Rover news; Earth-size exoplanets; Future of Russian space

Posted By Emily Lakdawalla

2010/11/01 03:50 CDT

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Just a linky post here. A. J. S. Rayl has just posted her monthly update on the state of the rovers: "Spirit Remains Silent, Opportunity Pushes On to Endeavour." It includes a report on the news story from last week on the discovery of evidence for the past presence of liquid water at Spirit's parking spot on the edge of Home Plate.

Amir Alexander has posted a story on how Earth-size planets may be much more common than previously thought: "Like Sand on a Beach: New Study Suggests Earth-Size Planets are 'Everywhere'."

This week's Planetary Radio features Lou Friedman speaking "with cautious optimism" about the future of Russian space exploration as revealed in the first Moscow Symposium on Solar System Exploration, which he attended.

NASA / JPL / Cornell / compiled by S. Atkinson

Changing terrain

This series of terrain images taken by Opportunity on Sols 2329, 2337, 2374, and 2404, and compiled into this comparison image by Stuart Atkinson, of UnmannedSpaceflight.com, shows how the landscape has changed for this rover during the last several months. The ripples have given way to a stretch of some of the flatest ground seen by either rover on the entire mission. By all accounts, it should make the rest of the rover's trek to Endeavour Crater a veritable breeze.