NASA News: NASA Concludes Attempts To Contact Mars Rover Spirit
WASHINGTON -- NASA is ending attempts to regain contact with thelong-lived Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, which last communicated on
March 22, 2010.
A transmission that will end on Wednesday, May 25, will be the last in
a series of attempts. Extensive communications activities during the
past 10 months also have explored the possibility that Spirit might
reawaken as the solar energy available to it increased after a
stressful Martian winter without much sunlight. With inadequate
energy to run its survival heaters, the rover likely experienced
colder internal temperatures last year than in any of its prior six
years on Mars. Many critical components and connections would have
been susceptible to damage from the cold.
Engineers' assessments in recent months have shown a very low
probability for recovering communications with Spirit. Communications
assets that have been used by the Spirit mission in the past,
including NASA's Deep Space Network of antennas on Earth, plus two
NASA Mars orbiters that can relay communications, now are needed to
prepare for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission. MSL is scheduled
to launch later this year.
"We're now transitioning assets to support the November launch of our
next generation Mars rover, Curiosity," said Dave Lavery, program
executive for solar system exploration. "However, while we no longer
believe there is a realistic probability of hearing from Spirit, the
Deep Space Network may occasionally listen for any faint signals when
the schedule permits."
Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 3, 2004, for a mission designed to last
three months. After accomplishing its prime-mission goals, Spirit
worked to accomplish additional objectives. Its twin, Opportunity,
continues active exploration of Mars.
For more information on the Mars rovers, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/rovers
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NASA Announces Key Decision For Next Deep Space Transportation System
WASHINGTON -- NASA has reached an important milestone for the nextU.S. transportation system that will carry humans into deep space.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced today that the system
will be based on designs originally planned for the Orion Crew
Exploration Vehicle. Those plans now will be used to develop a new
spacecraft known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV).
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look
forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us
there," Bolden said. "The NASA Authorization Act lays out a clear
path forward for us by handing off transportation to the
International Space Station to our private sector partners, so we can
focus on deep space exploration. As we aggressively continue our work
on a heavy lift launch vehicle, we are moving forward with an
existing contract to keep development of our new crew vehicle on track."
Lockheed Martin Corp. will continue working to develop the MPCV. The
spacecraft will carry four astronauts for 21-day missions and be able
to land in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. The spacecraft
will have a pressurized volume of 690 cubic feet, with 316 cubic feet
of habitable space. It is designed to be 10 times safer during ascent
and entry than its predecessor, the space shuttle.
"This selection does not indicate a business as usual mentality for
NASA programs," said Douglas Cooke, associate administrator for the
agency's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington. "The
Orion government and industry team has shown exceptional creativity
in finding ways to keep costs down through management techniques,
technical solutions and innovation."
To learn more about the development of the MPCV, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
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NASA Art Exhibit Opens At National Air And Space Museum
WASHINGTON -- You don't have to be a rocket scientist or an astronautto work for NASA. Engineers, pilots, physicists, astrobiologists,
and, yes, artists, too, have helped further the mission of the space agency.
In 1962, NASA administrator James E. Webb invited a group of artists
to illustrate and interpret the agency's missions and projects.
Artists, participating in the NASA art program, many of them
renowned, have been documenting the extraordinary adventure of
spaceflight ever since. Granted special access to historic moments,
they have offered their perspectives on what they have witnessed.
"NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration," on view from May 28 to Oct. 9
at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington,
features works by artists as diverse as Annie Leibovitz, Alexander
Calder, Nam June Paik, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol and William
Wegman. The exhibition includes drawings, photographs, sculpture and
other art forms and media from the collections of NASA and the
National Air and Space Museum. The more than 70 works, ranging from
the illustrative to the abstract, present a different view of NASA
than the one in history books or on news shows.
Several of the artists have captured the faces and personalities of
the men and women who have flown in space. Other members of the team,
scientists, engineers, technicians, managers and thousands of others
who made the space program possible, also are portrayed.
Bunkers, gantries, radio dishes and the towering Vehicle Assembly
Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, attracted other
program artists, some of whom were struck by the co-existence of the
space-age architecture of the Cape with the beaches, swamps, birds,
and animals that surround the facility.
The exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling
Exhibition Service (SITES) and NASA in cooperation with the
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The museum, located at
Sixth Street and Independence Avenue SW, is open daily from 10 a.m.
until 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free.
To see images from the NASA | ART exhibit and for more information, visit:
http://www.nasm.si.edu/
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
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