[FOTZeiss] Fw: Mars Rover's 'Gagarin' Moment Applauded Exploration
Glenn A. Walsh
siderostat1991 at yahoo.com
Wed Apr 13 20:12:57 EDT 2011
FYI
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--- On Wed, 4/13/11, Ron Baalke <baalke at ZAGAMI.JPL.NASA.GOV> wrote:
> From: Ron Baalke <baalke at ZAGAMI.JPL.NASA.GOV>
> Subject: Mars Rover's 'Gagarin' Moment Applauded Exploration
> To: HASTRO-L at listserv.wvu.edu
> Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 2:32 PM
> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-114
>
>
> Mars Rover's 'Gagarin' Moment Applauded Exploration
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory
> April 11, 2011
>
> A flat, light-toned rock on Mars visited by NASA's Mars
> Exploration
> Rover in 2005 informally bears the name of the first human
> in space,
> Yuri Gagarin, who rode into orbit in the Soviet Union's
> Vostok-1
> spacecraft on April 12, 1961.
>
> The team using Opportunity to explore the Meridiani Planum
> region of
> Mars since 2004 chose "Gagarin" for what they would call
> the rock that
> the rover examined beside "Vostok" crater. A target for
> close-up
> examination on Gagarin is called "Yuri."
>
> To commemorate Gagarin's flight, a color image of the rock
> on Mars has
> been posted at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13984. The
> image combines frames taken through three different filters
> by
> Opportunity's panoramic camera.
>
> Early accomplishments in the Space Age inspired many of the
> researchers
> exploring other planets robotically today, who hope their
> work can, in
> turn, help inspire the next generation.
>
> "The 50th anniversary of mankind's first fledgling foray
> into the cosmos
> should serve as an important reminder of the spirit of
> adventure and
> exploration that has propelled mankind throughout history,"
> said Mars
> rover science team member James Rice of NASA Goddard Space
> Flight
> Center, Greenbelt, Md. "We are a species of explorers; it
> is encoded
> into our very DNA."
>
> Rice continued, "Half a century ago Yuri Gagarin was lofted
> into a
> totally unknown, remote and hostile environment and in
> doing so opened
> up a new limitless frontier of possibilities for mankind. A
> mere 23 days
> later another brave human, Alan Shepard, climbed aboard a
> rocket and
> ventured into the starry abyss. Their courage and vision
> continue to
> inspire and lead us into the unknown. Hopefully, one day in
> the not too
> distant future it will lead humanity on a voyage to Mars."
>
> Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, completed their
> three-month prime
> missions on Mars in April 2004. Both rovers continued in
> years of bonus,
> extended missions. Both have made important discoveries
> about wet
> environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable
> for supporting
> microbial life. Spirit has not communicated with Earth
> since March 2010.
> Opportunity remains active. This month, it has passed both
> the
> 27-kilometer and 17-mile marks in its total driving
> distance on Mars.
>
> NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the
> California Institute
> of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration
> Rover Project
> for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For
> more
> information about the rovers, see http://www.nasa.gov/rovers.
>
> Guy Webster 818-354-6278
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
> guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov
>
> 2011-114
>
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