Projects: Space Information
The Planetary Report
Volume XXII, Number 6, November/December 2002
Credit:
MOLA Science Team (published here for the first time) |
On the Cover
This image, produced from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter
(MOLA) data, reveals abundant evidence for the past flow of liquid water
on Mars. Shown here is the Chryse outflow region, located 315 to 330 degrees
east and 0 to 20 degrees north. Thanks to MOLA, scientists now know the
topography of Mars better than they do the topography of many regions on
Earth.
From The Editor
In this issue, we feature two old warhorses of exploration: Galileo launched
in 1989 and reached the Jovian system in 1995; Mars Global Surveyor launched
in 1996 and entered Mars orbit in 1997. Long after their primary missions
ended, both spacecraft are still returning data, testifying to the imagination,
ambition, and skill of the human explorers who stand behind them.
Both spacecraft teams confidently overcame mechanical failures threatening
their missions. On Galileo, the main antenna refused to open, rendering
it useless. Communications had to be routed through a smaller antenna,
but thanks to mission engineers, the spacecraft returned stillspectacular
amounts of data.
On Mars Global Suveyor, a small
damper failed, causing a solar panel
mount to crack during deployment and
forcing a delay in the spacecraft’s reaching
its mapping orbit. Still, the avalanche of
data from the mission buried many old
assumptions about Mars, and we now see
the Red Planet as a much more vital and
dynamic world.
Achieving grand ambitions, overcoming
failure, transforming knowledge -- these
missions have taught us what is possible
when we are demonstrably confident,
clever, and smart. Planetary exploration
is a beacon to humankind of all that we
can become.
— Charlene M. Anderson
Features
Shedding Light on the Red Planet: Science Findings From
the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter
Planetary Society Board member Maria Zuber also serves as an investigator
on the science team for the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, affectionately
known as MOLA, which flew on Mars Global Surveyor. We've frequently featured
brightly colored MOLA images in these pages, but until now, we’d yet to devote
an entire article to the results of this hugely successful experiment. Here,
Maria, with David Smith and James Abshire, reports on MOLA's key
discoveries.
Oceans, Ice
Shells, and Life on Europa
Now that the Galileo spacecraft has all but
clinched the debate over whether Jupiter's moon Europa possesses an underground
ocean, argument swirls around whether the overlying ice crust is thick
or thin. This may seem like an arcane question, but the answer may further
our quest to understand the place of life in our solar system. Crustal thickness
determines what sort of energy might be available to any possible Europan
life-forms. And it would dictate what sort of robots we build to explore
the Europan ocean. By Paul Schenk
Breaking New Ground: Red Rover Goes to Mars
Our Red
Rover Goes to Mars contest has shifted into high gear! At the World Space
Congress, held this year in Houston, Texas, The Planetary Society and the
LEGO Company announced that our education experiment will fly with NASA’s
Mars Exploration Rovers, set to launch in 2003. The contest to select Student
Astronauts, who will actually participate in mission operations, is now
under way. If you are a bright young student between the ages of 13 and
17, or you know someone who is, you've got to read this article.
DEPARTMENTS
Members’ Dialogue
World Watch
Questions and Answers
Society News
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