Mission engineers at NASA’S Jet Propulsion Laboratory are looking for ways to conserve power onboard the Phoenix Mars Lander.  The spacecraft has far surpassed it’s lifetime expectancy by lasting into a fifth month of functionality.  It was only scheduled to last for three months after landing in the Martian polar region.

As autumn weather conditions deteriorate and temperatures fall, the Phoenix Mars Lander uses more power than it generates, so it’s only a matter of time before the robot explorer will expire.  It’s a real tribute to the engineering teams how well this spacecraft has exceeded it’s intended capacity for scientific exploration.

It’s no wonder the lander is starting to shut down.  The weather conditions on planet Mars in the northern hemisphere are pretty fierce, and getting more extreme as the planet shifts into it’s autumn phase.  Huge dust storms and atmospheric ice clouds block out sunlight to solar panels that generate power to spacecraft.  Extreme temperatures range from -141 degrees (F) overnight to -50 degrees (F) during the day.

NASA The Latest from Mars www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars

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This is the most awesome multimedia site I’ve ever seen; it’s dedicated to NASA’s 50th Anniversary, and has animation, video and audio clips of historic moments in the past fifty years of space exploration…

www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th/main.html

Explore the amazing fifty year history of American’s space program as NASA celebrates it’s 50th Anniversary…

www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/historyLetter.html

http://history.nasa.gov/

50 Years of NASA History (The Space Agency Press Release:)

NASA’s birth was directly related to the launch of the Sputniks and the ensuing race to demonstrate technological superiority in space. Driven by the competition of the Cold War, on July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, providing for research into the problems of flight within Earth’s atmosphere and in space.

After a protracted debate over military versus civilian control of space, the act inaugurated a new civilian agency designated the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  The agency began operations on Oct. 1, 1958.

And life on earth has never been the same since.

Looking at today’s headlines, it would appear that it’s the end of the world…

Dow finishes below 10,000, Oil prices plunge below $90, Financial turmoil goes global, Pakistan deports 50,000 Afghan refugees, McCain calls Obama a liar, Man kills family and himself over financial problems, and Small asteroid to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Hollywood has made several really bad movies based on the scenario of a killer asteroid impacting Earth. The storyline usually involves cataclysmic damage to our planet. But in real life, there are several organizations involved in tracking these NEO’s, or Near-Earth Objects.

NASA’s Near-Earth Object Office estimates objects of this size enter Earth’s atmosphere once every few months. The asteroid measures several feet in diameter, but is not expected to make landfall. Instead it is expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a brilliant natural fireworks display, somewhere over Africa.

The small asteroid is designated as 2008 TC3. Details are at www.nasa.gov

There’s an amazing story about survival from the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia.  Just a few months after Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry, searchers recovered pages from Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon’s diary.  They had survived a 37-mile fall to earth through extreme heat and cold, and were recovered from a field just outside Palestine, Texas.

That was in the spring of 2003.  Now five years later, part of the restored diary will be on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

The entire story is at http://hosted.ap.org