spacetoday.net: space news from around the webin association with SpaceNews


Dust storm could provide challenge to Mars landers
Posted: Mon, Dec 15, 2003, 2:29 PM ET (1929 GMT)
Beagle 2 lander illustration (Beagle 2) A new dust storm covering a large part of Mars may make the upcoming landing of three missions more hazardous, planetary scientists report. The new dust storm was first seen late last week and now covers much of the northern hemisphere of the planet, the Rocky Mountain News reported Monday. The storm, if it persists and expands to become a global dust storm, could hamper the landings of one British and two American spacecraft. Britain's Beagle 2 is scheduled to land early December 25, while NASA;s twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity will land on January 3 and 24, respectively. Even if the storm does not affect the landings, the dust kicked up by the storms could coat the solar panels on the landers, reducing their ability to generate power. Such dust storms usually "appear and die out in a few days to a week, or they expand into global storms," University of Colorado planetary scientist Bruce Jakosky told the newspaper. "We don't know what's going to happen with this one."
<<previous article   next article>>
news in brief
EU moves forward with satellite broadband constellation
Posted: Sun, Nov 3 10:02 AM ET (1502 GMT)

Russia launches military satellite
Posted: Sun, Nov 3 9:59 AM ET (1459 GMT)

Lockheed Martin completes acquisition of Terran Orbital
Posted: Sun, Nov 3 9:57 AM ET (1457 GMT)

news links
Monday, November 4
Firms may not deal with Defence after JP9102 axe, says SIAA
Space Connect (Australia) — 6:20 am ET (1120 GMT)
Defence confirms JP9102 cancellation
Australian Defence Magazine — 6:20 am ET (1120 GMT)


about spacetoday.net   ·   info@spacetoday.net   ·   mailing list