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Dr. Joy Crisp of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory devotes her time working to unearth answers about Mars' geology. Tucked away in her prefab trailer office in the middle of the JPL campus, she enables the efforts of the team of scientists whose instruments will be onboard two rovers destined to land on Mars in 2004.
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The next generation of Mars rovers may not be what you'd expect. Someday, a giant "beach ball" rover may roll along the surface of the planet and make a flurry of new discoveries.
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If Santa Claus were a martian, he'd be in for one bumpy ride. That's the assessment of navigators and engineers controlling the flight of NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft as it presently flies four times daily above the north polar region of Mars.
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It's the middle of the night at JPL, and the usual dozens of deer are on their nightly foraging rounds across the campus. Mars is up. So is the Moon. And so are nine machinists in the lab's high-precision fabrication shop, working the second shift that ends between midnight and 3 a.m.
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Join Charles Whetsel, chief engineer of the Mars Exploration Program, and Matt Landano, 2001 Mars Odyssey project manager, as they describe the hard yet rewarding road to Mars.
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Researchers exploring different methods to deliver scientific instruments to various Martian locales are studying the potential for a giant, lightweight, two-story tall beach ball.
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When a school bus pulled up to the edge of the giant Ubehebe crater in California's Death Valley, a group of teachers climbed out and peered inside the blown-out hole. Long ago, a volcano had spewed ash and lava onto the surrounding terrain. Despite the 114 degree temperature and gusty winds, the elementary and high- school teachers were thrilled.
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