Category: Science

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Spirit Is Moving in the Martian Crater

On January 15, 2004, at 3 a.m. ET, NASA's Spirit land rover finally moved out from its air bag-shrouded lander leaving tracks on the Martian soil of the Gusev crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL.
On January 15, 2004, at 3 a.m. ET, NASA's Spirit land rover finally moved out from its air bag-shrouded lander leaving tracks on the Martian soil of the Gusev crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL.

January 15, 2004  Pasadena, California - NASA reported early today after the 3 a.m. ET roll out of Spirit onto the Martian crater soil: "This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's rear hazard identification camera shows the rover's hind view of the lander platform, its nest for the past 12 'sols,' or Martian days. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the air bag-cushioned lander, facing northwest. Note the tracks left in the Martian soil by the rovers' wheels, all six of which have rolled off the lander. This is the first time the rover has touched Martian soil."

 

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President Bush Sets “New Course for America’s Space Program”

On January 14, 2004, President George Bush announced "new course for America's space program" at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D. C. Image courtesy NASA.
On January 14, 2004, President George Bush announced "new course for America's space program" at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D. C. Image courtesy NASA.

January 14, 2004  Washington, D. C. - At NASA's headquarters this afternoon, President George Bush was greeted by NASA Director Sean O'Keefe and Astronaut Mike Foale, who spoke from the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting Earth.

President Bush began, "Today we set a new course for America's space program. We will give NASA a new focus. We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe to gain a new foothold on the moon and prepare for new journeys beyond Earth. ... We will expand human presence across our solar system."

 

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Part 1 – Is Dark Matter the “Heavy Shadow” of Visible Matter?

Graphic depicting visible matter worlds above the blue rectangle and bigger, heavier "shadow," or partner, particles below the blue rectangle that are not seen in the visible matter worlds. Supersymmetry theory in physics postulates that every particle we observe has a massive "shadow-partner" particle. No supersymmetric particle has yet been seen. Image courtesy CERN, Switzerland.
Graphic depicting visible matter worlds above the blue rectangle and bigger, heavier "shadow," or partner, particles below the blue rectangle that are not seen in the visible matter worlds. Supersymmetry theory in physics postulates that every particle we observe has a massive "shadow-partner" particle. No supersymmetric particle has yet been seen. Image courtesy CERN, Switzerland.

January 13, 2004  Ann Arbor, Michigan - In February 2001, the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Long Island, New York, announced that physicists there had made a new measurement of what is called, "the muon anomalous magnetic moment." The number looks like this:

 

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Robotic “Geologists” on Mars

 

Panoramic view inside the Gusev crater that surrounds NASA's Spirit lander and its robotic rover. NASA has received 73 percent of a 360-degree crater view. Image courtesy NASA and JPL.
Panoramic view inside the Gusev crater that surrounds NASA's Spirit lander and its robotic rover. NASA has received 73 percent of a 360-degree crater view. Image courtesy NASA and JPL.

January 9, 2004  Ithaca, New York - As the New Year of 2004 gets underway, the Bush Administration announced this week that the President will soon propose a plan to send a manned American mission to Mars and to the moon.

 

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Earth’s Speeded Rotation Puzzles Scientists

Photograph of Earth by NASA.
Photograph of Earth by NASA.

January 2, 2004  Boulder, Colorado - In 1949, the U. S. Bureau of Standards produced the world's first atomic clock which counted the rates of vibration in cesium atoms. Then in 1972, the world adopted an international time keeping system based on atomic clocks. That's when it became necessary to synchronize the resonance of the cesium atom and earth time as measured by the earth's spin. After 1972, the Bureau of Standards had to insert what are called 'leap seconds' into the atomic time keeping system because the earth's rotation slowed a little bit each year.

 

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Beagle 2 Spacecraft Will Land on Mars Christmas Day.

A heat shield will protect the Beagle 2 spacecraft during descent to Mars on December 25, 2003. Image courtesy www.beagle2.com
A heat shield will protect the Beagle 2 spacecraft during descent to Mars on December 25, 2003. Image courtesy www.beagle2.com

December 19, 2003 Washington, D. C. - NASA Science News has released a story worth sharing about next Thursday's projected landing of the Beagle 2 spacecraft on Mars. NASA begins: "It's wintertime in the northern hemisphere of Mars and a flying saucer is about to land.

 

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China to the Moon?

China's first man in space completes 14 orbits in 21 hours on October 16, 2003. Photograph Xinhua/AP.
China's first man in space completes 14 orbits in 21 hours on October 16, 2003. Photograph Xinhua/AP.

December 12, 2003 Alexandria, Virginia - American science might soon be challenged by the President of the United States with a request to get back to the moon. According to Washington insiders, Vice President Dick Cheney has been having a series of confidential meetings for some time to discuss with agencies and congressmen how to reinvigorate the depressed NASA space program. One idea that has caught a lot of attention ­ and speculation ­ is going back to the moon with astronauts - and maybe even building a permanent lunar base.

 

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“Smoking Gun” Evidence That Liquid Water Has Flowed on Mars?

"The distributary fan's discovery provides clear, unequivocal evidence that some valleys on Mars experienced the same type of on-going, or persistent, flow over long periods of time as rivers do on Earth. ... and might be the strongest indicator yet that some craters and other depressions on Mars once held lakes."

­ Mike Malin, Ph.D., Planetary Geologist, Malin Space Science Systems

Hubble Telescope image of Mars and the largest canyon in the solar system, Valles Marineris, that stretches for 2,500 miles (4,000 km). Image courtesy Space Telescope Science Institute.
Hubble Telescope image of Mars and the largest canyon in the solar system, Valles Marineris, that stretches for 2,500 miles (4,000 km). Image courtesy Space Telescope Science Institute.

 

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Updated – 2003 Fujian Flu Could Be Worse Than 1968 Hong Kong Flu.

"OF THE 280 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES, WHAT PERCENTAGE WOULD END UP WITH THIS FUJIAN FLU THIS TIME?"

"I think at least 20%. So, we're talking about 50 million people at least in 2003-2004. And about 70,000 excess deaths."

- Paul Glezen, M. D., Virologist, Baylor College of Medicine

Transmission electron photomicrograph of an influenza virus particle, © Science Photo Library, GlaxoKlineSmith.
Transmission electron photomicrograph of an influenza virus particle, © Science Photo Library, GlaxoKlineSmith.

Updated - December 5, 2003 - Two influenza vaccine manufacturers announced today that they have shipped all their vaccines and will not have any more until the spring of 2004. So, if one doctor's office is out of flu shots, try another. Some offices and clinics have more flu vaccines than others.

 

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Fifth Intense Solar X-Flare – What’s Happening On the Sun?

At 20:48 UT on October 29, 2003, the fifth intense solar X-Flare (near sun's center) in a week erupted on the sun, emitting light, x-rays, ultraviolet rays and plasma energies which will impact Earth yet again on October 30. Image courtesy Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

October 29, 2003  Grenbelt, Maryland - Today at 20:48 UT (4:58 p.m. ET), the fifth intense solar X-Flare (10) in a week erupted on the sun. The massive Jupiter-sized sunspot known as 486 has been the source of two of the most powerful solar flares ever recorded in the X category that indicates most intense sunspot eruptions. The unprecedented series of five X-flares within a week began last Thursday, October 23, 2003, when there was a powerful X-sized solar flare, followed by two weaker X-flares. Then on Tuesday, October 28th, came the third largest solar flare ever recorded - an X 17.2. The strongest known is an X 20. That was followed on Wednesday, October 29th, with an X 10.

 

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