Physics and Astronomy News Archive: January 2004

Image: Mars Express sees its first water

Mars Express sees its first water

Source: ESA   Posted: 1/25/04

Through the initial mapping of the South polar cap on 18 January, OMEGA, the combined camera and infrared spectrometer on board Mars Express, ESA’s first mission to Mars, has already revealed the presence of water ice and carbon dioxide ice.
Image: Cell Phone Still Too Big? Micro-Oscillators May Help

Cell Phone Still Too Big? Micro-Oscillators May Help

Source: NIST   Posted: 1/22/04

A tiny, novel device for generating tunable microwave signals has been developed by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Image: Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status

Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status

Source: NASA/JPL   Posted: 1/22/04

Flight-team engineers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission were encouraged on the morning of January 22nd when Spirit sent a simple radio signal acknowledging that the rover had received a transmission from Earth. However, the team is still trying to diagnose the cause of earlier communications difficulties that have prevented any data being returned from Spirit since early Wednesday.
Image: Nano Chemists Make Curved Structures

Nano Chemists Make Curved Structures

Source: NorthwesternU   Posted: 1/22/04

Now a team of Northwestern University chemists report they have discovered ways to construct nanoscale building blocks that assemble into flat or curved structures with a high level of predictability, depending on the architecture and composition of the building blocks.
Image: NASA Mars Rover's First Soil Analysis Yields Surprises

NASA Mars Rover's First Soil Analysis Yields Surprises

Source: NASA/JPL   Posted: 1/21/04

The first use of the tools on the arm of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit reveals puzzles about the soil it examined and raises anticipation about what the tool will find during its studies of a martian rock.
Image: Spirit Rolls All Six Wheels Onto Martian Soil

Spirit Rolls All Six Wheels Onto Martian Soil

Source: NASA/JPL   Posted: 1/15/04

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully drove off its lander platform and onto the soil of Mars early today.
Image: Too fast, too furious: a galaxy's fatal plunge

Too fast, too furious: a galaxy's fatal plunge

Source: NASA/MSFC   Posted: 1/6/04

Using several telescopes including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have captured the untimely demise of a galaxy that was once like our Milky Way. The result is a dramatic look at C153, a galaxy being ripped apart as it races 4.5 million mph through a distant cluster of galaxies.
Image: Researchers create first ever integrated silicon circuit with nanotube transistors

Researchers create first ever integrated silicon circuit with nanotube transistors

Source: UBerkeley   Posted: 1/6/04

In an important milestone in the fields of nanosciences and nanoengineering, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University are announcing that they have created the first working, integrated silicon circuit that successfully incorporates carbon nanotubes in its design.
Image: Spirit Lands on Mars and Sends Postcards

Spirit Lands on Mars and Sends Postcards

Source: NASA/JPL   Posted: 1/4/04

A traveling robotic geologist from NASA has landed on Mars and returned stunning images of the area around its landing site in Gusev Crater. Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully sent a radio signal after the spacecraft had bounced and rolled for several minutes following its initial impact at 11:35 p.m. EST (8:35 p.m. Pacific Standard Time) on January 3.
Image: Einstein Makes Extra Dimensions Toe The Line

Einstein Makes Extra Dimensions Toe The Line

Source: NASA/GSFC   Posted: 1/3/04

Scientists say that Albert Einstein's principle of the constancy of the speed of light holds up under extremely tight scrutiny, a finding that rules out certain theories predicting extra dimensions and a frothy fabric of space.