January, 2009

PLANETARY RESEARCH MILESTONES

	The Phoenix Mars Lander - The End of the Mission Phoenix is the first lander to study the ice-rich soil of Mars' arctic regions. On May 25, 2008, the lander successfully touched down near the red planet’s north polar ice cap. For more than three months, its robotic arm obtained samples for analysis, while its stereo color camera and weather station studied the polar climate. The changing Martian seasons brought an end to the mission as shorter days failed to provide enough sunlight for the solar-powered lander to charge its batteries. Communications with the lander ceased on November 2, 2008. Artist concept courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech/University of Arizona
	New Views of New Worlds In November 2008, two science teams independently succeeded in acquiring the first direct images of planets circling other stars. The Hubble Space Telescope captured one of those images (left or top?), which shows a planet orbiting the star Formalhaut (arrow). One of the brightest stars in the sky, it is 25 light-years from Earth. A wide ring of debris (red) surrounds the star. The close-up (inset) shows the planet’s position as photographed in 2004 and later in 2006. The other image (right or bottom?) is an artist’s concept of the star and planet. Hubble image courtesy of NASA, ESA, P. Kalas, J. Graham, E. Chiang, and E. Kite (University of CA, Berkeley), M. Clampin (NASA/GSFC), M. Fitzgerald (Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, CA), and K. Stapelfeldt and J. Krist (NASA/JPL). Artist’s concept courtesy of ESA, NASA, and L. Calcada (ESO for STScl).
	Chandrayaan-1 The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft captured this image of the lunar surface on November 15, 2008. India's first mission to the Moon, the spacecraft launched on October 22 and entered lunar orbit on November 12. Armed with 11 scientific instruments, Chandrayaan-1 will map the lunar terrain and its chemical components and minerals. It will also study the Moon's magnetic field, radiation environment, and atmosphere. Image courtesy of Indian Space Research Organisation
Former What's New Topics: Phoenix Mars Lander August, 2008 Planetary Mission Updates April, 2008 Planetary Mission Updates January, 2008 Planetary Mission Updates October, 2007 Planetary Mission Updates June, 2007 Planetary Mission Updates April, 2007 Planetary Mission Updates November, 2006 Pluto Downgraded September, 2006 The Latest in Planetary Missions August, 2006 Planetary Mission Udpates March, 2006 MESSENGER Udpate June, 2005 Deep Space Missions January, 2005 Stardust January, 2004 Stardust September, 2002 A Closer Look at a Volcano on Io November, 1999 NASA Approves Mission To Mercury July, 1999 First Image From Landsat 7 Earth Remote Sensing Satellite April, 1999 Mars Global Surveyor Mapping Mission Begins March, 1999 STARDUST: Mission To A Comet February, 1999. Galileo Reveals Process Behind Formation of Jupiter's Rings September 15, 1998. Possible Extrasolar Planet Imaged by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope May 28, 1998