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Hot Topic
Exploration
Moon to Mars
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Earth's Childhood Attic
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/23/05 |
| The moon is sometimes referred to as Earth's childhood attic, a rich repository of what the early terrestrial geology might have promised prior to the advent of life. Europe's Chief Scientist, Bernard Foing, looks at what the moon can tell us about our past. |
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The Smart One
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/21/05 |
| Bernard Foing, Chief Scientist for the European Space Agency, kicks off a regular essay series exclusive to Astrobiology Magazine. In this part, he takes a tour of the novel ion propulsion employed by the current lunar orbiter, SMART-1. |
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Something Bigger Than Life
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/16/05 |
| The next decade offers unique chances to do what might be called, comparative planetology. How is the Earth different from its neighbors and why? NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Directorate indicates that to do this hard work, the motivation follows from something bigger than life. |
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Moved by Science in Motion
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/14/05 |
| Al Diaz is the Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate of NASA - meaning the highest official solely focused on science at NASA. On the day after the successful landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan, Diaz talked about astrobiology's central role within NASA. |
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Safe on Mars: Part II
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/10/05 |
| What challenges might arise beyond the logistics of getting to Mars? Weather and biology might face astronauts working within an extended stay mission. |
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Safe on Mars: Part I
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/08/05 |
| Every 2 years from 2001 to 2011, with the dates dictated by launch windows, another spacecraft, launched by NASA and/or NASA's international partners, is intended to visit Mars. How best to cope with the dangers to human space travel so far from home? |
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Science Year in Review
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/03/05 |
| The 2004 list of NASA science milestones highlight the search for water on Mars and the first lander to reach the moon on another planet. The successes of robotic explorers returned stunning images from the surface of distant worlds. |
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Social Robots Without Leaders
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
02/03/05 |
| How a flock of birds or school of fish may go in a single direction without having a permanent leader is a mystery of social organization. But adding a mechanized component to the question raises the possibility of robotic swarms which may lack much in the way of social skills or leadership qualities. |
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Spiral to the Moon
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
01/27/05 |
| SMART-1, the European demonstrator for highly efficient ion engines, captured its first close-range images of the Moon this January, during a sequence of test lunar observations from an altitude between 1000 and 5000 kilometers above the lunar surface. |
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Riding in Magnetic Bubbles
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
12/12/04 |
| It's the year 2027 and NASA's Vision for Space Exploration is progressing right on schedule. The first interplanetary spacecraft with humans aboard is on course for Mars. However, halfway into the trip, a gigantic solar flare erupts, spewing lethal radioactive protons directly at the spacecraft. |
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