NASA to Air Russian Space Station Cargo Ship Launch, Docking

Loaded with three tons of food, fuel and supplies, a Russian Progress cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 3:58 a.m. EST (2:58 p.m. Baikonur time) Sunday, Feb. 11, to resupply the International Space Station.

from NASA Breaking News http://ift.tt/2EaWkZm
via IFTTT

NASA Tests Atomic Clock for Deep Space Navigation

In deep space, accurate timekeeping is vital to navigation, but many spacecraft lack precise timepieces on board. For 20 years, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has been perfecting a clock. It's not a wristwatch; not something you could buy at a store. It's the Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC), an instrument perfect for deep space exploration.

Currently, most missions rely on ground-based antennas paired with atomic clocks for navigation. Ground antennas send narrowly focused signals to spacecraft, which, in turn, return the signal. NASA uses the difference in time between sending a signal and receiving a response to calculate the spacecraft's location, velocity and path.

This method, though reliable, could be made much more efficient. For example, a ground station must wait for the spacecraft to return a signal, so a station can only track one spacecraft at a time. This requires spacecraft to wait for navigation commands from Earth rather than making those decisions on board and in real-time.

"Navigating in deep space requires measuring vast distances using our knowledge of how radio signals propagate in space," said Todd Ely of JPL, DSAC's principal investigator. "Navigating routinely requires distance measurements accurate to a meter or better. Since radio signals travel at the speed of light, that means we need to measure their time-of-flight to a precision of a few nanoseconds. Atomic clocks have done this routinely on the ground for decades. Doing this in space is what DSAC is all about."

The DSAC project aims to provide accurate onboard timekeeping for future NASA missions. Spacecraft using this new technology would no longer have to rely on two-way tracking. A spacecraft could use a signal sent from Earth to calculate position without returning the signal and waiting for commands from the ground, a process that can take hours. Timely location data and onboard control allow for more efficient operations, more precise maneuvering and adjustments to unexpected situations.

This paradigm shift enables spacecraft to focus on mission objectives rather than adjusting their position to point antennas earthward to close a link for two-way tracking.

Additionally, this innovation would allow ground stations to track multiple satellites at once near crowded areas like Mars. In certain scenarios, the accuracy of that tracking data would exceed traditional methods by a factor of five.

DSAC is an advanced prototype of a small, low-mass atomic clock based on mercury-ion trap technology. The atomic clocks at ground stations in NASA's Deep Space Network are about the size of a small refrigerator. DSAC is about the size of a four-slice toaster, and could be further miniaturized for future missions.

The DSAC test flight will take this technology from the laboratory to the space environment. While in orbit, the DSAC mission will use the navigation signals from U.S. GPS coupled with precise knowledge of GPS satellite orbits and clocks to confirm DSAC's performance. The demonstration should confirm that DSAC can maintain time accuracy to better than two nanoseconds (.000000002 seconds) over a day, with a goal of achieving 0.3 nanosecond accuracy.

Once DSAC has proved its mettle, future missions can use its technology enhancements. The clock promises increased tracking data quantity and improved tracking data quality. Coupling DSAC with onboard radio navigation could ensure that future exploration missions have the navigation data needed to traverse the solar system.

Technologies aboard DSAC could also improve GPS clock stability and, in turn, the service GPS provides to users worldwide. Ground-based test results have shown DSAC to be upwards of 50 times more stable than the atomic clocks currently flown on GPS. DSAC promises to be the most stable navigation space clock ever flown.

"We have lofty goals for improving deep space navigation and science using DSAC," said Ely. "It could have a real and immediate impact for everyone here on Earth if it's used to ensure the availability and continued performance of the GPS system."

DSAC is a partnership between NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Space Communications and Navigation program office, a program under the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. DSAC will launch in 2018 as a hosted payload on General Atomic's Orbital Test Bed spacecraft aboard the U.S. Air Force Space Technology Program (STP-2) mission.

For more information about DSAC, visit:

https://nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/clock

News Media Contact

Andrew Good

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-393-2433

andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Written by Danny Baird

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

2018-024

from News and Features http://ift.tt/2nR4ACS
via IFTTT

Two Small Asteroids Safely Pass Earth This Week

Two small asteroids recently discovered by astronomers at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) near Tucson, Arizona, are safely passing by Earth within one lunar distance this week.

The first of this week's close-approaching asteroids -- discovered by CSS on Feb. 4 -- is designated asteroid 2018 CC. Its close approach to Earth came Tuesday (Feb. 6) at 12:10 p.m. PST (3:10 p.m. EST) at a distance of about 114,000 miles (184,000 kilometers). The asteroid is estimated to be between 50 and 100 feet (15 and 30 meters) in size.

Of potentially greater interest is asteroid 2018 CB,which will also pass closely by Earth on Friday, Feb. 9, at around 2:30 p.m. PST (5:30 p.m. EST), at a distance of about 39,000 miles (64,000 kilometers), which is less than one-fifth the distance of Earth to the Moon). The asteroid, which is estimated to be between 50 and 130 feet (15 and 40 meters) in size, was also discovered by CSS on Feb. 4.

"Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost exactly five years ago, in 2013," said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet -- maybe only once or twice a year."

JPL hosts the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies for NASA's Near-Earth Object Observations Program, an element of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office within the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects can be found at:

https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch

For more information about NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense

For asteroid and comet news and updates, follow AsteroidWatch on Twitter:

twitter.com/AsteroidWatch

News Media Contact

DC Agle

818-393-9011

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

agle@jpl.nasa.gov

2018-025

from News and Features http://ift.tt/2C1De1H
via IFTTT

Idaho Students to Speak with NASA Astronauts on Space Station

Students from Boise State University and Timberline High School in Boise, Idaho, will speak with NASA astronauts living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at noon EST Thursday, Feb. 8.

from NASA Breaking News http://ift.tt/2FQxcn6
via IFTTT

New NASA Space Sensors to Address Key Earth Questions

Why is the Arctic warming faster than the rest of the planet? Does mineral dust warm or cool the atmosphere? NASA has selected two new, creative research proposals to develop small, space-based instruments that will tackle these fundamental questions about our home planet and its environment. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is a key participant on both instruments.

The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) will fly a pair of small CubeSat satellites to probe a little-studied portion of the radiant energy emitted by Earth for clues about Arctic warming, sea ice loss and ice-sheet melting. Tristan L'Ecuyer of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the principal investigator.

The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) will use a sensor mounted to the exterior of the International Space Station to determine the mineral composition ofnatural sources that produce dust aerosols around the world. By measuring in detail which minerals make up the dust, EMIT will help to answer the essential question of whether this type of aerosol warms or cools the atmosphere. Robert Green of JPL is the principal investigator.

These two instruments were competitively selected from 14 proposals considered under NASA's fourth Earth Venture Instrument opportunity. Earth Venture investigations are small, targeted science investigations that complement NASA's larger missions. The National Research Council recommended in 2007 that NASA undertake this type of regularly solicited, science-based, quick-turnaround project. The council's recently released decadal survey recommended the continuance of the program.

"PREFIRE and EMIT make innovative use of technologies first developed by NASA for planetary missions to address important, longstanding questions about Earth," said Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The Arctic helps to regulate Earth's overall temperature by radiating back into space much of the excess energy from the Sun that is absorbed at lower latitudes. Current satellite instruments do not detect all of the wavelengths of this energy radiating from our planet. PREFIRE will fill in the current data gap at far-infrared wavelengths, collecting information that will help scientists diagnose the impact of this outgoing radiation on the Arctic region's energy balance.

PREFIRE will fly miniaturized thermal infrared spectrometers on two CubeSat satellites, each about the size of a loaf of bread. The sensors are based on technology previously flown on the Mars Climate Sounder, an instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The CubeSats will orbit Earth's poles to measure far-infrared emissions and how they change throughout the day and over seasons. The observations will allow scientists to assess how changes in thermal infrared emissions at the top of Earth's atmosphere are related to changes in cloud cover and surface conditions below, such as the amount of sea ice and meltwater on the surface of the ice.

The PREFIRE team brings together expertise in remote sensing, Earth system modeling and Arctic ice. JPL and the Space Dynamics Laboratory of North Logan, Utah, are mission partners. JPL is responsible for project management and is building and delivering the instrument. Brian Drouin of JPL is the deputy principal investigator, while JPL's Brian Kahn and Nicole-Jeanne Schlegel are co-investigators.

The composition of airborne dust particles is largely unknown, but it is a critical factor in determining whether mineral-based dust has a cooling or warming effect on the atmosphere. Scientists do not currently have a global inventory of the natural mineral sources of dust, and as a result the global impacts of dust on weather, atmospheric circulation and other aspects of Earth's environment are not well established.

EMIT's hyperspectral instrument will measure the different wavelengths of light emitted by minerals on the surface of deserts and other dust sources to determine their composition. The EMIT sensor is based in part on NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.

The EMIT team brings together broad expertise that covers mineral measurements, soil science, remote sensing of surface properties and Earth system modeling. The project's modeling component will use the data collected to advance our understanding of the role of atmospheric dust in Earth's climate and better predict how it can be expected to change in the future.

Earth Venture missions provide an innovative approach to address Earth science research with regular windows of opportunity to accommodate new scientific priorities. The missions are managed by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program, located at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, for the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

The first Earth Venture instruments headed to space are preparing for launch within the next year. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) and the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) will measure the distributions, canopy heights and changes in global vegetation from the space station, providing insights into how forests and ecosystems are affected by changes in water availability and other environmental and human factors.

For more information about the Earth Venture program, visit:

https://essp.nasa.gov

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For more information about NASA's Earth science activities, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/earth

News Media Contact

Alan Buis

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

818-354-0474

Alan.Buis@jpl.nasa.gov

Steve Cole

NASA Headquarters, Washington

202-358-0918

stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

2018-023

from News and Features http://ift.tt/2E2u3Qt
via IFTTT

New NASA Space Sensors to Address Key Earth Science Questions

Why is the Arctic warming faster than the rest of the planet? Does mineral dust warm or cool the atmosphere? NASA has selected two new, creative research proposals to develop small, space-based instruments that will tackle these fundamental questions about our home planet and its environment.

from NASA Breaking News http://ift.tt/2E2VrBU
via IFTTT

Combined Optics, Science Instruments of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Arrive in California

The two halves of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope now reside at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California, where they will come together to form the complete observatory.

from NASA Breaking News http://ift.tt/2EHAWYB
via IFTTT

Students in Peace Corps Program to Speak with NASA Astronauts on Space Station

Students from Washington, D.C., will speak with NASA astronauts living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 12:55 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 7.

from NASA Breaking News http://ift.tt/2FLmSfV
via IFTTT

New Clues to Compositions of TRAPPIST-1 Planets

The seven Earth-size planets of TRAPPIST-1 are all mostly made of rock, with some having the potential to hold more water than Earth, according to a new study published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The planets' densities, now known much more precisely than before, suggest that some planets could have up to 5 percent of their mass in water -- which is 250 times more than the oceans on Earth.

The form that water would take on TRAPPIST-1 planets would depend on the amount of heat they receive from their star, which is a mere 9 percent as massive as our Sun. Planets closest to the star are more likely to host water in the form of atmospheric vapor, while those farther away may have water frozen on their surfaces as ice. TRAPPIST-1e is the rockiest planet of them all, but still is believed to have the potential to host some liquid water.

"We now know more about TRAPPIST-1 than any other planetary system apart from our own," said Sean Carey, manager of the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California, and co-author of the new study. "The improved densities in our study dramatically refine our understanding of the nature of these mysterious worlds."

Since the extent of the system was revealed in February 2017, researchers have been working hard to better characterize these planets and collect more information about them. The new study offers better estimates than ever for the planets' densities.

What is TRAPPIST-1?

TRAPPIST-1 is named for the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile, which discovered two of the seven planets we know of today -- announced in 2016. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, in collaboration with ground-based telescopes, confirmed these planets and uncovered the other five in the system.

Since then, NASA's Kepler space telescope has also observed the TRAPPIST-1 system, and Spitzer began a program of 500 additional hours of TRAPPIST-1 observations, which will conclude in March. This new body of data helped study authors paint a clearer picture of the system than ever before -- although there is still much more to learn about TRAPPIST-1.

The TRAPPIST-1 planets huddle so close to one another that a person standing on the surface of one of these worlds would have a spectacular view of the neighboring planets in the sky. Those planets would sometimes appear larger than the Moon looks to an observer on Earth. They may also be tidally locked, meaning the same side of the planet is always facing the star, with each side in perpetual day or night. Although the planets are all closer to their star than Mercury is to the Sun, TRAPPIST-1 is such a cool star, some of its planets could still, in theory, hold liquid water.

In the new study, scientists led by Simon Grimm at the University of Bern in Switzerland created computer models to better simulate the planets based on all available information. For each planet, researchers had to come up with a model based on the newly measured masses, the orbital periods and a variety of other factors -- making it an extremely difficult, "35-dimensional problem," Grimm said. It took most of 2017 to invent new techniques and run simulations to characterize the planets' compositions.

What might these planets look like?

It is impossible to know exactly how each planet looks, because they are so far away. In our own solar system, the Moon and Mars have nearly the same density, yet their surfaces appear entirely different.

"Densities, while important clues to the planets' compositions, do not say anything about habitability. However, our study is an important step forward as we continue to explore whether these planets could support life," said Brice-Olivier Demory, co-author at the University of Bern.

Based on available data, here are scientists' best guesses about the appearances of the planets:

TRAPPIST-1b, the innermost planet, is likely to have a rocky core, surrounded by an atmosphere much thicker than Earth's. TRAPPIST-1c also likely has a rocky interior, but with a thinner atmosphere than planet b. TRAPPIST-1d is the lightest of the planets -- about 30 percent the mass of Earth. Scientists are uncertain whether it has a large atmosphere, an ocean or an ice layer -- all three of these would give the planet an "envelope" of volatile substances, which would make sense for a planet of its density.

Scientists were surprised that TRAPPIST-1e is the only planet in the system slightly denser than Earth, suggesting it may have a denser iron core than our home planet. Like TRAPPIST-1c, it does not necessarily have a thick atmosphere, ocean or ice layer -- making these two planets distinct in the system. It is mysterious why TRAPPIST-1e has a much rockier composition than the rest of the planets. In terms of size, density and the amount of radiation it receives from its star, this is the most similar planet to Earth.

TRAPPIST-1f, g and h are far enough from the host star that water could be frozen as ice across these surfaces. If they have thin atmospheres, they would be unlikely to contain the heavy molecules of Earth, such as carbon dioxide.

"It is interesting that the densest planets are not the ones that are the closest to the star, and that the colder planets cannot harbor thick atmospheres," said Caroline Dorn, study co-author based at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

How do we know?

Scientists are able to calculate the densities of the planets because they happen to be lined up such that when they pass in front of their star, our Earth- and space-based telescopes can detect a dimming of its light. This is called a transit. The amount by which the starlight dims is related to the radius of the planet.

To get the density, scientists take advantage of what are called "transit timing variations." If there were no other gravitational forces on a transiting planet, it would always cross in front of its host star in the same amount of time -- for example, Earth orbits the Sun every 365 days, which is how we define one year. But because the TRAPPIST-1 planets are packed so close together, they change the timing of each other's "years" ever so slightly. Those variations in orbital timing are used to estimate the planets' masses. Then, mass and radius are used to calculate density.

Next Steps

The next step in exploring TRAPPIST-1 will be NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which will be able to delve into the question of whether these planets have atmospheres and, if so, what those atmospheres are like. A recent study using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope found no detection of hydrogen-dominated atmospheres on planets TRAPPIST-1d, e and f -- another piece of evidence for rocky composition -- although the hydrogen-dominated atmosphere cannot be ruled out for g.

Illustrations of these worlds will change as ongoing scientificinvestigations home in on their properties.

"Our conceptions of what these planets look like today may change dramatically over time," said Robert Hurt, senior visualization scientist at the Spitzer Science Center. "As we learn more about these planets, the pictures we make will evolve in response to our improved understanding.

For more information about TRAPPIST-1, visit:

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/trappist1

News Media Contact

Elizabeth Landau

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

818-354-6425

elizabeth.landau@jpl.nasa.gov

2018-022

from News and Features http://ift.tt/2E1ZxKx
via IFTTT

Mount Sharp 'Photobombs' Mars Curiosity Rover

A new self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle on Vera Rubin Ridge, which it has been investigating for the past several months. Directly behind the rover is the start of a clay-rich slope scientists are eager to begin exploring. In coming weeks, Curiosity will begin to climb this slope. In the image, north is on the left and west is on the right, with Gale Crater's rim on the horizon of both edges.

Poking up just behind Curiosity's mast is Mount Sharp, photobombing the robot's selfie. When Curiosity landed on Mars five years ago, the team's intention was to study lower Mount Sharp, where the rover will remain for all of its time on Mars. The mountain's base provides access to layers formed over millions of years. These layers formed in the presence of water -- likely due to a lake or lakes where sediments accumulated, which formed these layers inside IGale Crater.

The mosaic was assembled from dozens of images taken by Curiosity's Mars Hands Lens Imager (MAHLI). They were all taken on Jan. 23, 2018, during Sol 1943.

For news about other Mars missions this month, view the first episode of a new video series, "The Mars Report."

In this first episode of The Mars Report we celebrate the 14th anniversary of the Opportunity rover; show you a recent panoramic view from the Curiosity rover; and recap a "cool" discovery of ice deposits spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, we look forward to the InSight lander, heading to the Red Planet in May 2018.

Additonal information about NASA's exploration of Mars is at:

https://mars.nasa.gov/

News Media Contact

Andrew Good

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-393-2433

andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

2018-021

from News and Features http://ift.tt/2rZVqt4
via IFTTT

Vista From Mars Rover Looks Back Over Journey So Far

A panoramic image that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took from a mountainside ridge provides a sweeping vista of key sites visited since the rover's 2012 landing, and the towering surroundings.

The view from "Vera Rubin Ridge" on the north flank of Mount Sharp encompasses much of the 11-mile (18-kilometer) route the rover has driven from its 2012 landing site, all inside Gale Crater. One hill on the northern horizon is about 50 miles (about 85 kilometers) away, well outside of the crater, though most of the scene's horizon is the crater's northern rim, roughly one-third that distance away and 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) above the rover.

Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada gives a descriptive tour of the Mars rover's view in Gale Crater. The white-balanced scene looks back over the journey so far.

Curiosity's Mast Camera, or Mastcam, took the component images of the panorama three months ago while the rover paused on the northern edge of Vera Rubin Ridge. The mission has subsequently approached the southern edge of the ridge and examined several outcrop locations along the way.

Last week, the Curiosity team on Earth received copious new images from the rover through a record-setting relay by NASA's MAVEN orbiter -- surpassing a gigabit of data during a single relay session from Mars for the first time in history.

The team is preparing to resume use of Curiosity's drill for acquiring powdered rock samples to be analyzed by laboratory instruments inside the rover, more than a year after the most recent of the 15 times the drill has pulled sample material from Martian rocks.

Inside an Impact Crater

Mount Sharp stands in the middle of Gale Crater, which is 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter.

"Even though Curiosity has been steadily climbing for five years, this is the first time we could look back and see the whole mission laid out below us," said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "From our perch on Vera Rubin Ridge, the vast plains of the crater floor stretch out to the spectacular mountain range that forms the northern rim of Gale Crater." The rover photographed the scene shortly before northern Mars' winter solstice, a season of clear skies, gaining a sharp view of distant details.

Curiosity's exact landing spot on the floor of the crater lies out of sight behind a slight rise, but the scene includes "Yellowknife Bay." That's where, in 2013, the mission found evidence of an ancient freshwater-lake environment that offered all of the basic chemical ingredients for microbial life. Farther north are the channel and fan of Peace Vallis, relics of the streams that carried water and sediment into the crater about three billion years ago.

Sites such as "Kimberley" and "Murray Buttes" along the rover's route are marked on an annotated posting of the panorama. The Mastcam recorded both a wider version of the scene (from southwest to northeast) with its left-eye, 34-millimeter-lens camera and a more detailed, narrower version with its right-eye, 100-millimeter-lens camera.

The site from which these images were taken sits 1,073 feet (327 meters) in elevation above Curiosity's landing site. Since leaving that site, the rover has climbed another 85 feet (26 meters) in elevation. In recent days, the Mastcam has recorded component images for a panorama looking uphill southward toward the mission's next major destination area. That is called the "Clay Unit" because observations from orbit detected clay minerals there.

Record Relay

The opportunity for some high-volume relay sessions with the MAVEN orbiter is helping the Curiosity team gain a bounty of images and other data this month.

Most data from Curiosity, through the years, have been relayed to Earth by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Mars Odyssey orbiter, which fly in nearly circular, nearly polar orbits predictably passing over Curiosity at about the same times every day. MAVEN, for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, flies an elliptical orbit varying more than 40-fold from its nearest to farthest point from Mars. This suits MAVEN's science focus on Mars' atmosphere but results in variable coverage for relaying rover data. Usually, MAVEN passes over rover locations when the distance is too large for optimal relays. However, during occasional periods when the low point of its orbit is near Curiosity's location on Mars, the relays can serve exceedingly well.

"MAVEN definitely has the potential to move lots of data for us, and we expect to make even more use of it in the future," said JPL's Roy Gladden, manager of NASA's Mars Relay Network Office. The Jan. 22 relay of 1,006 megabits topped the previous record of 840 megabits, also set by MAVEN, but might in turn be bested by other favorable MAVEN relay opportunities in coming days.

The rover team intends to put Curiosity's drill to work on Vera Rubin Ridge before proceding to the Clay Unit. Resuming use of the drill requires an enterprising workaround for a mechanical problem that appeared in late 2016 and suspended use of the drill. A motor within the drill that advances the bit relative to stabilizer points no longer operates reliably.The workaround being evaluated thoroughly on a test rover at JPL does not use the stabilizer points. It moves the whole drill forward, with bit extended, by motion of the robotic arm.

News Media Contact

Guy Webster

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-6278

guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Laurie Cantillo / Dwayne Brown

NASA Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1077 / 202-358-1726

laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov / dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

2018-020

from News and Features http://ift.tt/2DKICIh
via IFTTT