AScribe Science News Service articles from January 2004

AScribe Science News Service archives from January 2004

NASA Spacecraft Makes Great Catch, Heads for Touchdown.
January 2, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- Team Stardust, NASA's first dedicated sample return mission to a comet, passed a huge milestone today by successfully navigating through the particle and...

Spirit Lands on Mars and Sends Postcards.
January 4, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- A traveling robotic geologist from NASA has landed on Mars and returned stunning images of the area around its landing site in Gusev Crater. Mars...

Mars Team Energized About 'Sleepy Hollow' Near Rover.
January 5, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- "Sleepy Hollow," a shallow depression in the Mars ground near NASA's Spirit rover, may become an early destination when the rover drives off its lander...

Mars Project Scientist Available to Comment on Search for Signs of Water on Red Planet.
January 6, 2004... Byline: Mount Holyoke College SOUTH HADLEY, Mass., Jan. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Darby Dyar, associate professor of geology and astronomy at Mount Holyoke College, is available to comment on the Beagle 2 and Mars Exploration Rover mission...

Space Shuttle Columbia Crew Memorialized on Mars.
January 6, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced plans to name the landing site of the Mars Spirit rover in honor of the astronauts who died in the tragic...

'Sharks: Myth & Mystery' to Debut in April 2004 as Monterey Bay Aquarium Celebrates Its 20th Year.
January 6, 2004... Byline: Monterey Bay Aquarium MONTEREY, Calif., Jan. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Behind-the-scenes 'Aquarium Adventures' also new for visitors Monterey Bay Aquarium will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2004 with the opening of "Sharks: Myth...

The Calm After the Cometary Storm.
January 6, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Having weathered its out-of-this-world sandblasting by cometary particles hurtling toward it at about six times the speed of a rifle bullet, NASA's Stardust...

Earthquakes Can Be Predicted Months in Advance, Report UCLA Scientists Who Predicted San Simeon Earthquake.
January 6, 2004... Byline: UCLA LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Major earthquakes can be predicted months in advance, argues UCLA seismologist and mathematical geophysicist Vladimir Keilis-Borok. "Earthquake prediction is called the Holy Grail...

NASA's New Studies of Earth's Seas, Skies, Soils.
January 6, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- They're carbonated, salty, and alternately wet and dry. Exotic champagnes? No, they're NASA's three Earth System Science Pathfinder small-satellite program...

Mars Mania Lands Online.
January 6, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- As the spacecraft flies, Mars is millions of miles away. Thanks to the Internet, NASA can bring it into your living room, to a local Internet cafe, or anywhere...

Color Picture from Spirit Is Most Detailed View of Mars Ever Seen.
January 7, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- The people operating NASA's Spirit have received the first color pictures from the rover and a congratulatory call from the president. President George W....

High School Students Land on Mars.
January 9, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- While their peers sweat out their next geometry quiz, high school students Courtney Dressing and Rafael Morozowski are sweating out the commencement of...

New Device Can Help Defend Against Novel Biological Agents.
January 9, 2004... Byline: Vanderbilt University NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- The ability to analyze and defend against novel biological agents has been strengthened by the development of a new device that can monitor the metabolism of...

NASA's Spirit Lowers Front Wheels, Looks Around in Infrared.
January 9, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit, the first of two Mars Exploration Rovers on the martian surface, has stood up and extended its front wheels while continuing to delight its...

UC San Diego Computer Theorist, Mathematician Ronald Graham Elected to American Association for the Advancement of Science Council.
January 12, 2004... Byline: University of California, San Diego SAN DIEGO, Jan. 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- Leading American mathematicians have elected Ronald Graham of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to represent them on the Council of the...

Expert: Congress Should Regard Bush's Mars Proposal As Political Ploy, Duke Professor Says.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- President Bush's expected announcement of plans to build a permanent base on the moon and to send humans to Mars is simply an election-year "space spectacular," says a...

Mars Rover Spirit's Surroundings Beckon in Color Panorama.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- The first 360-degree color view from NASA's Spirit Mars Exploration Rover presents a range of tempting targets from nearby rocks to hills on the horizon. ...

Stormy Cloud of Star Birth Glows in New Spitzer Image.
January 13, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- A dusty stellar nursery shines brightly in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility....

Space Exploration Experts Available for Comment.
January 13, 2004... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Jan. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Following are Purdue University experts who can discuss a variety of issues related to space exploration. President Bush on Wednesday (1/14) is expected to lay...

Go To That Crater, Turn Right: NASA's Spirit Gets Travel Itinerary.
January 13, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit has begun pivoting atop its lander platform on Mars, and the robot's human partners have announced plans to send it toward a crater, then...

Spirit Ready to Drive Onto Mars Surface.
January 14, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit completed a three-stage turn early today, the last step before a drive planned early Thursday to take the rover off its lander platform and...

Space Exploration Experts Available for Comment.
January 14, 2004... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., Jan. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- These University of Maryland experts can help you provide additional depth and understanding in stories on President Bush's plans for a new...

Progress in Probing Mosquito's Sense of Smell.
January 14, 2004... Byline: Vanderbilt University NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- Today, we know a little bit more about one of mankind's deadliest enemies, the mosquito. Scientists have taken an important step toward understanding the...

Spirit Rolls All Six Wheels Onto Martian Soil.
January 15, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully drove off its lander platform and onto the soil of Mars early today. The robot's first picture looking...

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Celebrates Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 16, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Jet Propulsion Laboratory today released the following advisory. WHAT: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will honor the life and work of Dr....

Students Put Science to a Vote in Rube Goldberg Machine Contest.
January 16, 2004... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Jan. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- While new technology and reform laws attempt to make voting easier, a pair of competitions at Purdue University will feature students trying to make the process...

Spirit Flexes Its Arm to Use Microscope on Mars' Soil.
January 16, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit rover reached out with its versatile robotic arm early today and examined a patch of fine-grained martian soil with a microscope at the end of...

NASA's Spirit Drives to Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection.
January 19, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit rover has successfully driven to its first target on Mars, a football-sized rock that scientists have dubbed Adirondack. The Mars...

NASA Mars Rover's First Soil Analysis Yields Surprises.
January 21, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- The first use of the tools on the arm of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit reveals puzzles about the soil it examined and raises anticipation about what...

Astronomers Measure Distance to Well-Known Star.
January 21, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- The cluster of stars known as the Pleiades is one of the most recognizable objects in the night sky, and for millennia has been celebrated in literature and...

Ground Controllers Send Commands to NASA's Spirit, Do Not Receive Expected Scientific, Engineering Data From Rover.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Ground controllers were able to send commands to the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit early Wednesday and received a simple signal acknowledging that the rover...

Arizona State University Is New Home to Science and Technology Policy Consortium.
January 22, 2004... Byline: Arizona State University TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Arizona State University is the new headquarters for the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes (CSPO), a science policy organization launched by ASU...

Mars Rover Sends Encouraging Signal.
January 22, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Flight-team engineers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission were encouraged this morning when Spirit sent a simple radio signal acknowledging that the...

Desktop Computers to Counsel Users to Make Better Decisions; What If Personal Computer Knew How Its User Felt?
January 22, 2004... Byline: Sandia National Laboratories ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- That computer on your desk is just your helper. But soon it may become a very close friend. Now it sends your e-mails, links you to the Web, does...

NASA's Spirit Communicates With Earth.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit rover communicated with Earth in a signal detected by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna complex near Madrid, Spain, at 12:34 Universal Time...

Update: NASA's Spirit Communicates With Earth.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- The flight team for NASA's Spirit received data from the rover in a communication session that began at 13:26 Universal Time (5:26 a.m. PST) and lasted 20...

Rover Team Readies for Second Landing While Trying to Mend Spirit.
January 23, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Some members of the flight team for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers are preparing for this weekend's landing of the second rover, Opportunity, while others...

NASA Data Release Maps Two Vast Continents.
January 26, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- Marco Polo. Alexander the Great. They were some of history's most prolific explorers, each trekking across sweeping stretches of Europe and Asia in their...

Gear on Opportunity Rover Passes Martian Health Check.
January 26, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- During the second day on Mars for NASA's Opportunity rover, key science instruments passed health tests and the rover made important steps in communicating...

Scientists Thrilled to See Layers in Mars Rocks Near Opportunity.
January 27, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- New pictures from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reveal thin layers in rocks just a stone's throw from the lander platform where the rover...

Martian Landmarks Dedicated to Apollo 1 Crew.
January 28, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA memorialized the Apollo 1 crew -- Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee -- by dedicating the hills surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's...

Pacific Ocean Dictates Droughts, Drenchings.
January 28, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- The cooler and drier conditions in Southern California over the last few years appear to be a direct result of a long-term ocean pattern known as the Pacific...

Space Shuttle Challenger Crew Memorialized on Mars.
January 28, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA announced plans to name the landing site of the Mars Opportunity rover in honor of the Space Shuttle Challenger's final crew. The area in the vast...

Mars Rovers: Healthier Spirit Gets Back to Work While Opportunity Prepares to Roll.
January 29, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Spirit rover on Mars has resumed taking pictures as engineers continue work on restoring its health. Meanwhile, Spirit's twin, Opportunity, extended...

NASA Satellites Help Improve Ocean Condition Forecasts.
January 29, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Freighters, cruise lines, marine rescuers and coastal managers are among those who could benefit from prototype three-dimensional, three-day ocean condition...

Georgia Education Department: Say You Want a Crealution? Hamilton College Expert Available to Comment on Importance of Debate in Classroom.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Byline: Hamilton College CLINTON, N.Y., Jan. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- As the Georgia education department debates dropping the word "evolution" from the state's science curriculum in favor of the phrase, "biological changes over time," a...

Rare Dense Beaked Whale Under Study at University of North Carolina Wilmington.
January 30, 2004... Byline: University of North Carolina at Wilmington WILMINGTON, N.C., Jan. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- A rare dense beaked whale, also known as Blainville's whale, is currently being studied by scientists and students at the University of North...

Molecular Foundry Groundbreaking Marks Berkeley Lab's Leap Into Nanorevolution.
January 30, 2004... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Jan. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- The term "Molecular Foundry" suggests a place where objects are forged and new materials are molded. Like the foundries of the industrial...

Two Working Rovers on Martian Soil Expected by Saturday Morning.
January 30, 2004... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Ground controllers plan to tell Opportunity to drive off its lander early Saturday, and with Spirit now back in working order, NASA should soon have two...