America.gov-Space: Exploration

Two Phoenix Lander Instruments Begin Examining Martian Dirt

Cheryl Pellerin — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:23:21 GMT

For the first time since NASA’s Viking missions in 1976, soil samples are being examined inside instruments on Mars. Less than a month after the Phoenix settled onto the Red Planet’s arctic plains, its robotic arm has delivered soil to two instruments on the lander’s deck for analysis.

Perfect Landing Marks Start of New Mission on Mars

Cheryl Pellerin — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:29:57 GMT

Mars is hosting a new visitor -- NASA’s three-legged Phoenix spacecraft lowered itself onto the planet’s arctic plains, opened its eyes and sent back images of the pebble-strewn landscape. After a 679-million-kilometer journey, Phoenix touched down to begin a 90-day investigation of water on Mars.

NASA Constellation Program on Track to Return People to Moon

Cheryl Pellerin — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:13:26 GMT

NASA engineers report progress on the Constellation program, whose Ares I rocket and Orion spacecraft will transport human explorers back to the moon by 2020 and then on to Mars and other destinations in the solar system. The effort is unparalleled in U.S. space flight since the shuttle program formally began in 1972.

NASA Phoenix Spacecraft Descends to Red Planet May 25

Cheryl Pellerin — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:12:35 GMT

On May 25, if all goes well, NASA’s Mars Phoenix lander will join the Mars rovers on the ground and three spacecraft in orbit around the planet to find out if conditions on Mars’ arctic plains ever have been favorable for life. International contributions to the mission came from Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and Finland.

Cassini Spacecraft Finds Basic Conditions for Life on Enceladus

Cheryl Pellerin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:01:08 GMT

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft discovers that Saturn’s moon Enceladus has the three basic requirements for the origins of life: water, organic compounds and a source of heat. The spacecraft studied Enceladus’ composition during a March 12 flyby that took it within 50 kilometers of the moon’s surface. The next flyby will take place in August.

Flyby Prepares NASA Vessel To Orbit Mercury in 2011

Cheryl Pellerin — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:24:41 GMT

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft flies past Mercury on the first of three passes that will prepare it to orbit the closest planet to the sun for one year beginning March 18, 2011. After a journey of more than 3.2 billion kilometers, Messenger collects more than 1,200 images, close-up measurements and other observations.

NASA Phoenix Lander, Next Mission to Mars, To Launch in August

Cheryl Pellerin — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 07:42:57 GMT

NASA’s next mission to the surface of Mars, scheduled to launch in August, aims to find out if water frozen in the planet’s northern polar region ever has been able to sustain microbial life. “It will be a robotic mission but we can all participate from Earth,” Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona-Tucson, tells reporters, “as we find for the first time what the environment is like on Mars, where ice is near soil on the surface. This will be a first.”

NASA Harnesses Power of Virtual Worlds for Exploration, Outreach

Cheryl Pellerin — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:40:13 GMT

NASA creates two islands in the popular real-time virtual world called Second Life, where anyone interested in space travel or technology can explore, discover and contribute to the space agency’s mission. “We at NASA are working hard to create opportunities for what I might call ‘participatory exploration,’” NASA official Simon “Pete” Worden says. “We’re doing this in a lot of ways. This virtual world, Second Life, is one way.”

NASA Rovers, Mars Orbiter Changing Understanding of Mars

Cheryl Pellerin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:37:26 GMT

Newly released images from the Mars Global Surveyor offer the strongest evidence to date that water still flows on the Martian surface, and NASA's twin Mars rovers are nearing the third anniversary of their landings, operating nearly 12 times as long as their original missions. The images, taken in 2004 and 2005, suggest water carried sediment through two gullies sometime during the past seven years. The images heighten intrigue about the potential for microbial life on Mars.

NASA, Partners Release New Movies of Saturn Moon Titan

Cheryl Pellerin — Fri, 05 May 2006 07:32:02 GMT

NASA Spacecraft Begins Five-Year Mars Mission

Cheryl Pellerin — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:58:35 GMT

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Approaches Red Planet

Cheryl Pellerin — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:06:16 GMT