a result, the rover’s handlers on Earth are having a difficult time getting the rover to a suitably north-facing slope to survive the cold, dark, martian winter. The rover must face its solar panels northward to collect enough solar energy as the sun sinks low above the horizon.

Essentially, it’s a race against time. The period of minimum sunshine in the martian winter is more than 100 days away, but Spirit currently gets only enough power for about one hour of driving on flat ground. And, Spirit literally has an up-hill battle.

NASA Update | Spirit
Extreme spots on Earth may yield clues to life on Mars
MyrtleBeachOnline.com - April 4, 2024
She’s climbed almost 20,000 feet into the thin air of an Andes mountain peak, dived into some of the world’s highest lakes and sent a robot across a windswept Chilean desert - all in a quest to learn how life once might have existed, or may still exist, on the Red Planet.

Life on Earth | Life on Mars | Mars on Earth
NASA to Bring the Stars to Alabama
SpaceRef - April 4, 2024
The Experience uses holographic and 3D imagery to show “explorers” what it might be like to visit the surfaces of the moon, Mars and destinations beyond. Visitors can manipulate their environment and explore simulated lunar and Martian landscapes as well as travel to one of Saturn’s moons, free of charge.

Education
MRO to begin descent into Martian atmosphere
Pasadena Star-News - April 4, 2024
Tonight, if all goes well, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will get its first taste of Martian air.

Tagadelic

Budget CEV Colonization Communication Craters Dust Education ESA Exploration History Human Exploration Images Leadership Life on Earth Life on Mars Mars Express Mars Observers Mars on Earth Mars Picture of the Day MDRS MER’s MGS MRO NASA NASA Update ODY Opportunity Politics Press Release Images Remote Sensing Russia SpaceCraft Spirit Steve Squyres Water Water Ice WOM Image of the Day

WhatOnMars Gallery
Login

News Links
Google™ MarsWire
Alltheweb© MarsWire
NewsTrove© MarsWire
MartianSoil
MarsNews.com
MainlyMartian
NewMars.com
Life on Mars
Mars Society
Homestead Project
MarsDrive.com
Mars Today
The Meridiani Journal
Current Time on Mars
Image Links
Opportunity Raw
Spirit Raw
Mars Express
Analyst’s Notebook
Planetary Atlas
Photojournal
MARSOWEB
ODY with Captions
MGS with Captions
MER Color Imagery
PanCam Color
Nineplanets.org
Renderings of Mars
Future Missions
2007 - Phoenix Lander
2009 - Rover (MSL)
Aurora Programme
NASA Beyond 2009

Current Missions
NASA - MRO
JPL - MER’s
NASA - MER’s
Athena - MER’s
ESA - Mars Express
ASU -ODY
NASA - ODY
MSSS -MGS
NASA - MGS
TES Homepage
MDRS
FMARS
NASA TV Online
Past Missions
Beagle 2
Nozomi(Planet-B)
Nozomi
Mars Polar Lander
Deep Space 2
Mars Climate Orbiter
Mars Pathfinder
Mars 96 Orbiter
Mars 96
Mars Observer
Phobos 2
Phobos 1
Viking 1 & 2
Mars 7
Mars 6
Mars 5 & 4
Mariner 9
Mars 3 Orbiter
Mars 3 Lander
Mars 2 Orbiter
Mars 2 Lander
Cosmos 419
Mariner 8
Mars 1969B
Mars 1969A
Mariner 7
Mariner 6
Zond 3
Zond 2
Mariner 4
Mariner 3
Sputnik 24
Mars 1
Sputnik 22
Marsnik 2
Marsnik 1
More Mars links
Launch Sequence
Mars Missions
Tuna - Mars
Nova Mars
NASA -Exploration
M2K4
USGS - Mars
Mars Topography
MOLA Data
PDS - MGS
MarsWatch
Viking Lander
Labeled Release
ICAMSR
CLUES
Mars Meteorites
Rootless cones
Surface Water
Mars Ice
Ice on Mars
Magnetic Field
Martian Weather
Martian Temperature
Early Mars
Ancient Mars
Craters
Phobos & Deimos
Landing Site
Explore Mars
Mars Quest
Telling Time
The Vision
Human Mission
Von Braun
Case for Mars
Crewed Mission
CEV
Lockheed Martin
Boeing
I’m Going to Mars!
Download links
NasaView
MultiSpec
ImageTool
ImageJ
ENVI Downloads
Maestro
Z-Anaglyph
Anaglyph Maker
Stereo Panorama
dlgv32 Pro
GeoFrac
TNTlite
Kashmir
3DEM
Terragen
Polygon Worlds
Public Domain
Mars24 Sunclock
Download Manager
Popular content
Today’s:
WhatonMars Image of the day - July 14, 2005
WhatonMars Image of the Day - July 15, 2005
WhatonMars Image of the Day - July 12, 2005
WhatonMars Image of the Day - August 19, 2005
The mesas of Aureum Chaos

All time:
WhatonMars Image of the Day - July 15, 2005
WhatonMars Image of the Day - July 12, 2005
WhatonMars Image of the Day - August 19, 2005
The mesas of Aureum Chaos
WhatonMars Image of the day - July 14, 2005

Last viewed:
World’s nations will shoot for the moon in next decade
Making space vision a reality
WhatonMars Image of the day - July 14, 2005
Testing Command Communications
WhatonMars Image of the Day
NASA plan to kill shuttle may face battle
Home Plate
WhatOnMars Image of the Day - November 29, 2005
Fire and Water in Granicus Valles
WhatonMars Image of the Day
WhatonMars Image of the Day
Review: Astro Turf
Floods in Athabasca Valles
Baby Boomers on Mars
NASA hoping to keep Bush onboard

Mars RSS News
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM Imagery: Phyllosilicate and Olivine around a Fracture in Nili Fossae
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Imagery Release 30 May 2007
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Imagery Release 23 May 2007
Fractures
‘Life on Mars’ garden wins Chelsea
China and Russia join hands to explore Mars
Gallery: Opportunity Passes 10-Kilometer Mark
Ice Edge
NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Update: Opportunity Turns Up the Amps
NASA Mars Rover Spirit Update: Spirit Continues Soil Analysis
Dunes
Sinuous Ridge
Gallery: Rover Crosses Windy Landscape
Breathtaking views of Deuteronilus Mensae on Mars
NRC Report: “Astrobiology Strategy for the Exploration of Mars” Due for Release
NASA Mars Rover Spirit Discovers Changes in Soil Near ‘Home Plate’
NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Conducts Successful Path Planning Test and Gets Another Energy Boost
Channel
Dust Devil Tracks
Moon, Mars trips will pose physical, mental health risks
more
More RSS News
Satellites Track Human Exposure to Fine Particle Pollution
NASA-European Spacecraft Swoops Under Sun’s Pole
Full NPR Interview Transcript: NASA Administrator Michael Griffin Not Sure That Global Warming Is A Problem
NASA Space Station Status Report 31 May 2007
Does Mike Griffin Think George Bush Is Wasting His Time?
California Sea Otters – 2007 Survey Count Reaches New High
Massive Transiting Planet with 31-hour Year Found Around Distant Star
NASA Research Finds That Earth’s Climate is Approaching "Dangerous"Point
House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Chairman Responds to NASA Administrator’s Comments on NPR
I Missed an ESMD Press Briefing
Mimas, Dione, Rhea
Carnival of Space #5
The Global Exploration Strategy Framework: Executive Summary
NASA, 13 Space Agencies Release Exploration Strategy Framework
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM Imagery: Phyllosilicate and Olivine around a Fracture in Nili Fossae
Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity 30 May 2007
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Imagery Release 30 May 2007
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Imagery Release 23 May 2007
Zoo: Rare rhino death leaves only 13 worldwide
Exploration “Framework” Released
more
Mars Today

Site Info
Email
Rick Coffin
WhatOnMars.com
©2007 WhatOnMars
MarsDrive Consortium
Tue, 2007-05-08 12:00 — Rick
MarsDrive Consortium has updated their site and new content has been added. Be sure to check it out at marsdrive.com

Human Exploration
VRMars Website
Tue, 2007-05-08 11:54 — Rick
Daniel Onyszczuk has a new Mars website up with free demos for viewing MER images in virtual reality. You can find his site at www.vrmars.com

Software
External Links
Sun, 2007-02-04 09:54 — Rick
I updated the site to the new Drupal 5 and made it so external links now open in a new window. I posted some Mars images to the gallery sometime ago that where not blogged here. You should start to see more Mars images and Mars news in this part of the site soon.

other
Drupal 5.0 release candidate
Thu, 2006-12-28 11:21 — Rick
I upgraded the site to Drupal 5.0 RC1 with Garland as the theme. I still have to change the colors, put up the logo, get the links to open in a new window, ect…

other
V17901002
Sat, 2006-12-23 09:11 — Rick

Images: NASA/JPL/ASU

This visual wavelength THEMIS image was processed from a Reduced Data Record (RDR) Cube File using ISIS 3 and the GIMP.

Images
ODY
V18987002
Sat, 2006-12-23 09:08 — Rick

Images: NASA/JPL/ASU

This visual wavelength THEMIS image was processed from a Reduced Data Record (RDR) Cube File using ISIS 3 and the GIMP.

Images
ODY
V18037001
Sat, 2006-12-23 08:56 — Rick

Images: NASA/JPL/ASU

This visual wavelength THEMIS image was processed from a Reduced Data Record (RDR) Cube File using ISIS 3 and the GIMP.

Images
ODY
123456789…next ›last »

Latest moon News and Images - moon Image Gallery - moon Image Links - moon News RSS
moon News Links
moonDaily.com
moonNews.com
moonToday.com
Martian Soil
The moon Society
more
moon Image Links
Google moon
HiRISE - PSP
HiRISE
moon Global Surveyor
MGS Movies and Pictures
more
Future Missions
MSL - JPL
Aurora - ESA
MSL Draft
The Vision
Exploration Systems
more
Current Missions
MRO - NASA
HiBlog - MRO
MRO - CRISM
MEX - ESA
MRO - NASA
more
Past Missions
MGS - Mission
NASA - Viking
NASA - Pathfinder
MGS - NASA/JPL
Launch Sequence
more
Life on moon Links
BBC Methane
BBC Ammonia
Meteorite
NASA moon
National Geographic
more
Software Links
DjVuLibre
Compression
GIS Tools
Image Eye
IrfanView
more
moon on Earth
High Lakes
HMP Weblog
moon Institute
NASA - MARTE
Spanish Red River
more
More moon Links
moon Gravity Biosatellite
New moon
Museum Store
Planet moon
Sedimentary Rocks
more
Off Topic Links
Science Friday
Lunar ice
Galileo Project
Google Moon
Moons - System
more
Older Archives

Mice to help us endure trip to moon


BY CAROLE RUTLAND

In Massachusetts, a cadre of tiny mice anxiously wait, hoping they have the right stuff to become the first test astronauts for a very special trip into orbit.

This latest space venture hopes to make future trips to moon safer for humans, since we still have much to learn about the long-term effects of space travel on the human body. Even though we’ve been lifting off the launch pad since 1961, the question remains as to how much the human body can endure in conditions vastly different those on Earth.

For instance, aboard the space shuttle or the International Space Station, astronauts work in nearly zero gravity or micro-gravity.

Future trips to moon, however, would require several months in near zero gravity conditions. In addition, landing on moon would require humans to live and work for months with surface gravity of a mere 0.38-g, less than half that of Earth.

And that’s where the mice may be able to offer some assistance.

Called the moon Gravity Biosatellite Project, it’s a carefully planned mission to transport mice to a habitat in Earth orbit and, at the same time, duplicate the surface gravity of moon. By spinning the capsule at the rate of 34 times per minute, the effect on the wee mice passengers should simulate the 0.38-g’s on the Martian surface.

Scientists are looking for changes in bone density, muscle mass, atrophy, and balance problems similar to those experienced by human astronauts after long stays in the International Space Station.

Teams of scientists and students will create a benchmark with which to chart biological responses from near 0-g conditions in space to 1- g on earth.

Our mice astronauts are competing for space aboard the moon Biogravity Satellite and the opportunity to spend five weeks in space. Mice of the male gender need not apply – scientists have found that females may be more sensitive to lower gravitational effects than males, so only female mice will make the grade. It’s also been found that females will eat less, making the payload lighter at lift-off.

And what’s to happen to our furry little friends after their work is complete?

Luckily for the mice, the last thing on the agenda is to parachute back to earth in a capsule destined to land near Woomera, Australia, where data can be collected and added to the “So You Want to go to Mars” volumes we’ve been writing (literally and figuratively) since the beginning of the 20th century.

The spacecraft is due to leave Earth in 2024, with future Mars expeditions being predicted for sometime in the 2030s.

Ultra-compact dwarf galaxies abound

Mars, King of the Hill

As both rovers approach their third month resident on Mars, the mission planners have returned to Earth time. Both rover teams look to make rapid progress toward distant hills, with a possible second September extension continuing with any remaining mission science.

JPL Mars Program Office Head, Dr. Firouz Naderi, indicated that with this week’s first mission extension, even more may be planned. Currently slated for September 13 as the next mission milestone, such an ambitious science schedule would give the rovers 250 Sols on the planet’s surface. “This is all bonus science,” said Naderi. “After the solar conjunction (alignment between Mars, Earth and the Sun) around September 13th, we would probably propose to NASA for a second extension.” During a solar conjunction, explained Naderi, the Sun blocks line-of-sight views between the Earth tracking and martian surface operations for seven to ten days. “The Sun gets in the way,” said Naderi, explaining that during the lead-up to September 13th, both rovers will be given a deserved weeklong respite, followed by what many hope will be further healthy science operations to follow.

For the rest of 2004, the engineering and science team will look to stretch more life out of their six-wheeled laboratories. The primary constraints on further operations will be thermal, power, and dust accumulation from seasonal change and road weathering. Mission manager, Matt Wallace, explained previously that both rovers were healthy: “We try to keep our finger on the pulse of vehicle health, looking for signals or markers of subtle changes and trends. Except for environmental changes (power, thermal, optical opacity and dust accumulation), there is no wear and tear on subsystems.”

At Gusev crater, the extended Spirit mission will look to traverse towards Columbia Hills. At Meridiani Planum, the extended Opportunity mission will rack up long drives across the flat plains towards Endurance Crater. At full speed, the rovers can clock from 50 to 100 meters per Sol.


In the plains of Meridiani is this trough, with a bedrock outcrop shown right as lighter rock that looks as tabular as that found at Eagle Crater.
Credit:NASA/JPL/Cornell
Naderi noted that the switch of mission personnel back to Earth time has been a welcome transition. For future missions, he said, the consensus for long-term operations will likely move away from following Mars’ sunrise and sunset times. One problem other than the late and early on-site shifts at JPL has been the inability to sleep at consistent times because the approximately 39 minute longer martian day continues always to push and rotate schedules. Dr. Ray Arvidson, deputy Principal Investigator and Washington University, St. Louis professor of geology, compared the hectic three months on Mars time to jetlag when a transatlantic traveler returns from Europe. “It takes three to four days to get back to Earth time,” said Arvidson.

One other benefit, according to Arvidson, is that since mission science is planned for Spirit and Opportunity on opposite sides of Mars, now that both teams work on the same clock, they will be able to simplify coordination and strategic science targets. There are people on the other rover tream, said Arvidson, “who I haven’t seen for three months except in the parking lot.”


Opportunity bounced off this rock called “Bounce”, the only rock in sight, and landed abruptly in Eagle Crater. The rock abrasion tool has left it drill marks on the rock.
Credit:NASA/JPL/Cornell MSSS
Spirit’s mission manager for surface operations, Jennifer Trosper, noted that on her first day back on Earth time (last Monday), she was pleased not to come into work at 1 A.M. But as she was getting ready for bed that night proved to be exactly when she was called back to JPL–to troubleshoot why the Spirit rover had not responded to a ‘beep’ signal sent from Earth around midnight.

Trosper said that new flight software will be a major priority for the coming days. She explained that while there were risks associated with any commands that change the rovers’ state, the software has been thoroughly pre-tested. The first upload of flight software was not loaded until only one month before launch. The critical descent and landing software was not loaded on the spacecraft until nearly three months after launch, while the probe was well on its way to Mars.

In detail, Trosper noted, their plan will feature first the transfer of software command files for six hours a day over 4 days of direct communication from Earth to the high-gain antenna on both rovers. “When we get all the files on-board, then we build the flight software (locally on the rovers). When that is complete, the rovers go to sleep for 15 minutes, waking up with a new system.” The Spirit rover was the first to encounter file overloads after 18 days of file storage, and at one point could not send any data to Earth except that its system clock had shifted to the year 2053. Later changes in software succeeded in rejoining the rovers with JPL’s command center.

Arvidson highlighted a few near-term science objectives as further investigation on Spirit continues to calibrate the dusty martian skies. By pointing the rover’s panoramic camera towards the sky, while overhead satellites look down, scientist hope to remove the masking influence of dust. Spirit completed these coordinated observations with the thermal emission spectrometer instrument on NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. The observations involved miniature thermal emission spectrometer pre-flight, simultaneous, and post-flight sky and ground measurements. Spirit also collected a panoramic camera opacity observation.

See gallery of Spirit’s images and slideshow

Opportunity continues to surprise scientists as it found another outcrop similar to what was first seen in its landing hole at Eagle Crater. But this time, the outcrop is on the edge of a trough in the middle of the plains. “This outcrop looks texturally like Eagle Crater,” and current plans are to spend several days probing what appears to be bedrock. Bedrock is of interest if it has preserved a layered timeline of rock deposit. Since this deposit also has ripples, scientists hope to discover whether its chemistry “speaks to water,” said Arvidson. “The trough is probably a fracture, we don’t know how young?”