|
|
| |
|
| Going Deep |
| Topic: Extreme Life |
03/30/06 |
| Very little is known about the microbes that inhabit deep-sea hydrothermal vents, because it is so technically challenging to study them. Chris Scholin of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute plans to take on that challenge, in a project that may some day help scientists search for life on Mars or Europa. |
|
|
|
|
| Resisting Radiation |
| Topic: Extreme Life |
03/20/06 |
| To travel among the stars, we must figure out how to survive the harsh radiation of outer space. Studies of radiation-resistant microbes on Earth provide some illuminating insights. |
|
|
|
| Fire in the Ice |
| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
03/15/06 |
| Scientists have analyzed some of the particles captured by NASA's Stardust mission and returned to Earth earlier this year. And they've found a big surprise. Although the particles come from a comet that formed in the deep-frozen outer reaches of the solar system, they contain minerals that could only have been created near the sun. |
|
|
|
| MRO Hits Its Mark |
| Topic: Mars |
03/11/06 |
| The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter peeked from behind the Red Planet and told mission scientists it survived the journey. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, the scientists now plan to reduce its current elongated orbit around Mars into a more circular one. |
|
|
|
|
| MRO Approaches Mars |
| Topic: Mars |
03/09/06 |
| On Friday, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will reach Mars. Will it start orbiting the planet, fly right past it, or dive too close to the atmosphere and burn up? Because the spacecraft must loop behind the planet, mission scientists won´t know the orbiter´s fate for many nail-biting minutes. |
|
|
|
| Meeting Venus |
| Topic: Venus |
03/06/06 |
David Grinspoon, astrobiology curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and author of the book, "Venus Revealed," recently attended the 2006 Chapman conference, "Exploring Venus as a Terrestrial Planet." In this essay, he provides an overview of the conference, examines Venus controversies, and explains how we could learn about the possibility of life elsewhere by studying "Earth´s Evil Twin."
|
|
|
|
|
| Martian Gardens |
| Topic: Extreme Life |
02/23/06 |
| One day, humans will step foot on Mars. And they'll be hungry. Growing food on a frozen desert planet with a suffocatingly thin atmosphere, however, will be a challenge. Could microbe genes be the answer? |
|
|
|
|
| Dissecting Stardust |
| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
01/20/06 |
| When the Stardust sample return capsule returned safely home, mission scientists breathed a sigh of relief. When they opened the capsule, they gasped in delight. Now, they are whistling a happy tune as they examine the many microscopic bits of comet dust. |
|
|
|
| New Horizons mission to Pluto launched |
| Topic: Outer Solar System |
01/19/06 |
| The New Horizons mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 2 p.m. Eastern time this afternoon. The spacecraft is now headed to the planet Pluto, speeding from Earth at 8 miles per second. Because Pluto is so far away, it will take New Horizons nine years to reach its destination. |
|
|
|
|
| Stardust Safely Home |
| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
01/15/06 |
| The Stardust mission ended not with a bang Sunday morning, but with the soft thud of the sample return capsule parachuting down to a muddy Utah field. The capsule contains interstellar dust particles and samples of the comet Wild 2. |
|
|
|
|
|
