Space SpinRobotic space exploration.Hayabusa reached aphelion in May- June 2, 2008 Hayabusa reached 2.5AU from Earth beyond Sun at the end of May 2008. When we see Hayabusa from Earth, it can be seen at the position of 12° apart from Sun. On the other hand Hayabusa should glance at Earth of 8° from Sun.Due to such a long distance between Earth and Hayabusa the communication time lag reaches about 40 minutes. Hayabusa has kept its attitude in the spin stabilization without thrust by the ion engines since last October.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80607-hayabusa-aphelion-may Phoenix makes an impression on Mars- June 2, 2008 NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander reached out and touched the Martian soil for the first time on Saturday, May 31, the first step in a series of actions expected to bring soil and ice to the lander's experiments.The lander's Robotic Arm scoop left an impression that resembles a footprint at a place provisionally named Yeti in the King of Hearts target zone, away from the area that eventually will be sampled for evaluation.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80606-phoenix-impression-mars THEMIS photographs Mars atmosphere- June 2, 2008 On May 25, 2008, the Phoenix Mars lander arrived at Mars and raced to a safe touchdown on the northern plains. At the same time, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter turned its radio antenna to listen for signals from the spacecraft and relayed them to mission controllers on Earth.As an added benefit of the radio monitoring, an instrument aboard Mars Odyssey, the Thermal Emission Imaging System (or THEMIS), got a chance to take an image profiling the Martian atmosphere as seen above the edge (or limb)...http://spacespin.org/article.php/80605-themis-photographs-mars-atmosphere Camera on arm looks beneath lander- June 2, 2008 A view of the ground underneath NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander adds to evidence that descent thrusters dispersed overlying soil and exposed a harder substrate that may be ice.The image received Friday night from the spacecraft's Robotic Arm Camera shows patches of smooth and level surfaces beneath the thrusters.http://spacespin.org/article.php/80604-camera-looks-beneath-lander Phoenix robotic arm camera sees possible ice- June 2, 2008 Scientists have discovered what may be ice that was exposed when soil was blown away as NASA's Phoenix Mars spacecraft landed on Mars last Sunday, May 25. The possible ice appears in an image the robotic arm camera took underneath the lander, near a footpad."We could very well be seeing rock, or we could be seeing exposed ice in the retrorocket blast zone," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., co-investigator for the robotic arm. "We'll test the two ideas by getting more..http://spacespin.org/article.php/80603-phoenix-robotic-arm-camera-ice |