Deleted
Deleted Member
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MARS
Feb 27, 2012 13:45:14 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2012 13:45:14 GMT -6
Hmmmmm...I have a friend who's an aeronautical engineer..I'm thinking giant slingshot...I'm sure he could come up with something doable..we'll just aim you at the big dipper? ;D
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MARS
Feb 27, 2012 23:05:50 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Feb 27, 2012 23:05:50 GMT -6
I'll do it if NASA won't. Send me up there and I'll grab a Martian rock and throw it back.
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MARS
Mar 3, 2012 19:27:21 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Mar 3, 2012 19:27:21 GMT -6
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/03/mars-moves-to-opposition-on-march-3_n_1318006.html Mars Moves To 'Opposition' Point On March 3, Giving Skywatchers Year's Best View Of Red Planet[/color] First Posted: 03/ 3/2012 9:54 By: Mike Wall Published: 03/02/2012 09:52 AM EST on SPACE.com UPDATE: See our latest skywatching tips to see Mars at opposition here: Mars Visible in Night Sky, But Its 2 Moons Are Hard to Spot Mars will make a close approach to Earth Saturday (March 3), and interested skywatchers can follow the action live online. Every 26 months, the orbits of Earth and Mars align such that the two planets form a relatively straight line with the sun. This cosmic event is called an opposition, because the Red Planet sits on the exact opposite side of Earth from the sun. Mars will be in opposition to Earth Saturday, and it will be visible even to stargazers under the cloudiest of skies. That's because the online Slooh Space Camera will broadcast a free, real-time feed of the Mars opposition, beginning at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 GMT on March 4). Slooh will provide footage from multiple observatories around the world, including Arizona and the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. The broadcast can be accessed at Slooh's homepage, found here: events.slooh.com/Though the opposition occurs Saturday, the Red Planet's actual closest approach to Earth won't come until Monday (March 5), when the two bodies are separated by about 62.6 million miles (100.7 million kilometers). This discrepancy in dates is caused by Mars' elliptical path around the sun. [Amazing Mars Photos] The Red Planet's oval orbit also dictates that some oppositions bring it much closer to Earth than others. Saturday's opposition isn't one of the closer ones, because it occurs when Mars is near aphelion, or the farthest it gets from the sun during an orbit. The Mars opposition of 2003, on the other hand, occurred when the Red Planet was near perihelion, or its closest distance to the sun. During that approach, Mars came within about 34.8 million miles (56 million kilometers) of our planet — the closest the two planets have been in nearly 60,000 years. CONTINUE READING: www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/03/mars-moves-to-opposition-on-march-3_n_1318006.html
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MARS
Mar 10, 2012 11:29:25 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Mar 10, 2012 11:29:25 GMT -6
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MARS
Mar 10, 2012 15:13:29 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Mar 10, 2012 15:13:29 GMT -6
IF YOU'RE CURIOUS ABOUT MARS...REX WANTED EVERYONE TO SEE THIS.... NICE WEBSITE ... MARS ANOMALY RESEARCH HOMEPAGEwww.marsanomalyresearch.com/
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MARS
Mar 10, 2012 19:21:52 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Mar 10, 2012 19:21:52 GMT -6
That's the website I got the photo from. They have a lot of interesting Martian stuff there...and some pretty wild photos if they are real. I don't know if any of them are hoaxes or not. I think at least a few of them may be but most appear to be the real thing. I've been keeping my eye on that site for a while now. It's very interesting.
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MARS
Apr 5, 2012 13:00:51 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Apr 5, 2012 13:00:51 GMT -6
www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mars_missions_race_India_takes_lead_999.htmlMARSDAILY Mars missions race, India takes leadby Staff Writers Moscow (Voice of Russia) Apr 03, 2012 File image. India aims at sending an orbiter to Mars in 2013. The race for the Red planet unwinds with NASA planning a launch for the same 2013 fiscal year and China somewhat lagging behind. Earlier this month Europe gave a go ahead for a Mars mission with Russia in 2016. Russia and India have also a plan for a joint lunar mission scheduled for 2014. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to reach Mars with an automatic lander to be launched in 2013. The news was not totally unexpected since the first announcements were made back in 2009, but the actual date nonetheless seems too close. The project, according to some reports, was initially scheduled for 2016 or even 2018, but it was brought forward thanks to larger funds allotted by the Indian government last year, soaring from US$1.99 million $24.9 million. Although the information on the mission is scarce, the orbiter will most likely be rather light with scientific payload of about 25 kg. A batch of ten experiments was proposed by scientists, with only some of them to be finally chosen for the mission. Most probably, the main scientific aim of the project is to study Martian atmosphere. It is planned that the orbiter will be carried to a highly elliptical orbit around the planet with perigee of about 500 km and apogee of 80,000 km. The spacecraft will be launched by Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) frequently used for delivering remote sensing spacecraft to Sun synchronous orbit. It is the launcher that is supposed to lift Luna-Resurs, the joint Russian-Indian lunar mission in 2014, which remains the closest planetary project currently under development in Russia. For India, on the other hand, this lunar endeavor will be just a second mission to the Moon after quite successful Chandrayaan-1 that lifted off in October 2008 and was closed in August 2009 after the radio contact with the satellite was lost. As some reports point out, the success, partial as it may be, of the first lunar probe might be good enough to postpone the second one so that to give precedence to the Martian spacecraft. CONTINUE READING: www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mars_missions_race_India_takes_lead_999.html
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CitizenK
Full Member
I'm Back Guys!!! I've missed you so much!!!
Posts: 562
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MARS
Apr 6, 2012 0:27:41 GMT -6
Post by CitizenK on Apr 6, 2012 0:27:41 GMT -6
I keep an eye on that Mars website as well, those photos are certainly curious aren't they?! As for India, I say "good for them"! I like seeing others make progress, this is great news. Thanks AuntyM!
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Deleted
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MARS
Apr 6, 2012 1:22:14 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 1:22:14 GMT -6
Mars is worth keeping an eye on..right Spotless?? ;D
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MARS
Apr 6, 2012 11:14:53 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Apr 6, 2012 11:14:53 GMT -6
www.universetoday.com/94451/could-there-be-life-in-them-thar-pits/Space and astronomy news Could There Be Life In Them Thar Pits?[/color] by Jason Major on April 5, 2012 Computer-generated perspective of the Tractus Catena pit chains. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) Recent images from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft reveal long rows of crater-like depressions lining the flanks of ancient Martian volcanoes located in the planet’s vast Tharsis region. Rather than being the result of impact events, these “pit chains” were likely caused by underground lava flows — and could be a prime location for look for life. Like similar features found on Earth, lava tubes on Mars are the result of rivers of magma that carved channels beneath the surface. When these channels empty out, a hollow tube is left. If the roof of a particularly large tube is near the surface the roof can eventually collapse, creating a surface depression… or, in some cases, opening up to the surface entirely. Even though volcanism on Mars isn’t currently active — the last eruptions probably took place at least over a million years ago — the features left by volcanic activity are still very much present today and likely well-preserved beneath the Martian surface. Shielded from harsh solar and cosmic radiation, the interior of such lava tubes could provide a safe haven for microbial life — especially if groundwater had found its way inside at some point. Even though the surface of Mars can receive 250 times the radiation levels found on Earth, the layers of soil and rock surrounding the tubes can provide adequate protection for life, whether it be ancient Martian microbes or future explorers from Earth. Of course, water and protection from radiation aren’t the only factors necessary for life. There also needs to be some source of heat. Fortunately, the pit chains imaged by Mars Express happen to be within one of the most volcano-laden areas of the Red Planet, a region called the Arcadia quadrangle. Within this area exist some of the largest volcanoes on Mars — and the Tractus Catena pits are located right in the middle of them. If a heat source were ever to have been beneath the surface of Mars, there would be a good chance it would have been here. And if our own planet is any measure of such things, where there’s heat and water there is often some form of life — however extreme the conditions may be. CONTINUE READING: www.universetoday.com/94451/could-there-be-life-in-them-thar-pits/
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MARS
Apr 13, 2012 13:08:21 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Apr 13, 2012 13:08:21 GMT -6
www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/marsconcepts2012/ CONCEPTS & APPROACHES FOR MARS EXPLORATION[/color] JUNE 12-14 HOUSTON, TEXASGENERAL MEETING INFORMATION Introduction The NASA Administrator has directed the Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate (AA/SMD) to lead a reformulation of the Mars Exploration Program, working with the Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate (AA/HEOMD), the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT), and the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). In support of this reformulation, NASA will assess near-term mission concepts and longer-term foundations of program-level architectures for future robotic exploration of Mars in sufficient detail for SMD to develop and select high pay-off mission(s) beginning with the 2018 launch opportunity. The resulting missions and architecture will be responsive to the scientific goals articulated by the National Research Council Planetary Decadal Survey (Visions and Voyages, 2012, NRC Press) and to the President’s challenge of sending humans to orbit Mars in the decade of the 2030s. Purpose and Scope In addition to being responsive to the scientific goals of the Decadal Survey, the reformulation effort will address the primary objectives of the Strategic Knowledge Gaps in the Human Exploration of Mars as well as the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Goals. It will set the stage for a strategic collaboration between the Science Mission Directorate, the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and the Office of the Chief Technologist, for the next several decades of exploring Mars. One of the key elements in developing this collaboration and the related mission and architecture options is to seek community ideas, concepts and capabilities to address critical challenge areas, focusing on a near-term timeframe spanning 2018 through 2024, and a mid- to longer-term timeframe spanning 2024 to the mid-2030s. To that end, NASA is sponsoring a two-and-a-half-day workshop to actively engage the technical and scientific communities in the early stages of a longer-term process of collaboration that bridges the objectives of the sponsoring NASA organizations. This workshop will be held June 12–14, 2012, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, which is located in the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) building, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston TX 77058. NASA will consider inputs from a variety of sources and will synthesize and integrate these inputs into the various options taking into consideration budgetary, programmatic, scientific, and technical constraints. The workshop is open to scientists, engineers, graduate students and academia, NASA Centers, Federal Laboratories, industry, and international partner organizations. The intent of the workshop is to provide an open forum for presentation, discussion, and consideration of various concepts, options, capabilities, and innovations to advance Mars exploration. Key challenge areas are identified below for which innovative and cost-effective ideas are sought consistent with the near- and mid- to longer-term timeframes. Several examples are provided within each of the challenge areas, with an open invitation for the communities to offer other areas and/or ideas in each or both timeframes. Based on the abstracts received, associated working groups will be organized to consider the ideas and concepts in depth during the workshop. These working groups will be present at the workshop, and will assess ideas and presentations to identify the most compelling approaches in the challenge areas. Near-term ideas will be taken into consideration for early mission planning in the timeframe, while mid- to longer-term ideas will be used to inform program level architecture planning. This announcement is not a solicitation to fund studies on the basis of the abstracts submitted or selected for participation at the workshop. Challenge Areas CONTINUE READING: www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/marsconcepts2012/
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MARS
Apr 13, 2012 13:15:47 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Apr 13, 2012 13:15:47 GMT -6
How do we land on Mars? Very carefully. Watch a new episode of the "Mars in a Minute" video series:
Mars in a Minute: How Do You Land on Mars? [/color]
Published on Apr 13, 2012 by JPLnews
Getting a spacecraft to Mars is one thing; getting it safely to the ground is a whole other challenge! This 60-second video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains three ways to land on the surface of the Red Planet.
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MARS
Apr 14, 2012 11:57:09 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Apr 14, 2012 11:57:09 GMT -6
news.discovery.com/space/mars-life-viking-landers-discovery-120412.html Mars Viking Robots 'Found Life'[/color] Mathematical analysis adds to growing body of work questioning the negative results of a life-detection experiment 36 years ago.[/color] By Irene Klotz Thu Apr 12, 2012 THE GIST * New results question the finding that the Mars Viking experiments did not find life. * The analysis was based on studying the mathematically complexity of the experiment results. * The idea is that living systems are more complicated than purely physical ones, a concept that can be represented mathematically. Viking 2 Lander image (dated Nov. 2, 1976) showing the rocks of Utopia Planitia in the background. enlarge New analysis of 36-year-old data, resuscitated from printouts, shows NASA found life on Mars, an international team of mathematicians and scientists conclude in a paper published this week. Further, NASA doesn't need a human expedition to Mars to nail down the claim, neuropharmacologist and biologist Joseph Miller, with the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, told Discovery News. "The ultimate proof is to take a video of a Martian bacteria. They should send a microscope -- watch the bacteria move," Miller said. "On the basis of what we've done so far, I'd say I'm 99 percent sure there's life there," he added. PHOTOS: Top 10 Places To Find Alien Life Miller's confidence stems in part from a new study that re-analyzed results from a life-detection experiment conducted by NASA's Viking Mars robots in 1976. Researchers crunched raw data collected during runs of the Labeled Release experiment, which looked for signs of microbial metabolism in soil samples scooped up and processed by the two Viking landers. General consensus of scientists has been that the experiment found geological, not biological, activity. The new study took a different approach. Researchers distilled the Viking Labeled Release data, provided as hard copies by the original researchers, into sets of numbers and analyzed the results for complexity. Since living systems are more complicated than non-biological processes, the idea was to look at the experiment results from a purely numerical perspective. CONTINUE READING: news.discovery.com/space/mars-life-viking-landers-discovery-120412.html
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MARS
Apr 14, 2012 19:55:13 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Apr 14, 2012 19:55:13 GMT -6
I've been saying that for years. I think there is definitely life there. The only question is what kind? Are there complex life forms there are only bacterias and funguses and stuff? Hopefully we will soon find out.
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MARS
May 30, 2012 10:45:34 GMT -6
Post by auntym on May 30, 2012 10:45:34 GMT -6
www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/29/wanted-alien-life-dead-aliveWanted: alien life – dead or aliveguardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 May 2012 Much of the work of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California is focused on searching for traces of past life on Mars, but what astrobiologist Kevin Hand dreams of finding living creatures on watery moons Three generations of rovers at Mars Yard. At the front is the flight spare for the first Mars rover, Sojourner. On the left is a working sibling of Spirit and Opportunity. On the right is a test rover the size of Curiosity. Photograph: Thomas A. Dutch Slager/Nasa I'm standing in a large empty lot covered with what looks like terracotta-coloured crazy paving. Dotted around are piles of red and orange rocks of various sizes, from boulders to pebbles. At the edge of the lot are a number of objects that resemble climbing walls, sloping at odd angles. Imagine what the devil's patio would look like and you'd not be far off. I'm in Pasadena, California, on the huge campus-like facility that is Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and this is the Mars Yard. JPL runs Nasa's non-human space programme, which includes space probes and telescopes. Voyager, Cassini-Huygens, Dawn, Juno, and the Kepler, Planck and Herschel space telescopes, and all the active Mars probes and rovers are operated from here. Later I get a look at mission control, where boards show lines of multi-coloured data, streaming live from 33 missions. I'm being shown round the JPL facility by its deputy chief scientist for solar system exploration, Kevin Hand. Kevin is an astrobiologist and a planetary scientist by trade, and while his primary area of research is the Jovian moon Europa, currently all the excitement at JPL is focused on the red planet. CONTINUE READING: www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/29/wanted-alien-life-dead-alive
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MARS
Jun 4, 2012 11:00:09 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jun 4, 2012 11:00:09 GMT -6
www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/06/first-human-settlement-on-mars-in-2023-new-reality-tv-show.htmlJune 04, 2012 First Human Settlement on Mars to be New Reality TV Show (VIDEO)Mars One hopes to establish the first human settlement on Mars in 2023. It has created a technical plan for this ambitious mission that is “as simple as possible” and says it has identified potential suppliers, such as SpaceX, for every component of the mission. The Neatherland-based Mars One plans to fund the mission by making it a reality TV show, in the “biggest media spectacle in history” with help from Mars One ambassador Paul Römer, co-creator of the globally successful Big Brother reality TV show. Watch the astronauts make their journey, and also choose which candidate gets to go (as in the Big Brother show). Here’s the Mission Schedule 2013: Crowdsourced selection of first four astronauts; a replica of the Mars settlement built in the desert to help the astronauts prepare and train, and to test the equipment — all carried on TV. 2014: Production of the first Mars communication satellite. 2016: Supply mission launched for Mars — to land October 2016 with its cargo: 2500 kilograms of food. 2018: Robotic exploration vehicle lands on Mars to pick best location for the settlement. CONTINUE READING: www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/06/first-human-settlement-on-mars-in-2023-new-reality-tv-show.html Mars One introduction film
Published on May 31, 2012 by MarsOneProject This movie shows how Mars One plans to establish a human settlement on Mars in 2023. Special appearance by our ambassabor Nobel Prize winner prof. dr. Gerard 't Hooft. For more information visit www.mars-one.com
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MARS
Jun 13, 2012 22:03:14 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jun 13, 2012 22:03:14 GMT -6
mars.ideascale.com/NASA: MARS FORUMMars is calling… be part of the conversation!NASA is planning its Mars Exploration Program in order to achieve high-priority science goals and address the challenges of sending humans to Mars, all within an environment of very constrained budgets. We’re inviting the Mars exploration community and all interested people, regardless of educational or professional background, to engage in a conversation about the future of Mars exploration. Here’s how: ASK: Great conversations start with great questions. Throughout June, pose questions related to the planning effort. Comment on, discuss, and offer answers to questions posed by others. Vote for those you feel are most important to be addressed. LISTEN/DISCUSS: On June 12-14, tune in to the Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration Workshop via Livestream, and participate in the online discussion. Members of the planetary science community will be discussing a variety of technologies and approaches to explore Mars. Watch now! CONTRIBUTE: Following the workshop, return to this forum to discuss ideas that address the challenges posed either at the workshop or by questions here. We encourage anyone to participate in order to expand and share their knowledge of the challenges and opportunities associated with Mars exploration. This dialogue will be open for participation until July 1, 2012. This forum is an experiment that we hope will help us better understand public interest, and specific areas to focus our attention on; so please help us make it worthwhile! Thank you for joining us, and remember to play nicely by following the Code of Conduct. Due to resource limitations we can post questions and comments in English only. Note: This is a forum for questions and discussion related to reformulating the Mars Exploration Program. If you have general questions about the planet Mars or current robotic missions, Mars expert “Dr. C” is ready and waiting to answer. Or learn more at “Be a Martian”, and engage in some citizen science! CONTINUE READING: mars.ideascale.com/
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MARS
Jun 14, 2012 8:42:48 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Jun 14, 2012 8:42:48 GMT -6
That sounds cool. I have a few thousand ideas I could give them.
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MARS
Aug 11, 2012 17:52:14 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Aug 11, 2012 17:52:14 GMT -6
This photo of Mars was taken by the hubble telescope on august 26, 2003. The white spot at the bottom is one of Mars' polar ice caps and I am assuming the blue line around the outer edge of the planet is the thin Martian atmosphere. Are my eyes playing tricks on me or does there appear to be a hint of green around the polar ice cap and up towards the top of the planet?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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MARS
Aug 12, 2012 11:21:59 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2012 11:21:59 GMT -6
I'm not seeing green but maybe your eyeballs are sharper
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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MARS
Aug 12, 2012 14:33:14 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2012 14:33:14 GMT -6
Not green maybe, but something different. I always remind myself that if our pictures from space are acurate, then from a distance Earth just looks like a blue and white swirled marble ;D. The other day, someone on here made a comment about everything always being in black and white. Does anyone know where I can find a color picture of the moon? Thanks
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MARS
Aug 12, 2012 14:41:40 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Aug 12, 2012 14:41:40 GMT -6
I think most of the moon pictures were in color which is kind of why I was surprised that NASA's Mars photos always seemed to be in black and white. I recently found out that some of them are in color. It seems that the Mars rovers have several different cameras on them that are used for different purposes which is why some are color and some aren't. It just depends on which camera they happen to be using at the time.
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MARS
Aug 30, 2012 11:11:00 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Aug 30, 2012 11:11:00 GMT -6
www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/19951263/article-WRIGHT-WAY--The-Martian-chronicles?instance=most_recommended WRIGHT WAY: The Martian Chronicles[/color] by WILLIAM WRIGHT Cleveland Daily Banner August 30, 2012 WRIGHT WAY: The Martian chronicles For as long as I can remember I have wanted to believe in life in outer space. Growing up in the 1950s, not long after the 1947 Roswell UFO incident in New Mexico, where rumors raged that an extra-terrestrial spacecraft had crashed with one survivor, I was both frightened and fascinated at the idea of being visited by aliens from another planet. When I was a child between the ages of 5 and 9, I had recurring nightmares of little greyish beings with larger than average eyes chasing me inside and outside of my house while my parents and older siblings slept motionless. I always dashed out the back door and jumped over the porch banister as they chased me around our backyard amid an unusually bright moonlight in the night. In the dream I always blacked out. After the blackouts, when I “woke up” in the dreams, I would find myself hanging on our backyard clothes line. Three or four little grey beings just stood there staring at me as I stared at them. Then I would actually wake up, remembering the entire dream. I always hated being caught by these creatures, in spite of the fact that they never did anything to me except look at me. Back then we called them “Martians,” because the planet Mars was the most likely candidate for life in our solar system outside of earth. Movies like “The Thing,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “War of the Worlds” only fueled my interest and paranoia in other planets breeding both benevolent and dangerous life forms. I wanted to believe there is life on other planets, but like millions who share that belief, I also wanted proof. So you can understand why every exploration to the moon or to Mars gave me goosebumps over the years. The latest hope for discovering life outside of Earth comes in the form of NASA’s 4-ton Mars Science Laboratory named Curiosity. It’s the largest spacecraft ever sent to another planet. It landed on the Red Planet Aug. 6. According to NASA, “during the 23 months after landing, Curiosity will analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground as it explores with greater range than any previous Mars rover. Curiosity will carry the most advanced payload of scientific gear ever used on Mars’ surface, a payload more than 10 times as massive as those of earlier Mars rovers. Its assignment: Investigate whether conditions have been favorable for microbial life and for preserving clues in the rocks about possible past life.” Ever since astronomers turned their telescopes on the fourth planet of our solar system in the 17th century, there has been arguments over what kind of world Mars is — if there are forms of life on it and if we would ever know for certain. CONTINUE READING: www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/19951263/article-WRIGHT-WAY--The-Martian-chronicles?instance=most_recommended
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MARS
Sept 2, 2012 13:33:23 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Sept 2, 2012 13:33:23 GMT -6
www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2012-09-02/Mars-obstacles-for-humans/57516356/1Landing people on Mars: 5 obstaclesBy Todd Halvorson, USA TODAY 9-2-2012 Getting a six-wheeled car-size rover safely onto the surface of the red planet? Daunting, sure. But NASA did it with Curiosity. Sending humans on a mission to Mars? That requires overcoming even more outlandish obstacles. Here's a look at five of the top challenges to safely getting astronauts to Mars, as well as potential solutions. Are we there yet? Problem: Trip time.A round-trip human expedition to Mars, using current technology, could take two to three years. The slower you go, the more supplies you are forced to take and the higher the odds of a catastrophic collision with a meteoroid. Astronauts would lose more muscle and bone mass as a result of the longer stay in microgravity. And they would be exposed to larger doses of cosmic rays and solar energetic particles, increasing the probability of cancer. "The main concern is clearly the radiation exposure to the human crew during such long journeys in deep space," said former astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, who shares the world record for most space flights — seven — with Jerry Ross. "The long voyages in weightlessness are bound to substantially debilitate the crew," he added. "At Mars arrival, they must have a way to rehabilitate themselves before going to work, a tall order for the first mission in a very hostile environment." Solution: Speed up the trip."All of these issues are greatly ameliorated with significant reductions in interplanetary transit time, which could be possible with advanced propulsion systems, potentially far more capable than the chemical and nuclear thermal rockets being considered," said Chang-Diaz, an MIT-trained physicist. Chang-Diaz is developing an advanced plasma propulsion system that would cut the round-trip time on Mars missions to five months. The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket uses magnetic fields to guide superhot plasma out of an engine nozzle, producing an immense amount of thrust. A one-year trip to Mars could be cut to just 39 days. Chang-Diaz said advanced high-power electric propulsion and nuclear electric power systems "could revolutionize in-space transportation by greatly reducing the interplanetary transit time." CONTINUE READING: www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2012-09-02/Mars-obstacles-for-humans/57516356/1
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MARS
Sept 5, 2012 12:04:55 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Sept 5, 2012 12:04:55 GMT -6
HOW TO GET TO MARS[/color]
Uploaded by aheli on Feb 28, 2011
Very cool videoanimation of Spirit / Opportunitys flight to mars!
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the sending of the two rovers—MER-A Spirit and MER-B Opportunity—to explore the Martian surface and geology.
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MARS
Sept 6, 2012 19:07:33 GMT -6
Post by swamprat on Sept 6, 2012 19:07:33 GMT -6
Stunning Mars Photo Shows Curiosity Rover's Tracks from Space
by SPACE.com Staff Date: 06 September 2012 NASA's newest Mars rover Curiosity is taking its first tentative drives across the Martian surface and leaving tracks that have been spotted all the way from space in a spectacular photo snapped by an orbiting spacecraft. The new view of Curiosity's tracks from space was captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and released today (Sept. 6). It shows the rover as a bright, boxy vehicle at the end of two tracks that create a single zig-zag pattern in the Martian surface. www.space.com/17485-amazing-mars-photos-curiosity-rover-space.html
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MARS
Sept 6, 2012 22:29:11 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Sept 6, 2012 22:29:11 GMT -6
Looks kind of like me after I've had a few adult bevarages. What's with the weird colors in that photo? Is that what they really look like? It looks kind of green with big blue patches where the thing landed.
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MARS
Sept 7, 2012 6:41:04 GMT -6
Post by swamprat on Sept 7, 2012 6:41:04 GMT -6
They said photo was enhanced with false color to show detail.....
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MARS
Sept 17, 2012 14:31:07 GMT -6
Post by skywalker on Sept 17, 2012 14:31:07 GMT -6
It's snowing on Mars! Picture of the southern polar ice cap on Mars from 1977science.time.com/2012/09/17/martian-blizzard-its-snowing-on-the-red-planet/NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has just detected a huge blizzard over the Mars south pole.. The storm, which is reportedly over 300 miles wide, is dumping frozen carbon dioxide all over the southern part of the planet in a wintery blizzard that reportedly will last all throughout the Martian winter. Snowdrifts are more than likely miles thick. The storm was detected using the Mars Climate Sounder, a spectrometer that measures the visible and infrared light emitted from different cloud particles in the Martian atmosphere. Different types of gasses affect the light in different ways so that scientists can tell what type of gas they are looking at. They had to use this device to find the storm because there is no visible light at the south pole of Mars during its winter. This new finding adds another new dimension to the already complex knowledge about Mar's atmosphere and may help point scientists in the right direction in their search for Martian life. Since CO 2 has a very low freezing point it means that much of it is frozen during the winter but released back into the atmosphere during the summer which means that atmospheric pressure would increase dramatically during the warmer months. This increased pressure could theoretically help liquid water form at the surface of the planet which would increase the possibilities of life.
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MARS
Sept 22, 2012 11:41:26 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Sept 22, 2012 11:41:26 GMT -6
io9.com/5944933/richard-branson-determined-to-start-a-population-on-mars Richard Branson “determined to start a population on Mars”[/color] George Dvorsky Sep 20, 2012 Virgin Airlines CEO Richard Branson recently gave an interview with CBS News in which he said that he's hoping to start a colony on Mars — and that he'd very much like to take part in it. He also spoke about his plans to offer two-hour commercial space flights for $200,000 a pop, and how he's driven by the desire to see ordinary people go into space. Branson says the two-hour flights are just the beginning of his intergalactic efforts. "I think over the next 20 years, we will take literally hundreds of thousands of people to space and that will give us the financial resources to do even bigger things," he said. "That will give us the resources then to put satellites into space at a fraction of the price, which can be incredibly useful for thousands of different reasons." Speaking to whether the new venture was a adventure-oriented personal mission or a savvy business decision, Branson said, "My approach to business is simply, I love creating things. And then I try to make sure it ends up paying the bills at the end of the year." Branson also said he's lined up to be the first Virgin Galactic customer. "I'll be going up with my children on the first flight next year," he said on Tuesday. And while some have bemoaned federal funding cuts to NASA, Branson sees it as a positive development for the private sector. "You've got a Democratic party who have decided, 'Let's now let private enterprise take this forward,'" he said. "I think they're absolutely right. The private companies can do it at a fraction of the price." But Branson isn't just set on visiting space for hours at a time. "In my lifetime, I'm determined to being a part of starting a population on Mars," he said," before adding "I think it is absolutely realistic. It will happen." But it won't be pretty, says Branson: The first settlers will have to live in "giant domes" and "not be able to spend a lot of time outside." WATCH VIDEO & CONTINUE READING: io9.com/5944933/richard-branson-determined-to-start-a-population-on-mars
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