New images from Mars Express show the Phlegra Montes mountain range, in a region where radar probing indicates large volumes of water ice are hiding below. This could be a source of water for future astronauts. Phlegra Montes is a range of gently curving mountains and ridges on Mars. It extends from the northeastern portion of the Elysium volcanic province to the northern lowlands, spanning latitudes from roughly 30°N to 50°N. The mountains themselves are probably not volcanic in origin, but have been raised by ancient tectonic forces that squeezed different regions of the surface together. New images from the high-resolution stereo camera...
Canary Islands Antenna Being Modified to Boost Sig...
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As part of an effort to improve communication with the Russian Space Agency’s Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, modifications are being made to a 15-meter dish antenna at Maspalomas station. Located in the Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of North Africa, the station provides tracking, telemetry, and other functions in support of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency (ESA). Last week, ESA succeeded in communicating with Phobos-Grunt on two successive days after a feedhorn antenna was added to an antenna near Perth, Australia similar to the facility in Maspalomas. Although this enabled the downloading of...
Hope for the Russian...
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(translated post) The honor of the “space program” Russian was ridiculed, braided heads would rollin the dust on Mars: just launched on 9 November, the Russian probe Phobos-Grunt had given no sign of life, running on a low orbit around the Earth when it should have...
Data beamed from Russia Mars probe ‘deciphered’...
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Russian specialists have deciphered telemetry data received from a wayward Mars probe, but have yet to find out the cause of its erratic behavior, a space industry source said on Thursday. “Some data” on the spacecraft’s condition were obtained, but it was not yet clear how “functional” it was, the source said.Earlier in the day, a Russian space station in Kazakhstan’s Baikonur received a signal from the Phobos-Grunt, which has been stuck at a low-Earth orbit since after its launch. The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said attempts to get in contact with the spacecraft would continue until it enters “the thicker layers of the...
Data beamed from Rus...
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Telemetry data received from a wayward Russian Mars probe is impossible to decipher, a space industry source said on Thursday. The European Space Agency (ESA) tracking station in Perth, Australia, received signals from the Phobos-Grunt, which has been stuck at a low-Earth orbit since after its...
ESA tracking station...
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On Tuesday, 22 November at 20:25 UT, ESA’s tracking station at Perth, Australia, established contact with Russia’s Phobos-Grunt spacecraft. This was the first signal received on Earth since the Mars mission was launched on 8 November. ESA teams are working closely with engineers in...
Mars departure window closing, will open later
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The astronomical window for the Phobos-Grunt’s mission to Mars has just about closed, believe space industry sources. The probe could still fly by the red planet, but the expedition to land on and then return to Earth from the Martian moon Phobos is a failure. The window is closed, next chance – 2014 Soon the opportunity for the Phobos probe to reach Mars will be lost. For almost two weeks no discernable feedback has been obtained from the spacecraft or for that matter any positive developments in restoring control. Technically the Phobos probe can be classified as “alive” (since, judging by observations, it stays in...
Last attempt to cont...
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Stations of the European Space Agency located in South America, Australia and the Canary Islands will try on Tuesday night to establish contact with the Phobos-Grunt unmanned spacecraft that is stranded at a low-Earth orbit after launch, the managing directorate of the European Space Agency...
NASA Orbiter Catches Mars Sand Dunes in Motion
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Images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show sand dunes and ripples moving across the surface of Mars at dozens of locations and shifting up to several yards. These observations reveal the planet’s sandy surface is more dynamic than previously thought. “Mars either has more gusts of wind than we knew about before, or the winds are capable of transporting more sand,” said Nathan Bridges, planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., and lead author of a paper on the finding published online in the journal Geology. “We used to think of the sand on...
Frustration in Europ...
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The United States has failed to commit to plans for an unmanned joint Mars mission with the European space agency, causing frustration abroad, top NASA officials told lawmakers on Tuesday. At issue is a 2009 agreement to develop an ESA-US ExoMars Mission in 2016 and 2018 which would measure...
Russian Mars probe m...
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A Russian probe that was to visit a moon of Mars but is stuck in orbit around the Earth could burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere in January, the head of the Russian space agency said Monday. Vladimir Popovkin denied that the Phobos-Grunt probe was considered lost and said scientists had...
Russian probe fails ...
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A Russian probe on a mission to a moon of Mars Wednesday failed to take its course to the red planet, in a potentially devastating blow to Moscow’s hopes of resuming planetary exploration. The Phobos-Grunt probe blasted off successfully from the Baikonur cosmodrome overnight but did...
NASA Study of Clays ...
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A new NASA study suggests if life ever existed on Mars, the longest lasting habitats were most likely below the Red Planet’s surface. A new interpretation of years of mineral-mapping data, from more than 350 sites on Mars examined by European and NASA orbiters, suggests Martian...
MAVEN Mission Primar...
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NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has reached a new milestone. Lockheed Martin has completed building the primary structure of the MAVEN spacecraft at its Space Systems Company facility near Denver. The MAVEN spacecraft is scheduled to launch in November 2013...
Orbiter Resumes Use ...
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Operators of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are resuming use of the mission’s highest resolution camera following a second precautionary shutdown in two weeks. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument powered off on Aug. 27 and again on Sept. 6. In...
Rare martian lake de...
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ESA’s Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars’ past, wetter climate. The delta is in the Eberswalde...
Out of Thin Martian ...
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A wet Mars is just a memory, but where did the water go? Geological observations suggest rivers and seas dotted the martian surface 3.5 billion years ago. The amount of water has been equated to a planet-wide ocean half-a-kilometer deep or more. For the planet to have stayed warm enough for...
The Dirt on MarsR...
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The soil on Mars may be more capable of supporting life than previously thought, a new study suggests. Researchers have long suspected that the Martian surface is packed full of oxidizing compounds, which could make it difficult for complex molecules like organic chemicals — the building...
NASA Spacecraft Data...
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Observations from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars. “NASA’s Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form,” NASA...
MAVEN Mission Comple...
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The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission reached a major milestone last week when it successfully completed its Mission Critical Design Review (CDR). MAVEN, scheduled for launch in late 2013, will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The...
NASA Orbiter Reveals...
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NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the total amount of atmosphere on Mars changes dramatically as the tilt of the planet’s axis varies. This process can affect the stability of liquid water, if it exists on the Martian surface, and increase the frequency and severity...
Dry ice find hints Mars was a wetter place: study
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NASA has discovered that the south pole of Mars is home to 30 times more dry ice than previously believed, suggesting that the red planet was once a much wetter place, said a study on Thursday. Taking data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, researchers found “large quantities of ancient atmospheric carbon dioxide may be trapped in the solid chunks of dry ice,” said the study published in the journal Science. “The results add to a growing pile of evidence suggesting that long ago, ancient Mars had a thicker, carbon dioxide-filled atmosphere and flowing bodies of water,” said the study. The dry ice reservoir is...
Prolific NASA Orbite...
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NASA’s versatile Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which began orbiting Mars five years ago tomorrow, March 10, has radically expanded our knowledge of the Red Planet and is now working overtime.The mission has provided copious information about ancient environments, ice-age-scale climate...