Visions of Mars ... and more!

Posted: Friday, August 29, 2008 5:35 PM by Alan Boyle

NASA / JPL-Caltech / UA / TAMU

The Surface Stereo Imager on Phoenix Mars Lander sent back this view of the
probe's workspace in Mars' north polar region at the mission's 90-day mark. Click
on the image for a larger view from the Phoenix imaging team.

Looking for the latest, greatest, biggest pictures from the Red Planet and other celestial hot spots? We've got 'em right here - starting with some fresh views of the Phoenix Mars Lander's excavations and the Opportunity rover's climb-out from the biggest crater it's visited.

Phoenix was originally scheduled to conduct a 90-day mission to study water ice and other chemicals in the frosty soil of Mars' north polar region. The mission has already been extended through the end of next month, but this week Phoenix sent back a visual progress report as it passed the 90-day mark - or more accurately, the 90-sol mark, because Martian days are slightly longer than Earth days.

The picture you see above is a mosaic that shows the workspace surrounding the lander. Phoenix has been digging up a storm over the past few months, so another picture shows the 4-inch-high (10-centimeter-high) mound of excavated soil piled up by the lander. Yet another picture shows an eerie Martian sunrise on the 90th day (which was Monday on Earth).

You've probably already guessed that you can get bigger versions of the Phoenix pictures from NASA's mission Web site or the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

Meanwhile, farther south, the Opportunity and Spirit rovers are continuing their work on opposite sides of the Red Planet. Opportunity has spent nearly a year studying intriguing layers of bedrock down in Victoria Crater, but just today NASA reported that the six-wheeled robot has worked its way back up to level ground.

NASA / JPL-Caltech

NASA's Opportunity rover captured this view looking
back at its own tracks and Victoria Crater's Cape
Verde promontory Thursday after climbing back onto
level ground. Click on the image for a larger view.

The picture of the day shows what's now in Opportunity's rear-view mirror: Victoria Crater's Cape Verde promontory and the tracks rolling out of the crater. You can also check out a closer look at Cape Verde and a 180-degree panorama of Spirit's surroundings as that power-challenged rover waits out the Martian winter.

And to mark the Labor Day weekend, NASA has put together a slideshow that highlights the six U.S. flags on Mars. The flags are emblazoned on the two Mars rovers and Phoenix Mars Lander as well as three probes that have passed on: the Pathfinder lander and the two Viking landers.

There's plenty more to keep you clicking over the holiday weekend, including our latest roundup of celestial highlights in the "Month in Space" slide show. Every time we come out with a fresh selection, some folks ask where they can download larger versions of the imagery for their desktop or printer. Here are links to the bigger pictures, and in most cases additional background about the images as well:

Family portrait: More about the Spitzer Space Telescope's multigenerational picture of starbirth.
Olympic high jump: Satellite imagery of the Beijing sports site from DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite.
Obstructed view: Monster solar panels add bling to the view out the international space station's window.
Janus in profile: Learn more about the Cassini orbiter's view of Janus, a craggy, cratered moon of Saturn.
Bewitched: The Witch's Broom Nebula was a hit on the Astronomy Picture of the Day site, a.k.a. APOD.
Eye on the storm: The international space station's crew got an eyeful when they looked for Tropical Storm Fay.
Rumble in the jungle: Get a bigger view of the Ariane 5 liftoff from French Guiana, and learn more from Arianespace's Web site.
Chilly morn on Mars: The full story behind Phoenix Mars Lander's picture of morning frost at its landing site.
Lighting up the lake: SpaceWeather.com is your best source for images of the northern lights (and sometimes the southern lights).
Moon overshadowed: You'll find a bigger view of the lunar eclipse as seen from Jordan, as well as more background on the event that most Americans missed out on.
A clearer Cat's Eye: Find out more about the Cat's Eye Nebula, a perennial favorite for fans of space imagery.
Stripes in the ice: Cassini hit a bull's-eye with its observations of Enceladus, Saturn's mysterious ice-spewing moon.
The eaten sun: Click on the link for a bigger view of the Aug. 1 solar eclipse as seen from China, and check out our coverage as well. There's also this unusual view of the eclipse as seen by NASA's Terra satellite, and this view from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO.
Cosmic fire: The Hubble Space Telescope's picture of a star-forming region marks its 100,000th orbit.
The cones of Mars: NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has a wealth of pictures, as you can see if you check the HiRISE team's catalog.
High and dry: NASA's Earth Observatory tells you more about the Dry Tortugas, as seen from the international space station.
Catch a falling star: See a bigger version of the Perseid meteor streak over Florida, and learn more about the annual sky show.
Space monster: Scary views of the galaxy NGC 1275 were captured by Hubble as well as the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Phobos up close: Europe's Mars Express orbiter snapped the latest high-resolution views of the Martian moon.
Four flares flash: SOHO is the premiere probe for seeing solar flares in detail.

I'll be taking Labor Day off, and regular postings will resume Tuesday.

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Comments

Our true space exploration program is really 'getting it done'! Meanwhile the manned "exploration" program (which is totally misnamed, since it does no exploring) is spinning its wheels in futility. The dangerous, expensive "space shuttle" is being shelved and its replacement program is over budget and in disarray, the space station is 99% rich-tourist destination 1% science lab (and little science that couldn't be done on earth has been done anyways), and NASA's administration seems to have no ability to think "outside the box". The whole 'manned' program needs to be SCRAPPED and rebuilt in a much more effective and efficient program.

Soon, with a new administration, there will be a chance to do this. Things that shouldbe done: 1. The whole NASA administration needs to be purged; the people in place now have thoroughly ossified thought processes and no ability to think long term (as in decades, not years or months). 2. Far less tolerance for budget overruns must be shown, NASA-wide; programs that go over need to be terminated on the spot, so everyone at NASA and its contractors understand that NASA isn't a money tree. 3. The whole philosophy of human space travel needs to be fundamentally changed to one of focussing on obtaining true, cheap access to space; the primitive rockets they're using cost billions just to get to low earth orbit, they're dangerous, and utterly incapable of mass space transport. Instead it must turned to finding ways of getting large numbers of people and materials off earth and out of orbit. This will have to be a long term project, much longer than current NASA administrators' attention spans. It also needs to drop the silly notion of people as 'explorers' and think of them as 'colonists'.

JC, Fairbanks, AK (Sent Saturday, August 30, 2008 3:36 PM)

Alan I really enjoy the CosmicLog..and visit all your suggested links.
I would like you to visit my suggested link and a reply as to when you will be given permission to write about such things.
http://www.netro.ca/disclosure/npccmenu.htm
Best Wishes,
B.Founder

B.Founder, Denver, CO (Sent Saturday, August 30, 2008 10:18 PM)

I'm right with JC. If the human species is to survive, we must become a space faring species and we need to become one sooner rather than later.

I too think NASA's leadership has had some strange ideas. Recently I saw a high authority of NASA suggest mans next major venture into space would be in "Moon towns" ... The sheer logistics of that is staggering to the point of being impossible. You can not grow plants on the moon as you can on Mars. All resources needed for a Moon base must arrive from Earth, there is no living off the land. If we were to establish a base on Mars it is very possible to live off the land, grow our own food and even create our own breathable air.

The mineral rich resources on Mars and the near by asteroid belt makes it an ideal location when compared to the moon. These are just a couple reasons yet we still have an administration bent on "moon towns".

C.B. Gig Harbor, Wa (Sent Sunday, August 31, 2008 11:43 AM)

Hi Alan,

I was wondering if you could address the recent MUFON report on the Stephenville UFO incident. I am a serious skeptic on the issue but the research done is pretty alarming with regards to national defense.

Why didn't the USAF interfere ? Why did the F-16s that were in the area travel into passenger jet space ?

What is interesting here is that several debunkers were willing to take wild stabs at what happened back in January, the military initially stated there were no planes in the area but with all these credible witnesses they changed the story to make it sound like it was the 10 F16s they were seeing.

But now there is proof of one or more UFO ( flying object with no transponder ) there is silence from the media.

What gives ?

Thanks and always apprecite your columns.

John A, Seattle Wa (Sent Sunday, August 31, 2008 2:44 PM)

I have read somewhere (I don't recall where) that since Mars is somewhat smaller than earth , and therefore has less gravity, that it is possible that what atmosphere it had probably leached out into space a long time ago. If this is true, how can we kick start an atmosphere there that will be retained there long enough to make it sustainable through Oxygen producing means.
Again, I am not sure of where I read this and am not sure that Mars CAN"T sustain an oxygen/etc. atmosphere to begin with.

Ron W. Southern Ca. (Sent Sunday, August 31, 2008 6:23 PM)

for those interested in the news as it happens, http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix (also links to the rovers) reports findings straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak ;)

mrG (Sent Monday, September 01, 2008 9:55 AM)

C.G.,
I'm right with the high authorities of NASA. But then, I wouldn't go SCUBA diving without testing my gear. You obviously don't share that same cautious attitude. I fear for the safety of your children. The moon is a camping trip, not an expedition. The intent isn't to "live off the land" but rather to prove systems and find faults so they can be corrected. A mission to the moon can be helped and restocked a whole lot faster that a mission to Mars. Nobody's planning for a particular problem, so you obviously feel that there's no need to be able to deal with it, it's not on our schedule, it'll have to wait. The problem is some problems won't wait for very long. If today someone determined that we need to get some particular thing to the mission or everyone dies how long to actually get it to the moon, how long to Mars? Can't get that thing? How long to just evacuate a moon base, how long to evacuate Mars? Look at the problems that came up in the BioSphere experiment. The idea of just blindly throwing people onto a faraway planet without field testing the technology is foolish.

Tim Rommes, Washington, UT (Sent Monday, September 01, 2008 12:23 PM)

To Ron W. from Southern Ca.: Mars does have an atmosphere, what it lacks of is enough oxigen in the air to make it breathable for humans (and other species). Also, the atmosfpheric pressure isn't good enough for us either. As for kick starting it, please check this link about the technological requirements on terraforming Mars: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm

Lalo Márquez, Baja California, México (Sent Monday, September 01, 2008 12:48 PM)

"The sheer logistics of that is staggering" ..is just what I mean by saying "primative rockets" won't do, C.B.
Thank you. But keep in mind that no one on Earth can launch a single human being beyond Earth orbit right now. Alot of the REAL exploring has been done, or is getting done. It's time for the Human Spaceflight people to sense reality, get rid of the Buck Rogers mentality, and actually *DO* something. So far a crappy albatross in LEO has been the best they can muster, with 20 years of half of NASA's puny budget.

JC, Fairbanks, AK (Sent Monday, September 01, 2008 1:42 PM)

You also don't count in people's natural short-sightedness, C.B. I have 'brought up', and sent out several undergrad and grad students in physical sciences, all "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" to go at it..... But it's been like sending anzacs to Gallipoli.... they get mowed down.

JC, Fairbanks, AK (Sent Monday, September 01, 2008 2:00 PM)

To clear up a common misconception - Mars is currently big enough to retain an atmosphere indefinitely against thermal escape. Mars, in the past, lost atmosphere because of two processes - a solar wind that was 1,000 times higher, and more high-speed impactors to blow air into space. Neither occurs today with anything like their past ferocity. Even the Moon could hang on to atmosphere today for millions of years, though it would dry out from hydrogen loss to space.

So stop perpetuating old misconceptions about atmosphere loss - it just ain't going to happen quickly. But when the Sun goes red-giant and starts losing mass in a super-wind, then rapid erosion will restart again - in about 7 billion years from now.

Adam, Brisbane, Australia (Sent Monday, September 01, 2008 6:48 PM)

Mars lacks a significant magnetic field. Earth's magnetic field deflects much of the solar wind, preventing it from blowing away our atmosphere. While Mars is "large enough" to retain a significant atmosphere, the lack of a significant magnetic field raises concerns as to whether it could retain a dense enough atmosphere for more than a few hundred years. Furthermore, the magnaetic field on Mars is not sufficiently powerful to protect human colonists from high levels of radiation. I think, with existing technologies, it is unreasonable to plan on anything more than a permanent scientific outpost on Mars (similar to what we have in Antarctica), and it would have to be completely subterranean to protect from solar wind and ultraviolet rays.

Dave, OK (Sent Tuesday, September 02, 2008 10:27 AM)

JC you must not have a good understanding of NASA, because it is the most efficient government program in existence. Just take a look at the results generated for every tax dollar spent on it.

Ryan, Raleigh NC (Sent Tuesday, September 02, 2008 2:28 PM)

Mars lack of significant atmosphere is thought to be because of the lack of a protective magnetic field, which is the result of its inner core cooling. Because Mars is smaller than Earth, it has cooled at a significantly faster rate, and its core is no longer molten. Earth's magnetic field is generated by its "solid" iron inner core rotating at a faster rate than its moten iron mantel or outter core, creating a huge electromagnet.

It's believed that Mars had a magnetic field billions of years ago which protected a much thicker atmosphere, as well as liquid water on its surface. Inner core cooling caused its magnetic field to weaken, allowing the solar winds to blow away most of it's atmosphere. The thinner atmosphere caused the liquid water to boil away, leaving only water ice on its surface. You'll also note from the Phoenix data that even the water ice needs to be covered by soil to keep it from sublimating.

The lack of oxegen in Mars atmosphere is simply because there are no oxegen producing life forms. Earth's supply of oxegen is soley the result of photosynthetic plant life.

Kirk, Traverse City, MI (Sent Tuesday, September 02, 2008 4:37 PM)

"Mars lacks a significant magnetic field. Earth's magnetic field deflects much of the solar wind, preventing it from blowing away our atmosphere."

I'm familiar with that argument, and I follow its logic, but if that's so, someone really needs to explain Venus. Also no meaningful magnetic field, and even closer to the Sun, yet with enough atmosphere to have a surface pressure 15 times that of Earth at its surface, yet only about 80% of Earth's mass/gravity.

Unless one suggests it once had an even *more* massive atmosphere at one time, and the same forces that degraded that of Mars has whittled the atmosohere of Venus down to what we observe today, but I'd find that very hard to buy...

Frank Glover Rochester, NY (Sent Tuesday, September 02, 2008 4:58 PM)

I question Venus as well, I thought about that when writing the previous posting. I think most scientists attribute its thick dense CO2 atmosphere to extensive volcanic activity. Venus is thought to be a great example of what a run-away greenhouse effect can do to a planet. I'm not suggesting that's what could happen to the earth, but obviously Venus has spewed out a huge amount of CO2, and the heating from all that CO2 must perpetuate more volcanic activity, which in turn creates more CO2, and so on. I suppose its possible that some of that CO2 is constantly being stripped away by solar wind, but is being replenished at the same or faster rate.

I'm not a scientist, just an interested and curious observer. I would really like to hear some ideas from people who have made this their life work.

Kirk, Traverse City, MI (Sent Wednesday, September 03, 2008 11:25 AM)

wow that amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????

cailynn, camron, north caralinea (Sent Wednesday, September 03, 2008 12:57 PM)

I'm doing my own Mars Project :: taking the photos off

http://areo.info/mer/ and correcting them for scale, contrast and color.

And to tell you the truth, everything they write about Mars and its details is false, false, false.

Lies. I suspect NSA wants to keep this info secret, that Mars is alive and well.

NASA HQ/ Public Inquiries and Security; JPL/LA and UAZ are all dealing with the reality that "corrected" photos portrays. They hate my guts.

www abide miracles dot com mars blogs

Emily Cragg

M. Emily Cragg, San Jose California (Sent Wednesday, September 03, 2008 7:53 PM)

I just took the photo--

/Opportunity-20080829.html and ran it up to 400%. It is so completely photoshopped to hide content details, I don't know how to fix it.

At this time, I am so furious, I don't know what to say in a civil tone. But you can believe, I will have a copy of this photo -- scale, contrast and color repaired -- in my Mars Blogs.

Here's a stream of expletives to express my feelings. !@#$%^!&*^!%&*^%&!*%^&*!^%&* This kind of photo vandalizing just isn't funny, even if NASA is doing it.

M. Emily Cragg, San Jose California (Sent Wednesday, September 03, 2008 8:11 PM)

Mars is fasinating and valuable for water, but Venus is the greatest source of both a solar power orbit and organic chemicals pushed off the atmosphere of Venus by a solar powered laser that can be used to make lunar concrete without water.

People can only live in a gravity environment so living even a short while on Mars clearly doesn't work at all until space medicine spends a few centuries developing muscle grow pills.

That leaves making a radiation sheilded can like spacestation on a tether spinning in the Moons orbit that Mines lunar dust by spacestation astronaunt controlled Robots. Rather than just a tether(carbon buckee ball cable) use a woven tube of tethers that can be docked with while the space station and its counter Weight spin like a twirling Baton to take an elevator to the can living Quarters of the space station.

Face reality no one can live on Mars or the moon until artificial gravity is invented but the Moon with chemicals from Venus can make minning the Moon possible. Oh ,but we need water that is on Mars so send robots to set up a laser boosted solar powered from from space to get water from Mars.

I see abundance every where even in deserts and deep space and reality is dripping with solutions right in front of everyones face who see only desolation and struggle, because I am a P_rophet Of J_esus C_hrist. Where do you think the word profit echoes from the past from the word P_rophet as a highly associate in the B_ible. Please Wake up. There is mountains resource every cubic inch everywhere. There never is a need to envy, hate or war, butGod will let you all do so that you come back to Obey the twelve basic rules for living in this Unverse.

J Scherer (Sent Sunday, September 07, 2008 6:56 PM)

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