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Blog Archive
Ten years since Spirit's launch
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/10 04:10 CDT | 1 comments
Ten years ago, Spirit launched on a Delta II rocket toward Mars, and I was there to see it.
Blast from the Past: Spirit's tracks at the "End of the Rainbow"
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/04/09 09:05 CDT | 3 comments
Doug Ellison shared this lovely panorama via Twitter over the weekend. It's from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, taken back in 2004. The drunken path in the foreground is a visual record of just how exciting it was for Spirit to have finally made it to the Columbia Hills, and to rocks that were not fragments of basalt.
Webcast Tonight! Planetary Scientist and Society President Jim Bell
Watch It Live or Later On Demand
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/02/20 07:59 CST
Professor Bell's topic is "Exploring Mars, the Moon, Asteroids, and Comets with Rovers and Landers," and there is no one better to talk about this subject.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/01 11:47 CST
Remembering Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon on the tenth anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia.
Planetary Society Weekly Hangout, Thu Jan 3 1200PT/2000UT: Jim Bell
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/01/02 12:32 CST | 3 comments
Join Emily Lakdawalla and Casey Dreier for a chat with Jim Bell, a scientist who wears many hats. He's the team lead for the Pancam color cameras on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers; he's a member of the Curiosity science team; and he's the esteemed President of the Planetary Society's Board of Directors. We'll talk about the great science being done by both Curiosity and Opportunity, and about what's in store for the future.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Closes in on Endeavour as Team Bids Farewell to Spirit
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/07/31 11:24 CDT
Opportunity seemed to sail with the wind behind her back toward the western rim of Endeavour Crater this month as the Mars Exploration Rover team shifted gears in preparation for a whole new adventure, taking time out only to bid a final farewell both privately and publicly to Spirit.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Roves Back into Record Books, Spirit is Honored
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/06/30 12:00 CDT
Opportunity 'burned up' the Meridiani Plains in June as it raced toward its much-anticipated next destination and the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission cruised into the 90th month of what was originally to have been a 90-day tour.
In Memory of Spirit, and Why Cuteness Matters
Posted by Melissa Rice on 2011/06/15 02:21 CDT
An analysis of "cuteness", and why it matters when talking about science.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Mission Declared Over, Opportunity Roves Closer to Endeavour
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/05/31 12:00 CDT
The Mars Exploration mission suffered the loss of Spirit and shifted to one-rover operations in May, but Opportunity carried on, blasting across the plains of Meridiani to within 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) of its next major destination and discovery.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: NASA Ends Spirit Mission
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/05/26 12:00 CDT
The intensified effort to recover Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit came to an end early Wednesday morning Pacific time and NASA has now transitioned the mission to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit's still-active twin, Opportunity.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Recovery Attempt Continues, Opportunity Sprints to Endeavour
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/04/30 12:00 CDT
As Opportunity drove her little robot heart out, breaking the 28-kilometer mark on her odometer, and driving the longest backward drive ever, April proved to be another month of exhilarating highs for the Mars Exploration Rover mission and one extended low with only silence from Spirit, despite intensified efforts by her Earth crew to establish contact.
What's up in the solar system in April 2011
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/03/31 03:59 CDT
April 2011 will see MESSENGER begin the science phase of its orbital mission at Mercury, and should, I think, also see the start of Dawn's approach observations of Vesta. At Mars, Opportunity is back on the road again, rolling inexorably toward Endeavour. At Saturn, Cassini will continue its focus on Saturn and Titan science.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit's Silence Haunts, Opportunity Roves on to Endeavour
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/03/31 12:00 CDT
The Mars Exploration Rover mission experienced a month of highs tempered by one haunting low as it neared completion of its 87th month of a three-month tour this month. While Opportunity wrapped up its work at the youngest, freshest crater the rovers have explored to date, Spirit remained silent as the point of maximum sunshine for the Martian year came and went, further dimming once high hopes that the rover would phone home and rove on as summer settled on the southern hemisphere of Mars.
LPSC 2011: Day 3: Moon, Mars, and Venus
Posted by Ted Stryk on 2011/03/10 11:11 CST
Wednesday morning included some interesting conversations. Notably, I spoke with Pamela Gay, who is responsible for the MoonZoo citizen science program and who is presently working on developing a site through which the public will be able to help search for potential Kuiper belt objects for the New Horizons mission to encounter after the Pluto flyby.
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/02/28 11:00 CST
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission emerged from its third solar conjunction this month and, as March roars in, is embarking on its 86th month on the Red Planet. While Opportunity roved away from a surface target it had been studying at Santa Maria Crater and on to an intriguing blue boulder, JPL engineers on Earth stepped up their efforts to recover Spirit, which has been silent, ostensibly in hibernation mode, since late March, nearly one year ago.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Mission Celebrates 7 Years of Exploration
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2011/01/31 11:00 CST
Seven years ago this month, Spirit bounced down onto the surface of the Red Planet, rolled to a stop upright, and beeped home, ready to roll. Three weeks later, Opportunity not only bounced down safely and right into a small crater, but opened its "eyes" to see what the Mars Exploration Rovers had been sent to find signs that water had once flowed there.
"A genuinely weird experience": A video of Steve Squyres explaining a photo of Steve Squyres
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/01/12 10:09 CST
In a lovely talk, in his uncommonly engaging way, Steve Squyres presents the portrait of him that now hangs in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2010/12/31 11:00 CST
The Mars Exploration Rovers are wrapping up another year of exploring their seventh -- having experienced both the best of times and the worst of times: Spirit continued a 10-month struggle to endure its coldest, harshest Martian winter yet; Opportunity set a new record for driving despite an arthritic front wheel and a broken shoulder, putting more miles on her rocker bogie in 2010 than in any other single year.
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2010/11/30 11:00 CST
The Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) forged on in November, their 83rd month of an expedition originally planned for three months: Spirit remained silent at Gusev Crater presumably still re-charging her batteries, as Opportunity roved through a field of craters pressing on toward Endeavour Crater, quietly claiming title along the way to being the first roving robot to drive 25 kilometers on Mars.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Remains Silent, Opportunity Pushes on to Endeavour
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2010/10/31 12:00 CDT
For the Mars Exploration Rovers, October was a lot like September, which was a lot like August: Spirit continued hibernating at Gusev Crater or so it appears since the rover didn't phone home; and Opportunity picked up the pace to Endeavour Crater again, setting new driving records and marking more milestones along the way.
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