January 3rd 2010 marks the mars rovers 6th year anniversary. Since they landed on mars rovers spirit and opportunity have done very much to improve how we understand the martian environment. unfortunately Spirit only has a few months before the planet rotates and he will lose his angle at the sun and he will freeze. N.A.S.A. can’t do much to help Spirit they have tried to use all of his working wheels but it only made him sink deeper in the sand trap. N.A.S.A. is trying to figure out what Spirit can do in it’s waning days online. On the other end Opportunity is finished studying its first crater and will be moving to it’s second crater.
OPINION
I really like the spirit rover project and its a big let down to hear that its only going to have 4 months before it shuts down. I don’t see why they don’t send something to help spirit get out. if they sent a less educated robot that is lighter it could help push spirit out of the troy zone and if it got stuck it wouldn’t matter. I think it is weird that Spirit and Opportunity both sent back completely different reports on what mars was like I wonder if mars had two different environments and all the sand in the troy zone was created by volcanic activity.
ARTICLE
NASA’s Mars Rover has Uncertain Future as Sixth Anniversary Nears
NASA’s Mars rover Spirit will mark six years of unprecedented science exploration and inspiration for the American public on Sunday.
PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Mars rover Spirit will mark six years of unprecedented science exploration and inspiration for the American public on Sunday. However, the upcoming Martian winter could end the roving career of the beloved, scrappy robot.
Spirit successfully landed on the Red Planet at 8:35 p.m. PST on Jan. 3, 2004, and its twin Opportunity arrived at 9:05 p.m. Jan. 24, 2004. The rovers began missions intended to last for three months but which have lasted six Earth years, or 3.2 Mars years. During this time, Spirit has found evidence of a steamy and violent environment on ancient Mars that was quite different from the wet and acidic past documented by Opportunity, which has been operating successfully as it explores halfway around the planet.
A sand trap and balky wheels are challenges to Spirit’s mobility that could prevent NASA’s rover team from using a key survival strategy for the rover. The team may not be able to position the robot’s solar panels to tilt toward the sun to collect power for heat to survive the severe Martian winter.
Nine months ago, Spirit’s wheels broke through a crusty surface layer into loose sand hidden underneath. Efforts to escape this sand trap barely have budged the rover. The rover’s inability to use all six wheels for driving has worsened the predicament. Spirit’s
right-front wheel quit working in 2006, and its right-rear wheel stalled a month ago. Surprisingly, the right-front wheel resumed working, though intermittently. Drives with four or five operating wheels have produced little progress toward escaping the sand trap. The latest attempts resulted in the rover sinking deeper in the soil.
“The highest priority for this mission right now is to stay mobile, if that’s possible,” said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He is principal investigator for the rovers.
If mobility is not possible, the next priority is to improve the rover’s tilt, while Spirit is able to generate enough electricity to turn its wheels. Spirit is in the southern hemisphere of Mars, where it is autumn, and the amount of daily sunshine available for the solar-powered rover is declining. This could result in ceasing extraction activities as early as January, depending on the amount of remaining power. Spirit’s tilt, nearly five degrees toward the south, is unfavorable because the winter sun crosses low in the northern sky.
Unless the tilt can be improved or luck with winds affects the gradual buildup of dust on the solar panels, the amount of sunshine available will continue to decline until May 2010. During May, or perhaps earlier, Spirit may not have enough power to remain in operation.
“At the current rate of dust accumulation, solar arrays at zero tilt would provide barely enough energy to run the survival heaters through the Mars winter solstice,” said Jennifer Herman, a rover power engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The team is evaluating strategies for improving the tilt even if Spirit cannot escape the sand trap, such as trying to dig in deeper with the wheels on the north side. In February, NASA will assess Mars missions, including Spirit, for their potential science versus costs to determine how to distribute limited resources. Meanwhile, the team is planning additional research about what a stationary Spirit could accomplish as power wanes.
“Spirit could continue significant research right where it is,” said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, deputy principal investigator for the rovers. “We can study the interior of Mars, monitor the weather and continue examining the interesting deposits uncovered by Spirit’s wheels.”
A study of the planet’s interior would use radio transmissions to measure wobble of the planet’s axis of rotation, which is not feasible with a mobile rover. That experiment and others might provide more and different findings from a mission that has already far exceeded expectations.
“Long-term change in the spin direction could tell us about the diameter and density of the planet’s core,” said William Folkner of JPL. He has been developing plans for conducting this experiment with a future, stationary Mars lander. “Short-period changes could tell us whether the core is liquid or solid,” he said.
In 2004, Opportunity discovered the first mineralogical evidence that Mars had liquid water. The rover recently finished a two-year investigation of a half-mile wide crater called Victoria and now is headed toward Endeavor crater, which is approximately seven miles from Victoria and nearly 14 miles across. Since landing, Opportunity has driven more than 11 miles and returned more than 132,000 images. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20091231.html
January 20th 2010 U.S. troops and U.N. troops flood into Haiti and assist Haiti’s citizens by brining food and water to them. As of now we have 12,000 troops deployed U.N. has 12,500 troops, police officers and peacekeepers in Haiti. Together they are helping care for civilians and searching for them in the ruble. Estimates are that a 100,000 to 200,000 civilians are dead and 30,000 houses have been reduced to ruble , but the government is working on getting kitchens back to work so they can feed the area
OPINION
I think the united states and the united nations are doing a good job assisting the civilians of Haiti it is definitely something we should be putting our forces to instead of fighting. I hope more people donate money to Haiti. I also wonder when Haiti will be able to work on their own and the U.S. troops will be called back. I hope they save more people I don’t want anyone to die.
On April 7 2010 The Governor of Richmond, Virginia preposed a very outlandish holiday. Republican McDonnell has brought the idea of making April confederate month. Many have opposed to this and the biggest reason against it is because Governor McDonnell forgot to address the terrors of slavery so many people disagreed among these people was one of the previous Governors. The Governor said that the holiday was to celebrate the veterans many republicans are on board with McDonnell and it is not the first time that this has been proposed in 1997 by James S. Gilmore III but the difference is that James addressed the Evils of slavery and that was something McDonnell had forgotten. McDonnell claims that he didn’t address slavery because it was not the most significant to Virginia but his claims have not settled anyones nerves.
OPINION
I think that this was a bad idea on McDonnell’s part. First because he thought of resurfacing the holiday and second because even though he had a successor he still messed up. I understand that he might not have mentioned slavery so he wouldn’t open new wounds for the citizens but if there is going to be a confederate holiday. In the reading one quote describes the war as a “four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights” (pg. 2) But with the words “sovereign rights” in there it makes that mean full rights but for African Americans who were going to be enslaved it was not full rights. Since confederate history and slavery are tied so closely it is really a he really made a mistake when he forgot to shun slavery. So overall I disagree with Governor McDonnell’s choice to have a confederate month maybe a confederate week or day but month is a little extreme.
Sean Said:
on January 7, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Sean
January-6-2010
Current Event #7
SUMMERY
January 3rd 2010 marks the mars rovers 6th year anniversary. Since they landed on mars rovers spirit and opportunity have done very much to improve how we understand the martian environment. unfortunately Spirit only has a few months before the planet rotates and he will lose his angle at the sun and he will freeze. N.A.S.A. can’t do much to help Spirit they have tried to use all of his working wheels but it only made him sink deeper in the sand trap. N.A.S.A. is trying to figure out what Spirit can do in it’s waning days online. On the other end Opportunity is finished studying its first crater and will be moving to it’s second crater.
OPINION
I really like the spirit rover project and its a big let down to hear that its only going to have 4 months before it shuts down. I don’t see why they don’t send something to help spirit get out. if they sent a less educated robot that is lighter it could help push spirit out of the troy zone and if it got stuck it wouldn’t matter. I think it is weird that Spirit and Opportunity both sent back completely different reports on what mars was like I wonder if mars had two different environments and all the sand in the troy zone was created by volcanic activity.
ARTICLE
NASA’s Mars Rover has Uncertain Future as Sixth Anniversary Nears
NASA’s Mars rover Spirit will mark six years of unprecedented science exploration and inspiration for the American public on Sunday.
PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Mars rover Spirit will mark six years of unprecedented science exploration and inspiration for the American public on Sunday. However, the upcoming Martian winter could end the roving career of the beloved, scrappy robot.
Spirit successfully landed on the Red Planet at 8:35 p.m. PST on Jan. 3, 2004, and its twin Opportunity arrived at 9:05 p.m. Jan. 24, 2004. The rovers began missions intended to last for three months but which have lasted six Earth years, or 3.2 Mars years. During this time, Spirit has found evidence of a steamy and violent environment on ancient Mars that was quite different from the wet and acidic past documented by Opportunity, which has been operating successfully as it explores halfway around the planet.
A sand trap and balky wheels are challenges to Spirit’s mobility that could prevent NASA’s rover team from using a key survival strategy for the rover. The team may not be able to position the robot’s solar panels to tilt toward the sun to collect power for heat to survive the severe Martian winter.
Nine months ago, Spirit’s wheels broke through a crusty surface layer into loose sand hidden underneath. Efforts to escape this sand trap barely have budged the rover. The rover’s inability to use all six wheels for driving has worsened the predicament. Spirit’s
right-front wheel quit working in 2006, and its right-rear wheel stalled a month ago. Surprisingly, the right-front wheel resumed working, though intermittently. Drives with four or five operating wheels have produced little progress toward escaping the sand trap. The latest attempts resulted in the rover sinking deeper in the soil.
“The highest priority for this mission right now is to stay mobile, if that’s possible,” said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He is principal investigator for the rovers.
If mobility is not possible, the next priority is to improve the rover’s tilt, while Spirit is able to generate enough electricity to turn its wheels. Spirit is in the southern hemisphere of Mars, where it is autumn, and the amount of daily sunshine available for the solar-powered rover is declining. This could result in ceasing extraction activities as early as January, depending on the amount of remaining power. Spirit’s tilt, nearly five degrees toward the south, is unfavorable because the winter sun crosses low in the northern sky.
Unless the tilt can be improved or luck with winds affects the gradual buildup of dust on the solar panels, the amount of sunshine available will continue to decline until May 2010. During May, or perhaps earlier, Spirit may not have enough power to remain in operation.
“At the current rate of dust accumulation, solar arrays at zero tilt would provide barely enough energy to run the survival heaters through the Mars winter solstice,” said Jennifer Herman, a rover power engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The team is evaluating strategies for improving the tilt even if Spirit cannot escape the sand trap, such as trying to dig in deeper with the wheels on the north side. In February, NASA will assess Mars missions, including Spirit, for their potential science versus costs to determine how to distribute limited resources. Meanwhile, the team is planning additional research about what a stationary Spirit could accomplish as power wanes.
“Spirit could continue significant research right where it is,” said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, deputy principal investigator for the rovers. “We can study the interior of Mars, monitor the weather and continue examining the interesting deposits uncovered by Spirit’s wheels.”
A study of the planet’s interior would use radio transmissions to measure wobble of the planet’s axis of rotation, which is not feasible with a mobile rover. That experiment and others might provide more and different findings from a mission that has already far exceeded expectations.
“Long-term change in the spin direction could tell us about the diameter and density of the planet’s core,” said William Folkner of JPL. He has been developing plans for conducting this experiment with a future, stationary Mars lander. “Short-period changes could tell us whether the core is liquid or solid,” he said.
In 2004, Opportunity discovered the first mineralogical evidence that Mars had liquid water. The rover recently finished a two-year investigation of a half-mile wide crater called Victoria and now is headed toward Endeavor crater, which is approximately seven miles from Victoria and nearly 14 miles across. Since landing, Opportunity has driven more than 11 miles and returned more than 132,000 images.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20091231.html
Sean Said:
on January 22, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Sean
January-21-2010
Current Event #8
SUMMERY
January 20th 2010 U.S. troops and U.N. troops flood into Haiti and assist Haiti’s citizens by brining food and water to them. As of now we have 12,000 troops deployed U.N. has 12,500 troops, police officers and peacekeepers in Haiti. Together they are helping care for civilians and searching for them in the ruble. Estimates are that a 100,000 to 200,000 civilians are dead and 30,000 houses have been reduced to ruble , but the government is working on getting kitchens back to work so they can feed the area
OPINION
I think the united states and the united nations are doing a good job assisting the civilians of Haiti it is definitely something we should be putting our forces to instead of fighting. I hope more people donate money to Haiti. I also wonder when Haiti will be able to work on their own and the U.S. troops will be called back. I hope they save more people I don’t want anyone to die.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B5IZ20100121
Mrs. Sheldon Said:
on March 3, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Do you have this week’s current event?
Sean Said:
on April 14, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Sean Evans
April-13-2010
Current Event #11
SUMMERY
On April 7 2010 The Governor of Richmond, Virginia preposed a very outlandish holiday. Republican McDonnell has brought the idea of making April confederate month. Many have opposed to this and the biggest reason against it is because Governor McDonnell forgot to address the terrors of slavery so many people disagreed among these people was one of the previous Governors. The Governor said that the holiday was to celebrate the veterans many republicans are on board with McDonnell and it is not the first time that this has been proposed in 1997 by James S. Gilmore III but the difference is that James addressed the Evils of slavery and that was something McDonnell had forgotten. McDonnell claims that he didn’t address slavery because it was not the most significant to Virginia but his claims have not settled anyones nerves.
OPINION
I think that this was a bad idea on McDonnell’s part. First because he thought of resurfacing the holiday and second because even though he had a successor he still messed up. I understand that he might not have mentioned slavery so he wouldn’t open new wounds for the citizens but if there is going to be a confederate holiday. In the reading one quote describes the war as a “four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights” (pg. 2) But with the words “sovereign rights” in there it makes that mean full rights but for African Americans who were going to be enslaved it was not full rights. Since confederate history and slavery are tied so closely it is really a he really made a mistake when he forgot to shun slavery. So overall I disagree with Governor McDonnell’s choice to have a confederate month maybe a confederate week or day but month is a little extreme.