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Coverage continues in our February 2004 News Page.
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28 January 2004 - It's been
eighteen years since the
Shuttle Challenger exploded
at launch.
Last year at this time, aboard the
Shuttle Columbia (Challenger's
predecessor), the
crew of
STS-107 observed
a moment of
silence, as did the
Expedition Six
crew on the
International Space Station. Where were
you that day in 1986?
In Mars news,
NASA named some
features of the
Martian surface after the
fallen Apollo 1 crew
yesterday (which was the 37th anniversary of the
launchpad fire which killed
Gus Grissom,
Ed White, and
Roger Chaffee).
Today, they
announced that Opportunity's
landing site would be named the
Challenger Memorial Station. There was a Rover daily briefing today at 12:20PM EST,
and
new images were released. NASA reports:
Opportunity Status
Scientists reveal first quarter of color "mission success" panorama and
highest resolution image yet of rock outcrop. Engineers are halfway
through rover standup on the lander.
Look for museum
events around the country. For an online experience visit
MarsQuest Online.
Video of yesterday's Mars briefing
here.
Today In Space History -
Today
marks the 18th
anniversary of a terrible tragedy in the history of the Space Program: The Challenger
disaster. On 28
January 1986, 7
astronauts lost their lives when Shuttle
Challenger exploded just 73
seconds after launch. Mission Fact sheet
here; Crew info
here;
Image collections here
and here.
Mission STS-51L
was the 25th
Shuttle flight, and it carried
the first "Teacher In Space",
Christa McAuliffe. The Challenger,
(OV-99),
was the second
orbiter built, and had completed
9 successful
missions (starting with STS-6
in 1983) before the
awful incident, which was
caused
by O-rings
in the right solid rocket
booster becoming brittle in the
winter cold. The
accident rocked
the nation and became embedded
in the minds of an entire
generation. The remains
of some crewmembers
were buried with honors at Arlington
National Cemetery, and the wreckage
of the spacecraft is sealed in a missile
silo at Cape
Canaveral. NASA grounded
the Shuttle program for more than two
years while safety
improvements were made. The Challenger
Learning Centers, dedicated to space science
education, were founded in
honor of the crew. Remember the
brave men and women of Challenger, Apollo 1,
and Columbia!
[Date: NASA]
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25 January 2004 - 3PM EST - The
Europeans are enjoying
success with their
Mars orbiter,
Mars Express,
but they are
still searching for the
British-built
Beagle 2 lander, which
hasn't been heard from since it was
scheduled to land this
past Christmas.
Will they send more?
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25 January 2004 - 1PM EST -
Opportunity, the
second of NASA's twin Mars
Exploration Rovers, has
deployed its petals and
transmitted photos
from the
surface of
Meridiani Planum, a
region of Mars
rich in
hematite, a dark-gray mineral that
often forms in the
presence of
water.
NASA reports:
OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: - Jan 25, 2004, 1:00 am PST
Opportunity lands safely on Mars and reveals a surreal, dark landscape
unlike any seen before.
77
Opportunity Raw Images
SPIRIT UPDATE: - Jan 24, 2004, 3:30 pm PST
Engineers communicated with Spirit and confirmed that the rover's problem
is related to its "flash" memories.
Meanwhile, on the
other side of Mars, the Spirit rover's
condition has
been upgraded from "critical" to "serious", and scientists are optimistic
that it will be able to resume observations in about
3 weeks.
NASA TV will show a commentary on
Opportunity at 11:30AM PST (2:30PM
EST/1930 GMT), and a briefing at 1PM PST (4PM EST/2100 GMT).
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25 January - 3AM EST - NASA
now has 2 mobile
landers
on
2 different parts of the
Martian surface - great
job!!. NASA reports:
'Two for Two': Opportunity Lands on Mars
The Opportunity
spacecraft landed on Mars just after midnight eastern
time Sunday, joining its twin rover Spirit on the red planet. Ground
controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in cheers and
applause, a replay of the celebration following Spirit's landing three
weeks ago.
OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:
Watch the post-landing commentary on NASA TV at 12:45 am PST, and the Opportunity
briefing at 2:00 am PST.
Watch NASA TV (NASA
TV schedule /
Download Player)
For Eastern time, add 3
hours. For GMT, add 8 hours.
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25 January - 1:20AM EST - Things are
looking good so far for
the
second Mars rover, dubbed "Opportunity." Live briefing in 10 minutes.
NASA reports:
ROVER EVENTS ON NASA TV/WEBCAST
Subject to change
Jan. 25, 2004
10:30 pm PST
+
Opportunity rover briefing
12:45 am PST
+
Commentary on Opportunity's landing
2 am PST
+
Opportunity rover briefing
Watch
NASA TV for live video
coverage.
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25 January 2004 - 12:10AM EST -
LANDING! - Everyone in the control room is going nuts as signals indicate that the
Opportunity lander has executed its retrorocket fire, parachute deploy, bounce and roll.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and former VP Al Gore are there celebrating
with the JPL crew.
First impact was right on schedule at 12:05:10 AM EST. We expect the first transmissions at about 3AM EST.
NASA reports:
Opportunity Lands on the Surface of Mars
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has landed on the surface of
Mars. The
image above, taken by NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, is a close-up of
Opportunity's predicted landing site at a region on Mars called Meridiani
Planum. More details to follow.
NASA TV Schedule
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24 January - Evening Update - Mission managers are
working around what appears to be a
problem with
flash memory on the
Sprit Rover. Meanwhile, the
Opportunity rover is
now streaking through the Martian atmosphere.
SPIRIT UPDATE: - Jan 24, 2004, 3:30 pm PST
Hours before NASA's Opportunity rover will reach Mars, engineers have
found a way to communicate reliably with its twin, Spirit, and to get
Spirit's computer out of a cycle of rebooting many times a day.
NASA TV Schedule
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24 January 2004 - Saturday - As
NASA's Spirit
Rover
sends fitful
chunks of data home, mission
managers are getting
ready for the landing of its twin,
Opportunity,
tonight (just after midnight EST
Sunday). Check the
play-by-play
links at right, and watch
NASA TV for live video coverage.
NASA reports:
ROVER EVENTS ON NASA TV/WEBCAST - Subject to change
Jan. 24, 2004 - 12 pm PST - Opportunity and Spirit update
2 pm PST - Mars program overview
4 pm PST - Press briefing with NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe
7:30 pm PST -NASA TV coverage begins for Opportunity's landing
9:05 pm PST (approximately) - Opportunity lands on Mars
For Eastern time, add 3 hours. For GMT, add 8 hours. Video of yesterday's Mars briefing
here.
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