Blogs

MSL Press Conference Notes

Ryan Anderson • December 04, 2008

Mike Griffin started the press conference, and got right down to business announcing the launch delay and indicating that the actuators as well as other technical problems are responsible.

MSL Press Conference Tomorrow

Ryan Anderson • December 04, 2008

At 12 noon EST. I know what the announcement is, but I'm not allowed to tell you! How frustrating is that?!

Diagram of the Mars Science Laboratory rover

MSL Launch Delayed by Two Years

Ryan Anderson • December 04, 2008

As I post this, NASA is holding a press conference in which they are announcing that the Mars Science Laboratory's launch date will be slipped by two years.

Sample Return Cache on MSL Canceled!

Ryan Anderson • November 23, 2008

I just heard, via this article at Universe Today, that the sample cache on MSL has been canceled.

Solar conjunction: Holidays for Mars missions, and an Opportunity update

Emily Lakdawalla • November 21, 2008

The period of Mars solar conjunction has just begun, which means that a host of scientists and engineers whose day jobs entail interaction with the five active Mars spacecraft are getting a five-week break from the daily grind of operations.

MSL Landing Sites Narrowed to Four

Ryan Anderson • November 20, 2008

I've known about this for a little while but it was finally made public: The list of MSL landing sites had now been trimmed to four.

High dust levels are making life tough for Spirit

Emily Lakdawalla • November 11, 2008

There was a worrying update posted on the JPL website for Spirit today: an early-season dust storm has darkened its skies enough that its solar panels produced only 89 watt-hours of power yesterday, sol 1,725. Neither rover has ever, ever seen power production levels that low, not even during last year's massive dust storm.