January, 2004
Saturday, January 31st, 2004
Opportunity
On The Move
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity rolled off its landing platform early this morning. This marks the first time in history that two probes are simultaneously exploring the surface of another planet. For more information, checkout the Opportunity Press Release.
Friday, January 30th, 2004
Weekend
Aurora Watch
Skywatchers should pay particularly close attention tonight... when Earth is expected to enter a high speed solar wind flowing from a coronal hole.
Opportunity
Hits Jackpot
The Mars Opportunity Rover landed inside a small impact crater. To everyone's amazement, the first images transmitted back contain a small outcropping of Martian bedrock... the first ever seen on the red planet. Checkout CNN.com/SPACE for more details.
Sunday, January 25th, 2004
Opportunity
Lands Safely
The Mars Opportunity Rover landed safely on the surface of the red planet around 9:05pm (PST). This shot of it's landing site at Meridiani Planum is one of the first images sent back. Checkout the Mars Exploration Rover Mission website for more details.
Spirit Condition Upgraded
NASA Mission Specialists have upgraded Spirit's condition from Critical to Serious. Engineers have recently found a way to communicate reliably with the spacecraft. Checkout the Mars Exploration Rover Mission website for more details.
Saturday, January 24th, 2004
Opportunity Knocking
The Mars Opportunity Rover is scheduled to land around 9:05pm (PST) tonight. Opportunity is scheduled to land on the opposite side of the planet from it's twin, Spirit. Checkout the CNN.com/SPACE for more details. Watch the event on NASA TV.
Spirited Communications
After several days with no communications, Spirit sent megabytes of "debug" information to flight controllers. Mission specialists are pouring through this information trying to determine the cause and extent of it's malfunction. Checkout the Mars Exploration Rover Project for more details.
Thursday, January 22st, 2004
Spirit's Data Transmissions Have Fallen Silent
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit radioed a beep Thursday morning confirming that it had received a transmission from Earth. Still, it has not returned any data since early Wednesday. Flight-team engineers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project are working to diagnose the cause of communications difficulties. See the JPL press release and Reuters for more details.
Wednesday, January 21st, 2004
Aurora Watch!
Sunspot #540 erupted late Monday night (MST) and hurled a Coronal Mass Ejection towards Earth. The CME swept past Earth at 0130GMT Thursday. (6:30pm MST Wednesday evening). Skywatchers should keep an eye on the northern horizon for aurora. You just might be in for a treat! Also, keep an eye on the bar graph to the upper right. The more red it shows, the more intensely aurora may be glowing. A reading of 7 or higher can often be seen from mid-northern latitudes... like here in Park City.
Tuesday, January 20th, 2004
The Grand Canyon of Mars
The orbiting Mars Express Spacecraft recently tested out it's optical system when it captured this portion of the 1700 mile long Valles Marineris, The Grand Canyon of Mars. Apparently all systems are go.
Monday, January 19th, 2004
Aurora Watch Continues
A coronal mass ejection detected on 1/17 might hit Earth tonight. Skywatchers should keep an eye on the northern horizon for the northern lights.
Friday, January 16th, 2004
Aurora Watch
Earth has entered a high speed solar wind flowing from a large coronal
hole. Skywatchers should be alert for the northern lights this
weekend. Checkout this awesome shot of The Northern Lights as imaged by Greg A Syverson of
Talkeetna, Alaska.
You can find more beautiful images on Greg's
Alaska-Photo.com Website
Thursday, January 15th, 2004
Spirit Looks Back
Wednesday, January 14th, 2004
Renewed Spirit of Discovery
Today, President Bush announced new vision for the Nation's space
exploration program. The President committed the United States to a
long-term human and robotic program to explore the solar system,
starting with a return to the Moon that will ultimately enable
future exploration of Mars and other destinations. See SpaceFlightNow
for the complete story.
Monday, January 12th, 2004
Colorful Saturn
The famous ringed planet, Saturn, is well placed in the night sky in
the constellation Gemini
Sunday, January 11th, 2004
Jupiter and The Moon
The giant planet Jupiter and The Moon posed together Sunday night / Monday morning. Early risers were able to catch the pair at their closest, high and towards the southwest separated by about 2.5°
.Friday, January 9th, 2004
Bush to Announce Manned Missions to Moon and Mars
President Bush is expected to announce his "vision for expanding the space program" next week. Included in the plan are manned missions to the Moon and Mars. While the technical challenges will be great, NASA has a history of pulling off the impossible. Checkout CNN.com/SPACE for more details.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2004
Increased Solar Activity & Aurora Watch
Sunspot #538 has lanched a couple of powerful solar flares already this week. Any further eruptions would most likely be Earth directed. Far northern regions have already experienced The Northern Lights. Those further south may be treated to such an event as well. Skywatcher are advised to keep an eye on the northern horizon for the next several nights. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, January 6th, 2004
Saturn & The Moon
Step outside after dark tonight and you'll see the ringed planet Saturn posing next to The Moon. If you're lucky, you might also see aurora... as there is an aurora watch for tonight & tomorrow night.
Sunday, January 4th, 2004
360° View of Mars!
"...we're on Mars," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe after NASA's Spirit Rover successfully landed on the red planet last night. The accompanying 360° image is the first set of images returned by the spacecraft. Checkout NASA's Mars Rover website for the latest information.
Saturday, January 3rd, 2004
NASA's Spirit Rover to land on Mars Tonight!
NASA's Spirit Rover is set to land on the red planet at 9:30pm (MST) tonight. Checkout NASA's Mars Rover website for the latest information
Close-up look at a Comet
While in close catching particles from the coma of Comet Wild 2, NASA's Stardust Spacecraft snapped this incredible image of the comet's nucleus. For more information on Stardust's' incredible journey, checkout Science@NASA.
Friday, January 2nd, 2004
Catch A Comet By The Tail
After traveling over 3 billion miles, NASA's Stardust Spacecraft has officially entered the tail of comet Wild 2. The craft will catch and analyze particles from the comet to study our solar systems formative years. Once it's work is done, the craft will return to Earth and drop its scientific cargo in the Utah desert for further analysis. Checkout the Stardust website for more information.
Thursday, January 1st, 2004
Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peaks Sunday
The annual Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks in the wee hours Sunday morning (01/04/03). Active from January 1st through January 5th, the event peaks with up to 100 meteors per hour visible from dark sky locations
