Thursday�s event was less a debate than a preview of what will happen to NASA after January 20, 2005...The participants in the debate reflected how space rated in both campaigns: while knowledgeable about space topics, neither Lori Garver, representing Kerry, nor Frank Sietzen, representing Bush, rank high in the hierarchy of either campaign organization.

(Links to other debate roundups included)

UK's Branson to Launch Space Tourism in 2007

Richard Branson, Britain's best-known entrepreneur and part-time daredevil, plans to launch the world's first passenger service to space in 2007, offering zero-gravity flights for $198,600.

Branson, whose Virgin empire stretches from planes and trains to vodka, music and personal finance, is teaming up with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to build five, fish-shaped capsules for the two-to-three hour flights.

Virgin Galactic will be the latest offshoot of Branson's business empire, which started in mail-order recorded music in the 1970s. It will invest $100 million in ground infrastructure and spacecraft capable of carrying five passengers.

SpaceShipOne Makes History: First Manned Private Spaceflight

The first non-governmental rocket ship flew to the edge of space today and was piloted to a safe landing on a desert airport runway here.

Civilian test pilot, now turned astronaut Mike Melvill brought SpaceShipOne down to the Mojave Airport tarmac after flying to 100 kilometers (62 miles) in altitude, leaving the Earth�s atmosphere during his history-making sub-orbital space ride.

Editor's Note: News postings have been sporatic over the last few days since Tourdemars attended the launch of SpaceShipOne in Mojave, and JBurk was on vacation in Fiji & Hawaii. The normal pace of news entries will now resume; thanks for your patience.

Editors' Note: As you can tell, we definately agree with this! :)

To celebrate and explore the recent Mars landing, the office of the provost started giving away one thousand pairs of 3-D glasses last week. The glasses, which can be used to view the 3-D images being sent back by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, are available at the information desk in the Straight.

Jumping for joy, 2-year-old Sarah and 4-year-old Emily Vierling experience a little of what Mars might be like. Weight on the Red Planet is about one-third of what it would be on Earth. Strapped in a harness, each girl takes a turn pushing off and catching big air, experiencing a simulation of Mars' gravity.

It's giant news when the world's largest quick-service seafood chain introduces its biggest shrimp ever. Long John Silver's is introducing the new, nearly-half-foot-long Giant Shrimp to America this week. Long John Silver's Giant Shrimp have been in the news since mid-January, when company President Steve Davis sent a letter to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, offering to give America free Giant Shrimp if NASA's Mars Rover finds conclusive evidence of an ocean on Mars by Feb. 29. The giveaway would take place on March 15, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Colonization of the Red Planet might one day become more than just the plot line of a pulpy science fiction novel. The United States has two explorers currently on the surface of Mars, but they are both robots.

A California amateur astrophotographer recently received a unique double honor by having two of his Mars images featured in two well-known publications. Wally Pacholka's portraits of the red planet last July 21st over Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park near Lake Mead were chosen by TIME and LIFE magazines for their respective editions of pictorial highlights of 2003. His photo of brilliant Mars shining through Arch Rock was published as one of TIME's "Pictures of the Year" last December 22nd, while his image showing the planet next to a formation called Poodle Rock is in LIFE's "The Year in Pictures."

Dan Crowley of the Shoalhaven Astronomical Society believes NASA's work on Mars has increased interest in Astronomy and that we could even see a renewed 'Space Race' to get a man on Mars as was seen in the 60's to get a man on the moon.

The veteran NASA engineer who oversaw development of the first Mars rover has been named director of Paul Allen's Experience Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. "When they said they were looking for a director, I got very excited," Donna Shirley said yesterday. "I thought it would be a really fun thing to do." Shirley, 62, who previously served on the museum's advisory board, began working on the Mars program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1966 and became the first woman to manage a project for NASA, the billion-dollar Mars Exploration Program.

Our next-door neighbor in the solar system has become quite the Internet star. Web sites devoted to the findings of the Mars Exploration Rover mission are leaving no stone unturned -- or at least undocumented -- in meeting the public thirst for information about the Red Planet. A wide range of sites offer information, images and interactive features that take the Web surfer virtually there.

When Spirit landed on Mars last month, bouncing into a perfect landing to the cheers of NASA scientists, the world did something surprising: it noticed. And I decided to take senior year calculus. It wasn't the most thrilling decision of my life. But I'll need a calculus course on my college applications if I want to study astrobiology after high school. Despite my reluctance to take on senioritis and math simultaneously, you could say I was inspired. I'm not the only one.

Wish you were here: Imaging Mars

The spectacular images of Mars being sent back by European and US spacecraft give us a thrilling insight into what it must be like to travel to the Red Planet. While the camera aboard Europe's Mars Express orbiter has captured the breathtaking scale of the planet's mesas, channels and calderas, those on the US space agency's (Nasa) rovers have caught the exhilarating strangeness of the Martian surface.

MarsClock is a clock for Mars. It is a port of Mars24, created using OnBoardC. It runs on the PalmOS operating system (v 3.0 through 5.2) and requires MathLib. The error between MarsClock and the JPL MER time sheets is less than one minute for the nominal mission duration.

Martian Water Quest Hits High Gear

Mars is under more intense scientific scrutiny than ever. The curiosity is about whether Earth's cold, barren neighbor was ever wet enough to support simple microbial life. Scientists speculate that liquid water once flowed there because U.S. satellites in recent years have observed channels and other land forms that appear to have been carved by water. Now, two U.S. robot rovers are on the Martian landscape to seek proof of this.

With NASA's Mars Rover "Opportunity" making a successful landing in Meridiani Planum on Sunday, January 25, America now has a second opportunity to enjoy free Giant Shrimp from Long John Silver's. Long John Silver's announced on January 16 that it will give America free Giant Shrimp if NASA's Mars Exploration Rover project finds conclusive evidence of an ocean on Mars by February 29, 2004. With the successful landing of a second Rover, America can now pull for either "Spirit" or "Opportunity" to find conclusive evidence of an ocean.

The designers of Soviet Lunokhod moon crawlers will take part in the creation of a similar machine for the exploration of Mars under a programme launched by the European Space Agency. Russian technologies will be used in designing and building a Mars rover, an ESA official said. In his words, the European Aurora project calls for cooperation with two Russian organisations � the Babakin Research Centre, and the Lavochkin Research and Production Association. These organisations have rich experience of building interplanetary spacecraft and the ESA wants to use their expertise for designing the technical part of the Mars rover.

Welcome Space Sports fans! As you are well aware, Earth is currently the underdog in the solar system division in the Expensive Hardware Lob. For every piece of hardware that returns useful information from the Lobbee's planet, the Lobber scores a point. For every piece of hardware sucessfully thwarted by the Lobbee (secret agent LGMs [two to a trenchcoat], IPBMs, "lasers", blowing sand in the lens, etc...), they score a point. Currently we are monitoring the Mars-Earth game which began in late 1960 and is still in progress. As far as we can tell, Earth has been the only Lobber, with scattered reports of a possibly thwarted Mars invasion of Earth in 1938. For those of you just tuning in, here is the play-by-play...

On Saturday, January 3, a journey of over 300 million miles ended, while a jaunt of less than � mile on a new world would soon begin that could provide an answer to a question that has plagued humans for millennia. NASA�s Mars Exploration Rovers touched down on the red planet ending a journey of nearly six months. Shortly thereafter, the probe began to collect data that may indicate whether Mars had/has water and if life has ever existed on our interplanetary neighbor. Once again, this potentially gigantic leap in mankind�s knowledge, as is the case with nearly every major innovation and idea across disciplines, came courtesy of the United States.

China to Launch Next Manned Spacecraft in '05

China will launch its next manned spacecraft next year and it will carry more than one astronaut, a newspaper said Friday, nearly three months after the nation's first manned space shot was completed successfully.

After a seven-month epic voyage across interplanetary space, NASA's two exploration rovers are on final approach to Mars. Spirit takes the first plunge into the Martian atmosphere tonight while its twin, Opportunity, begins its perilous decent Jan. 25. With any luck, things will go more smoothly for NASA than they have for the troubled British Mars probe, the Beagle 2. For readers inspired to make their own, armchair journeys to the Red Planet, here's a guide to essential titles, most published within the past year:

The score in the 2003-04 interplanetary cup now stands at Mars 2, Earth 1. This weekend our world gets its chance to level the game. Early last month, five spacecraft were closing in on the red planet. But then Japan declared that its Mars probe, Nozomi - Japanese for Hope - had malfunctioned and had no hope of entering Mars orbit. Then, on Christmas Day, Britain's Beagle 2 vanished while attempting to land, although optimistic officials say they have not given up hope it may be found. The only good news came when Beagle's mothership, the European-built Mars Express, slipped safely into Martian orbit. However, two more Mars landers, six-wheeled NASA rovers the size of a desk, are on their way.

The Night Sky � from Mars!

To see the surface of Mars, we rely on robots as our virtual eyes. To see the Martian night sky, we need a computer program. With the help of astronomy simulation software such as Starry Night Pro, earthlings can take a virtual journey to Mars. Our chosen landing spot in this simulation is Gusev Crater, the expected landing site of NASA's Spirit rover, one of two probes the agency has arriving in January. From here we can gaze into the Martian sky and see distant stars and not-so-distant planets, things surprisingly familiar and things utterly strange.

Although Mars has an enduring fascination for scientists, it boasts a list of mission failures long enough to make anyone think twice about sending a multimillion-pound probe there. Missions to the red planet fail far more often than they succeed. Since 1960 there have been 35 missions, from the Soviet Union, the US and Japan. Two-thirds of them have been outright failures.

2004 shaping into a very Martian new year

With the arrival of Europe's first interplanetary probe at Mars and two more U.S. spacecraft on the way, the red planet will be under intense scrutiny for months as scientists attempt to figure out why a world flecked with evidence of an Earth-like past appears dead and dry. An even more compelling question is whether indigenous life ever took root on Mars, as many suspect but cannot prove. "If you look at the surface of Mars today, it's a desolate place. It's dry. It's cold. It's barren," said Cornell University astronomer Steven Squyres, who heads the science teams for two NASA rovers scheduled to land on Mars beginning next month. "It's not an inviting environment for life, and yet we see these tantalizing clues," he said.

Landers Approach Mars in Quest to Find Water, Evidence of Life

The skies around Mars are getting crowded, and traffic on the ground will soon increase, too. The United States and Europe are sending landers to the Martian surface to provide a broader and closer view of the Red Planet. A major goal is to find water and evidence of life.

Three probes hold promise of new insight into Red Planet

The fourth planet from the sun is frigid and nearly airless, treacherous and distant, but somehow alluring. Its desertlike terrain looks as if it were scooped from the American Southwest or the African Sahara. It is a mystery waiting to be solved. When Mars swung close to the Earth this summer, as close as it has been in 60,000 years, thousands of curious stargazers searched out the planet's uniquely reddish glow and pondered what it might be like to visit.

Tough question: Where to land?

If just getting to Mars is difficult, and most would agree it is, try finding a good parking spot once you arrive. More than 100 NASA engineers and scientists from around the country spent three years searching before settling on landing sites for Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some sites were too rocky; some too dusty. Others were too steep, too windy or too cold. Engineers considered several sites too risky for landing, with lots of "bad" rocks that could damage the rovers on impact.

Race to Mars begins a distant search for life

One will sniff, dig and bake. Two others will roam, grind and bore. Together, they could revolutionize our knowledge of the red planet and extraterrestrial life. The robotic explorers from Europe and the United States are using entirely different approaches to the cosmic quest, which begin this month with launches that take advantage of an exceptionally close Earth-Mars alignment.

Since August, Mars has been drifting farther away from us and getting dimmer in our sky as Earth pulls ahead of it in our course around the Sun. But a large, regional dust storm has popped up on the planet, causing Mars to brighten slightly again. The storm was first reported to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on December 13 by planetary observer Don Parker of Florida. According to IAU Circular 8256, issued on Sunday morning, the dust storm appeared to extend over 3,000 kilometers (over 1,800 miles) of longitude (in the east-west direction) and about 1,800 km (over 1,100 miles) in latitude (in the north-south direction). It covered most of Chryse Planitia (a low-elevation plain where Viking 1 landed), extending west into Candor Chasma and south into Eos Chasma and Margaritifer Sinus. On Sunday, observations by Parker revealed that the cloud seemed to be spreading even farther south and into Argyre Planitia.

The United Kingdom and the United States are about to land separate missions on Mars, and a University of Arizona scientist has a role in both. Mars missions are fraught with risks and challenges. But with luck, both the European and NASA missions will return data, and Peter H. Smith will soon compare the results. Smith is a member of the science team for Britain�s Beagle 2 lander, which is riding aboard Europe�s Mars Express spacecraft. He's also on the team for NASA�s Mars Exploration Rover mission.

A space industry venture backed by Australian astronaut Andy Thomas has been set up in Sydney to compete for contracts worth billions of dollars. Nine private and public stakeholders have joined the Australian Space Network and others will be recruited next year. The network founders set three initial goals:  A Fedsat 2 satellite operating by 2005;  Australian instruments on Mars by 2010; and  Australian-produced microsatellites orbiting Mars by 2015. The network's aim is to bring the country's space professionals and companies together to compete for high-technology projects sponsored by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency.

X-ray view of the Red Planet

Another ESA mission is turning its gaze towards Mars. This recent image was taken by the X-ray observatory XMM-Newton. All bodies in our Solar System, including planets such as Earth and Mars, emit X-ray radiation. As far as we know, there are several possible sources of this radiation.

Spacecraft from three different space missions are drawing closer to Mars. Over the next six weeks, landers and rovers are scheduled to touch down on the red planet's surface. Together with orbiting spacecraft, the probes will poke, scratch, sniff, and image the Martian environment for clues to the existence of past or present life. Mission scientists will clear a significant hurdle to see their spacecraft simply reach Mars.

Out-Of-This-World Traveling Exhibit Coming To The New Detroit Science Center

As NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers prepare to land on the red planet, The New Detroit Science Center will be bringing Mars to Detroit in the traveling exhibition MarsQuest, opening Saturday, Jan. 24, 2004. MarsQuest was developed by the Space Science Institute of Boulder, Colo., with major funding by the National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Las Vegas odds makers have given the three Mars missions currently in route to the Red Planet 2:1 odds of all successfully failing. Probes from the U.S., Japan and the European Space Agencies are finally arriving at Mars in what is being billed as possibly the biggest "Trifecta of Failure" in recent memory.

Leaning over the edge of a tabletop painted to resemble the surface of Mars and fiddling with a whirring robot made of LEGOs, David Houghton appears to be at play. Then the 11-year-old Obsidian Middle School student speaks, earnestly explaining his role in a robotics tournament held at Mountain View High School on Sunday.

Amid the Top-40 music blaring from a speaker and more than 35 people cheering on the other side of the room, seven Kearney Middle School students stood up on the bleachers and yelled directions to their two teammates. It didn't help. Their teammates, in charge of guiding an autonomous robot through obstacles on a simulated Mars surface, heard too many conflicting messages. The team's second score was lower than its first.

In 20 years, the students gathered in the cafeteria of Westland Middle School on Saturday might be watching the first humans land on Mars as they huddle around their flat screen monitors. Or better yet, one of them might be stepping out of a spacecraft onto the red planet itself. For now, it's the stuff of daydreams and science fiction novels, but the elementary and middle school students who attended the FIRST LEGO League tournament in Corvallis are already making plans to visit Mars. Teams from across the state gathered at Westland to compete in a robotics event that combines computer programming with LEGO know-how, in a Mars-themed event.

On 2003 Nov 16 and 22, radio amateurs using the 20m diameter antenna at Bochum, Germany (JO31OK) received signals from the Mars Express and Mars Odyssey spacecraft. So does this mean that such feats are beyond the ordinary amateur? Absolutely not! Here are some notes to confirm this. You too can receive Mars Express, even on a small dish.

Mars fans can learn more about NASA's upcoming rover mission during Marsapalooza, a traveling educational show that hits the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on Saturday. Six scientists and engineers who helped create NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers will explain the mission. The show, which is aimed at young people and families, features hands-on activities and educational demonstrations.

Invading the �Death Planet�

Does that sound a little melodramatic when it comes to describing the difficulty of landing on Mars? Not according to Ed Weiler, NASA�s associate administrator for space science: He says he commonly refers to Mars as the �Death Planet,� in recognition of the fact that two-thirds of all Mars missions have fallen short of success.

A team of Mandeville-area scientists, mathematicians, researchers, programmers and engineers has created a robot programmed to sweep the dust off the planet Mars, catapult rocks and explore the Red Planet's rough terrain. Since it is made of Legos, the robot itself probably won't ever make it to Mars. But space travel certainly is possible for these talented team members, at least when they are old enough for the trip.

Teamwork, initiative and imagination were used to produce a third place finish overall for the Robo Raiders, Classical Cottage School's hone schooling Lego Robotics Club, Nov. 15 in the FIRST Lego League Charlottesville regional tournament. They came in third out of 23 teams and qualified to advance to the state meet at Virginia Tech on December 7, 2003.

On January 3, 2004 (Pacific Standard Time) Spirit, the first of two NASA Mars Exploration Rovers will bounce down on Mars and begin an amazing adventure. This historic event happens just one day after Stardust flies through comet Wild 2 to collect samples to return to Earth. What a remarkable weekend of space exploration! The Planetary Society invites you to join Buzz Aldrin, Ray Bradbury, Bill Nye the Science Guy, JPL mission scientists, and fellow space enthusiasts to witness Spirit's Landing LIVE and celebrate Stardust's encounter.

Restless in their seats, hundreds of students from across Texas waited in eager anticipation. Some had arrived an hour early just to get the right spot to see their hero. The crowd clapped in unison, chanting "We want Bill!" Eventually, the wave broke out. And when "Bill Nye The Science Guy" stepped up to the podium in the middle of the floor, one would have thought he was at a Beatles reunion concert. Girls shrieked, boys pumped their fists and parents nodded their heads. "We're here tonight to celebrate technology," Nye said.

The record-setting solar storms that rained through the atmosphere earlier this month appear to have rocked both the American and European spacecraft en route to Mars, causing some temporary set-backs but no lasting damage. Japan's first mission to another planet, Nozomi, on the other hand, which suffered a crippling problem from a solar flare in 2002 seemed this time around to suffer more from a storm of exaggerated reporting than a flare from the Sun.

Seventh-grader George Ferree had an intense look on his face. His robot built of LEGOs, The Titan, was exploring an obstacle course set up on a mock face of Mars. He got off to a good start in the second round of competition when Titan connected three habitation modules for 21 points, but when the small computer-programmed robot went to drop a red ball to be catapulted off the course, Titan dropped the ball just short of the launcher. The multi-colored Titan still backed up and bumped the contraption so it fired without the small ball. While he didn't get the full amount of points for this mission, he still tallied partial points for the task.

Students filled the halls of Macatawa Bay School Saturday looking for their way to Mars. Their vehicle for the trip to the Red Planet? A Lego robot. Thirty-six teams of fourth- through eighth-graders strained their brains for West Michigan Lego Mania. The students mission was to create a device to be used on Mars. They were judged for clearing dust from a solar panel and freeing a Mars Rover from a sand dune. Mock Mars settings were set up where the students practiced and were judged.

Saratoga Springs High School Science Teacher Charles Kuenzel and students involved in the school's NASA Club updated the Board of Education Tuesday with highlights of their recent trip to Arizona State University to study Mars.

Blockbuster Space Exhibit Launches World Premiere at Pacific Science Center

SPACE: A Journey To Our Future opens to the public on Saturday, November 22, 2003 at Pacific Science Center. The exhibit will be on display in Seattle until May 9, 2004. Space is made possible by General Motors, the SPACE Day Foundation and Lockheed Martin. The exhibit is produced by Clear Channel Exhibitions in educational collaboration with NASA and the NSTA and presented locally by SUBWAY Restaurants, KOMO TV and The Seattle PI and Infinity Radio Group.

State of the Union: Emerging Europe Resets Space Priorities

Calling for a more active role in exploration and research, the European Commission has adopted a plan that will boost spending on space programs and hopefully set a definite European course into space. The space action plan, a 60-page policy paper developed by the commission -- executive arm of the European Union (EU) -- highlights Europe's needs to ensure independent access to space, promote exploration and attract younger professionals to space-related professions.

Sixth-graders at Meadowview Elementary School are launching a Global Surveyor to Mars this week. It's intense work and a chaotic experience, at best. As a mission manager, much responsibility falls on the shoulders of Shelbi Gould, 11.

The Stratham Memorial School has announced that the schoolwide theme for the year is Mars! The idea behind a schoolwide theme is to build on the Responsive Classroom model used throughout the school. It increases the feeling of community and connection that students of all ages have with one another. Over the course of this year, most of the grades will be studying space and Mars as part of their curriculum.

Large outcrops of a gemstone mineral commonly used in jewellery have been found on the surface of Mars. On Earth, the mineral olivine takes the form of the brilliant green gemstone peridot. An instrument aboard a Nasa spacecraft spotted a 30,000 square kilometre area rich in olivine in the Nili Fossae region of Mars.

If there's anything Patrick McCaffery has known and enjoyed in his short life, it's Legos. He has a 5-gallon bucket nearly full of the plastic blocks stashed away at home. "My dad introduced me to Legos at a very young age," said McCaffery, a 10-year-old Regina Elementary fifth-grader. "They're just really fun. When I grow up, I want to be a game designer or a toy designer." Patrick now shares his love of Legos with 11 of his classmates in the Regina Lego club. Since mid-September, the group of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders has met twice a week for two hours to train for the 2003 US FIRST Lego League Challenge.

The Barstow Community College gymnasium will be transformed into Mars this weekend during a hands-on NASA workshop open to the public. During "Barstow Space Days," residents can see a lightweight version of the Mars Exploration Rover in action, view mission holographic images, and learn about more than 18 past and current space missions -- like Genesis, Voyager, and Galileo -- from mission personnel.

It's quite a feeling when a dream finally comes true. After two years of talking, planning, begging for help, watching volunteers put in long hours, the ImagineU Children's Museum will open on Saturday. Children can go on to the Mars Yard, which got its finishing touches last weekend with the help of architect Dana Berry (also president of the museum board), builder Andy Anderson and volunteers Ben Owen, Daniel Reyna and Mark Koenig. They used Styrofoam, chicken wire and cement to create an authentic-looking Mars surface where children can steer remote-controlled rovers. Eventually, there will be a computer center where young astronauts can control the spacecraft.

SPACE.com Exclusive: Mars Agenda Needs Work, Report Concludes

NASA faces thorny technological problems and money woes in furthering its Mars exploration agenda over the years to come, SPACE.com has learned. A skyrocketing price tag for a Mars lander in 2009, planetary protection issues, approaches to collect Martian rock and soil for Earth return, and the overall scope of science investigations done at the red planet have been called to question. A Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) has flagged NASA regarding these and other concerns in plotting out future exploration plans of that puzzling planet.

Laser beams and plasma screens, interactive computers and something called lenticular lenses. They�re all part of NASA @ Your Library, an exhibit at Palm Springs Library detailing the high-tech world of space exploration through the eyes of the renowned space agency. On Oct. 10, Jet Propulsion Laboratory physicist Kevin Grazier will present "All About Mars," a 6 p.m. lecture on the red planet.

As the whole world watched last month, Mars swung closer to Earth than ever in recorded history. It was quite an event. Observatories all over were awash in a sea of visitors eager for a glimpse of the Red Planet as it passed. The Purcell Observatory in Tulare was certainly no exception, as record numbers turned up for a gander through the telescopes. Mars didn't disappoint. It might even have been showing off some. I've certainly never seen it look better. Neither has anyone else. Unfortunately, those who didn't see Mars at its absolute best in August won't get another chance for 284 years. Good news, though: The 2003 show isn't over!

Steven G. Murdock, president and CEO of Meade Instruments, said: "The Mars opposition had a positive impact on second-quarter results, driving an increase in sales of mid-priced and higher-priced telescopes. These increases, however, were offset by a significant decrease in small telescope sales due, in part, to conservative purchasing patterns by certain of our domestic dealers. Sales at the Simmons subsidiary, acquired in October 2002, came in as expected at approximately $8.0 million for the quarter.

Mars remains a big event

Just because the media hoopla peaked three weeks ago doesn't mean the Mars show is over. And it doesn't mean Brian Craven is through getting people excited about it. "Mars is still up there and the show is still good," said Craven, amateur astronomer and membership coordinator for the Brevard Astronomical Society.

National Space Exhibit Blasts Off

The exhibition, "SPACE: A Journey to Our Future," touches down at Seattle's Pacific Science Center on Saturday, November 22. Created in collaboration between NASA and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the SPACE exhibition is produced by Clear Channel Exhibitions. It was made possible by General Motors (GM) with additional support from the Space Day Foundation and Lockheed Martin. The 12,000-square-foot exhibition, one of the largest touring space exhibits ever developed, will be on display in Seattle through May 9, 2004. It will travel to other museums and science centers in several U.S. cities over the next five years. "We hope this exciting exhibit will help to inspire the next generation of explorers," Loston said. "We want to fuel the imagination and ignite the desire for discovery in the youth who will be our nation's next pioneers of air, space and Earth," she said.

Now that Mars's record-breaking close approach is history (it happened on the night of August 26�27) is the show over? No way! Mars remains just as big and bright, for all practical purposes, during the first half of September. It will shrink and fade only a little until well into October. Moreover, in one way the show is getting better than ever! Every day Mars rises higher in the sky earlier in the night, which makes it easier to view at a more convenient hour.

future astronaut, students majoring in astronomy and astronomy enthusiasts stood in line at the Wellesley Observatory to view Mars make its closest pass to Earth in 60,000 years -and no one mentioned Martians. Last Friday night, hundreds of people cheerfully waited for hours to get a glimpse of the red planet named after the Roman god of war.

Mars through Amateur Eyes

Ed Grafton is like a one-man Hubble Space Telescope. Okay, so that accolade is perhaps a bit lavish. But few backyard astronomers have achieved Grafton's level of expertise when it comes to photographing planets. He took this picture of the red one from his back yard in Houston, Texas on Aug. 26. He used a 14-inch Celestron telescope.

A Lunar-Martian Tango Tonight

If Mars is in your mental rearview mirror following its close approach in late August, you might want to glance out your front window on the way home tonight. The red planet is set for another center stage appearance, this time in a celestial tango with the Moon. The two objects will be near one another in the sky tonight and again Tuesday. They will appear closest just before dawn Tuesday.

The Planet that Won't Go Away

Mars' closest approach to Earth was on August 27th--but the red planet is even easier to see now.

The week that Mars moved to its closest point to Earth in 60,000 years, one of the area's best-kept secrets was revealed. About 400 people thronged to Merrimack College in North Andover on Aug. 27 to view Mars through the high-powered telescope housed in the school's observatory. Ordinarily, just a handful of stargazers show up at the observatory on Wednesday evenings, when the domed room is open to the public.

Fox Valley skywatchers haven�t seen the last of Mars, even though the planet has moved beyond its relatively close brush with Earth. Local astronomy enthusiasts say Mars actually will be better placed in the sky as it finishes out its roughly two-year pass this fall. It will appear smaller and dimmer but higher in the sky.

Neither cloudy skies nor a downpour of rain could dampen the enthusiasm of sky watchers assembled Aug. 29 at the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center. Looking through high-powered telescopes, binoculars and with the naked eye, they hoped to gain a glimpse of Mars as it made its closet pass to Earth in more than 50,000 years.

The heavens opened up over the playing field at Sacred Heart Catholic School, delighting astronomy buffs. Dozens of students and their parents turned out Thursday for a stargazing party put on by the Stockton Astronomical Society. They got a chance to gaze at Mars -- past its best viewing but still bright as it completes its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years -- as well as a half-moon and a host of constellations.

These two images of Mars were taken by Space Imaging�s IKONOS satellite as the red planet and Earth reached their closest proximity in nearly 60,000 years. At that point which occurred last week, Mars was 34.6 million miles (55.6 million kilometers) away. The first image (left) was taken on Aug. 26, 2003 at 21:40 GMT (3:40 p.m. MDT) as IKONOS came out of the eclipse of the Earth and orbited over our planet�s northern pole. The second image (right) was taken a little more than a half a Martian rotation later on Aug. 27, 2003 at 12:26 GMT (6:26 a.m. MDT). The Martian south polar ice cap is visible at the bottom of both images. The resolution of these images is approximately 67 km. IKONOS takes images of Earth at 1-meter resolution.

Mars was coloured by meteorites

Laboratory evidence is challenging theories that Mars' ruddy surface came from a past when the planet was awash with water, New Scientist says. Defenders of this hypothesis say Mars' reddish dust came from iron in rocks that over billions of years dissolved into the planet's oceans, lakes and rivers. But US scientist Albert Yen of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has assailed this idea, noting a strange discrepancy between Mars' dusty topsoil and its rocks.

The rare occasion of Mars' closestpass to earth at the end of this month has left the people in China contemplate their distance from the rest of the world in astronomy research. The occasion, astronomers said, was as a touchstone of the Chinese people's science awareness. Many astronomy fans in the country joined their foreign peers from Aug. 27 to 29 to celebrate the Red Planet's mere separation of 55.6 million kilometers from earth, and experts said their enthusiasm indicated that Chinese people's eyes are no longer fixed only on their daily necessities.

The tangerine glow of Mars, visible from Earth as it made its nearest approach to this planet for 60,000 years on Wednesday, united the newspapers across the world in wonder and contemplation.

Mars gazers are flocking to New Zealand's observatories for a rare glimpse of the Red Planet in its closest orbit to earth for 60,000 years. Stardome Observatory in Auckland's One Tree Hill Domain has seen visitor numbers to its night-time shows treble since launching its Mars programmes two weeks ago.

Members of the Auburn University Student Space Program (AUSSP) are developing a series of satellites that will aid them in their quest to launch the first student-built satellite to Mars by the end of the decade.

Busy Hong Kong people laid aside their worries about job and making money temporarily Wednesday night and went outdoor to enjoy the mysterious red planet, Mars, as it came to the closest point to Earth in 60,000 years. However, the red star and its Hong Kong fans are still 55.76 million kilometers away from each other.

As a result of the combined efforts of WSU physics professor Guy Worthey and the Palouse Astronomical Society, WSU students and Pullman residents alike were seeing stars, and a historical glimpse of Mars, Wednesday night. Held at WSU's Jewett Observatory, the Mars viewing event attracted more than 1,000 attendees and lasted well into the following morning.

As national astronomers gleefully look at new pictures of Mars via the Hubble telescope, Permian Basin residents will gather tonight at the Marian Blakemore Planetarium in Midland to gaze at the Red Planet. Mars, which is passing closer to earth now than it has in thousands of years, is easily visible in the southern sky for Permian Basin skygazers, said Gene Hardy, director of the planetarium at the Museum of the Southwest.

China, not content with the closest views of Mars man has glimpsed since the Stone Age, is hoping to launch a space probe to the red planet by 2020, state newspapers said on Friday. The probe would orbit Mars and conduct tests on the planet's makeup and atmosphere, the Beijing Youth Daily quoted Liu Zhenxing, a fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Space Science and Applied Research Institute, as saying. China is planning to send an astronaut into space for the first time later this year and become the third country to accomplish that feat, after the former Soviet Union and the United States.

Dozens of telescopes set up on the Sultan High School football field found their target Wednesday in the southeast at about 9:20 p.m. Appearing among twinkling constellations in the clear sky was a bright object that looked to the naked eye like another star, just a lot brighter than the others.

Mars will wait. "Everybody's so psyched to see Mars this week," University of Montana astronomer Diane Friend said Thursday. "But it will be just as spectacular well into September." In fact, the viewing could be better in September because the red planet will be higher in the nighttime sky, giving watchers less atmosphere to peer through, said Friend, who organizes and hosts summertime open houses at UM's Blue Mountain Observatory.

Mars madness gripped stargazers in Nashville as Tuesday night passed into Wednesday morning and the planet Mars passed closer to the Earth than it had in 60,000 years. Rick Chappell, director of Vanderbilt University's Dyer Observatory, estimated that between 800 and 1,000 people turned up for the chance to look at the red planet through the observatory's 24-inch window onto the universe. Octogenarians, toddlers and those in between waited up to four hours in order to say they had been present at the cosmic event.

Mars Attracts! Earthlings Love the Red Planet

This week, the Red Planet is closer than at any time since Neanderthals roamed the forests of Europe, nearly 60 millennia ago. Anyone who takes the trouble to step out of the house in the late evening will see Mars hanging in the southeast like a pinkish, Christmas-tree light. It will be bright enough to throw shadows, although this particular trick will go unnoticed unless you�re someplace very dark. There are five planets we can see with our naked eyes, but no one doubts that the most appealing is -- and long has been -- Mars. Mars attracts. Why is this? What�s so special about this planetary neighbor?

Distant neighbor Mars edges closer, captures attention and imaginations

On Wednesday, at precisely 9:51 and 14 seconds GMT, the Earth and Mars narrowed the distance between them to its smallest in 59,618 years: a mere 34.647 million miles (55.758 million kilometers). Star-gazers around the world -- better equipped optically but probably no less dazzled than the Neanderthals of the time of the last close-encounter -- looked skyward as the red planet's orbit swung into stride with the Earth's.

MARS will be closer tonight than at any time in the past 60,000 years, but cloud cover could dim the planet's spectacular red glow in many parts of Australia. At 7.51pm AEST, Mars will be 55.76 million kilometres from Earth - about four times closer than usual.

Rendezvous with Mars: world gazes at planet "that still makes men dream"

Astronomers, professional and amateur, started gazing at Mars Wednesday hoping for a good look at the Red Planet as it moves closer to Earth than at any time since Stone Age Neanderthals roamed the world.

You may already know that 41 minutes before sunrise this morning, Mars drifted closer to Earth than it ever has in human history. A mere 34,646,418 miles separated the planets. The last flyby of this proximity occurred nearly 60,000 years ago, when perhaps a dreamy Neanderthal paused in the thankless grind of natural selection to behold the heavens.

Jakartans jostle for free tickets to see Mars

Hundreds of people jostled at the only observatory in the Indonesian capital Jakarta Wednesday for a free ticket to catch a glimpse of Mars as the Red Planet passes closer to Earth than at any time in the last 60,000 years. School children in uniform struggled with adults to get a ticket which will allow each of them to look at Mars for two minutes at the Jakarta Planetarium.

Never previously in modern human history has Mars been as bright or as close to Earth as tonight. Look for it in the night sky, as it will be easily recognized by its red tinge. As with all planets, its light will also stand out from the background of stars, because it will not appear to flicker, but instead looks like a steady, bright object. An amateur's four-inch telescope may reveal the polar cap and some surface features.

No one in Britain will see the closest encounter in human history, because it will happen in daylight. But at 10.51 BST today, the planet Mars will be nearer Earth than at any time since 56,617BC. At that moment, the two will be 34,646,418 miles apart.

Today on August 27th, the distance between the Earth and the Mars will reach its absolute minimum, which happens in the universe once in five thousand years. The moments when the planets come closer to each other are called "opposition" in the scientific world, academic secretary of the Astronomy Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Ptitsyn recalled in an interview with a RIA Novosti correspondent.

Hubble Makes Best Mars Globe Photos Ever

The first of two highly anticipated Mars portraits from the Hubble Space Telescope was released this morning as the observatory's operators took advantage of a proximity to the red planet not equaled in 59,619 years. The color photograph includes Mars' Hellas Basin, a huge impact crater, and the southern polar ice cap is unmistakable. It is the most detailed full-globe shot of Mars ever obtained from Earth's vicinity.

Mars encounter will be "hostile" for India say astrologers

The proximity of the planet Mars, which will be its closest to Earth in almost 60,000 years on Wednesday, is likely to be "hostile" for India, astrologers warned. Lachhman Das Madan, chief of the Astrology Study and Research Institute in the capital New Delhi, said the Mars encounter was "a dark planetary configuration" and would unleash "negative energy."

Mars approach will make men randy, Portuguese astrologer warns

The proximity of the planet Mars, which will be its closest to Earth for almost 60,000 years on Wednesday, will make men more predisposed to having sex, a Portuguese astologer has warned. "Men will be sexually more active," Rui Lorga told daily newspaper A Capital. "But it will not be just them, obviously women will also feel the influence of Mars, however in a more subtle way," he added.

Mars movements spark huge rise in German "UFO sightings"

As the planet Mars has moved to its closest point to Earth in around 60,000 years, the number of "UFO sightings" in Germany has soared, a researcher said Wednesday. "I'm hearing some of the most outrageous claims at the moment," said Werner Walter, who heads Germany's CENAP centre tasked with investigating reports about unidentified flying objects.

Astronomers flock to observatories as Mars closes in, hope for clear skies

Tens of thousands of astronomers in Asia got a close-up look at Mars as the Red Planet passed closer to Earth than at any time in the last 60,000 years Wednesday, although cloudy weather prevented many from witnessing the spectacle.

Quaking astrologers spell disaster as Mars bears down on Earth

Death and destruction will stalk the Earth as Mars, bringer of war, terrorism and disaster, rumbles Wednesday to its closest point to our planet for 60,000 years, awestruck astrologers warn. While stargazers excitedly grab their telescopes for an unprecedented glimpse of the Red Planet, soothsayers insist the focus should instead be on survival, as Earth's violent celestial neighbour rampages ominously close

California's cutting-edge telescopes prepare for Mars-gazing

California's observatories and planetariums on Wednesday were preparing telescopes for hundreds of astronomy buffs seeking to zoom in on Mars as it makes its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years.

For that perfect Mars pic, French stargazers marry optics and the Internet

As Mars span towards its closest rendezvous with the Earth since the Stone Age on Wednesday, a group of French enthusiasts counted on off-the-shelf Internet technology to get that perfect snap to show their grandchildren. Although the team at the Ludiver observatory at La Hague, near Cherbourg on the Normandy coast, were mounting a continuous Mars-watch, they also hooked up a simple off-the-shelf webcam to their 60-centimeter optical telescope.

Earthlings revel in Mars close-up

The last time the red planet was this close to Earth 60,000 years ago, man lived in caves. No wonder when Mars and Earth synchronized their orbits a few minutes before 6 a.m. EDT Wednesday -- bringing them closer to each other than at any time in recorded history -- thousands of people around the globe went outside to take a peek.

US stages "Mars Parties" for close encounter

Americans held "Mars Parties" and flocked to observatories that were specially opened to mark Earth's close encounter with the Red Planet on Wednesday. Shops reported a run on telescopes as the public sought out Mars, which was an estimated 55.76 million kilometres (34.65 million miles) from Earth.

Hubble Space Telescope's Viewing Plans For Earth's 'Close Encounter' With Mars

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope made observations of the planet Mars on August 26 and 27, when Earth and Mars were closer together than they have been in the last 60,000 years. As Hubble's high-resolution images of the Red Planet are received at the Space Telescope Science Institute and are digitally processed by the Mars observing team, they will be released to the public and news media via the Internet. The Hubble images are the sharpest views of Mars ever taken from Earth. They reveal surface details as small as 17 miles (24 km) across. Though NASA's Mars-orbiting spacecraft can photograph the Red Planet in much finer detail, Hubble routinely serves as a "weather satellite" for tracking atmospheric changes on Mars and for probing its geology on a global scale.

New Mars Photo Called Sharpest from Earth

A new ground-based image of Mars is being touted as one of the sharpest ever taken from Earth. Astronomers took advantage of Mars' historic close approach, the nearest in about 60,000 years, to photograph the red planet with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii. The result is "perhaps the sharpest image of Mars ever made from the ground," said Jeremy Bailey of the Anglo-Australian Observatory and the Australian Center for Astrobiology at Macquarie University in Sydney.

Mars Makes History: Closest to Earth Aug. 27

As if executing a cosmic air kiss, Earth and Mars will come as close as they desire in the wee hours of Wednesday during an historical event that has captivated the attention of skywatchers around the globe. The two planets will be separated by 34,646,418 million miles (55,758,006 million kilometers) at 5:51 a.m. ET (1051 GMT) on Aug. 27.

Earth to Mars: Come Closer

Jupiter may be king of the mythological gods. But, among the planets, it's Mars' time to shine. When it draws closer to Earth than it has in some 60,000 years Wednesday, it will be brighter than any planet except Venus. And, since Venus makes only a fleeting appearance at sundown, it won't steal the Red Planet's show. At 5.52 a.m. eastern daylight time Aug. 27, Mars will be a "mere" 34,848,754 miles away. That's 1,188 miles closer to Earth than Mars came in 1924.

A once-in-a-lifetime planetary event is drawing Canadians out of their homes late at night to look up this week. Mars and Earth will reach their closest encounter in 60,000 years. The beauty of the show is the red planet shines so brightly that city dwellers can't miss it despite the street lights, so long as they know where to look.

Astronomers -- both amateur and professional -- are likely to be out in force if Bay Area skies remain clear tonight and Wednesday night, when the planet Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years. At 2:51 a.m. PDT Wednesday the orbit of Mars will carry it within 34,646, 437 miles of Earth. Mars is already brighter than any other object in the night sky save the Moon.

At 2 o'clock on a recent morning, Bob Bunge ambled into the inky darkness of his Bowie back yard and prepared to meet an old friend. He swung the end of a massive home-built telescope skyward, gazed over the branches of a silver maple tree, then zeroed in on Earth's nearest neighbor. "Mars is as bright as I've seen it in my 23 years of amateur astronomy," he said, marveling at the detail he could spot on the Red Planet: the shimmering southern polar ice cap, and the alternating bands of darkness and lightness that gave Mars the mottled look of an overripe orange.

Sixty thousand years ago, the Neanderthal people and early modern humans must surely have watched a faint but familiar point of light in the southeastern sky grow brighter and brighter until its brilliant topaz-yellow light outshone everything in the nighttime heavens save the moon. We will never know what those people may have thought or feared, because they left no record among their rare artifacts. But today we do know what they were seeing: It was the distant planet Mars, flying on its elliptical track around the sun and closing its gap on Earth's orbit while it appeared to blaze in brightness as the two planets neared.

It was an opportunity too perfect to let pass: the 83rd birthday of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury came as Mars made its closest approach in nearly 60,000 years. Members of the Planetary Society marked the occasions with a party Saturday at their Pasadena headquarters. Then 150 guests went to the Mt. Wilson Observatory, where they peered through a five-foot telescope at the Red Planet celebrated in Bradbury's stories.

Mars Animated

Jefferson Teng wanted to make a longer movie of Mars. "Unfortunately I had to wait for Mars to show up above my house roof," he said. "My laptop storage capacity is another problem." So all we get is this remarkable series of images, spanning two hours and 39 minutes on Aug. 12. Teng used 5.1" refractor telescope and a digital camera to capture an image every five minutes.

Mars: The Solved and Unsolved Mysteries

More eyes are glued to Mars this week than has probably been the case since Orson Welles and his Mercury Players scared folks with his radio rendition of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. This is a good week to take a look: Mars will be closer on Wednesday, Aug. 27 than ever in recorded history. The buzz has been elevated to mania as all manner of media -- from the New York Times to Entertainment Weekly -- have latched onto a story first reported last November by SPACE.com.

HS: As I understand it, you were initially interested in funding a Mars mission but the high cost of launching such a mission led you to develop your own launcher. Are you actively planning a Mars mission for the Falcon or its heavier follow-on derivatives? Don't know if the payload weight matches the launcher, but it would be cool if you launched the AMSAT-DL led P5-A Mars mission. A private launcher sending an AMSAT spacecraft to Mars would definitely signal a new era in space exploration! Musk: No, right now I'm just focused on building a high quality launch vehicle and a top notch space technology company in SpaceX. At some point, I might do the Mars Oasis mission, but that would be a separate, philanthropic venture. My original motivation for MO was based on the notion of "where there is a will, there is a way". However, I now think it is the other way around. As evidenced by the attention given the Shuttle tragedy, the dream of space is an integral part of the American identity. So if people think that there is a way to get to space, they will take that path. We need to show that it exists.

Four boys died in a car crash in the predawn hours of Monday after apparently viewing Mars, police said. Investigators suspect that the car was speeding at the time of the accident, and are trying to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Hubble to Photograph Mars at Close Approach

The Hubble Space Telescope will be pointed at Mars this week to make two color photographs of the red planet during its historic close approach to Earth. The pictures are being billed, in advance, as the best pictures of Mars ever taken from Earth or its vicinity. "The Hubble pictures will provided the sharpest views of Mars ever seen by a telescope located at Earth," said Ray Villard, news director at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates Hubble. "Though the Mars orbiters routinely yield stunning close-up views, we'll be treated to a gorgeous pole-to-pole global snapshot of the planet."

Close Encounters with Mars

At 09:51 universal time (UT) on August 27th, Earth makes its closest approach to Mars in nearly 60,000 years. The two worlds, center-to-center, will be just 56 million kilometers apart--a short distance on the scale of the solar system. The last people to come so close to Mars were Neanderthals. Magazine articles, newspapers, and TV shows have touted the encounter for months. But they all omitted one detail: Which part of Earth?

Our best look at Mars, ever

The wandering of the planets will bring Mars closer to Earth this month than at any time in nearly 60,000 years. It will be a last-chance proposition for all alive today: Mars won't be as close again until August 28, 2287.

Telescope sales boom in Japan as Mars closes in

As Mars drifts its closest to Earth for 60,000 years, Japanese amateur astronomers are snapping up telescopes, globes of the Red Planet and some are even heading to Arizona to watch the spectacle. On August 27, Mars -- the fourth planet from the Sun -- will shine red and orange and as bright as Jupiter, the giant of our solar system.

Mars Fever at Full Pitch, Telescopes in Short Supply

The looming proximity of Mars has fueled a frenzy of public and media interest as people around the globe make plans to see the neighboring world closer than ever in recorded history. Telescopes are flying off store shelves faster than you can say "little green men" and are in short supply globally. Meanwhile, hundreds of Mars parties and other events are slated for this weekend and through next week. At 5:51 a.m. ET (1051 GMT) on Aug. 27, Mars will be nearer to Earth than it has been in 59,619 years. A similar opportunity won't occur again until the year 2287.

Mars and Earth: The Top 10 Close Passes Since 3000 B.C.

We are in the home stretch of the historic 2003 close encounter with the planet Mars, which occurs officially at 5:51 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 27. Earth has been approaching Mars ever since Aug. 10 of last year. At that time Mars was situated on the opposite side of the Sun at a distance of 248 million miles (400 million kilometers) from the Earth. When it finally emerged into the morning sky some weeks later, Mars was shining no brighter than a mundane second magnitude star. But we have been slowly creeping up on Mars ever since, catching it on the inside of a celestial racetrack around the Sun.

It's not every day I take a vacation on Mars. The moons of Jupiter, the spiral arms of a distant galaxy, the hypnotizing rings of Saturn -- all are more reliable destinations when it comes to the ever-important wow-factor. So who could blame an amateur astronomer for looking elsewhere when it's time to get away from it all? But tonight, I�m starting a two-week stretch of gazing at this normally unimpressive orange dot, and nothing else. The draw is a celestial performance with an opening act that included a slew of rocket launches and a headliner that promises the best view of the Red Planet in 60,000 years.

The Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is offering a viewing of Mars at its Oak Ridge Observatory in Harvard, Mass., this Sunday (Aug. 24). For one night only, a drawing will give 40 lucky sky-watchers - weather permitting - a chance to view Mars through the 61-inch-diameter Wyeth reflector (the largest optical telescope east of the Mississippi). A 16-inch reflector and other telescopes will be available to all other guests. CfA will offer tours of the observatory from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., followed by public viewing from 8:30 to 10 p.m. The rain date is Aug. 25. The Oak Ridge Observatory is at 40 Pinnacle Road.

As Earth comes closer to Mars this month than it has in nearly 60,000 years, NASA will give the public an unprecedented opportunity to suggest places on the Red Planet that an orbiting spacecraft should photograph. Operators for the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are taking suggestions online for new images from the Mars Orbiter Camera. Information about how to submit requests can be found on the new Mars Orbiter Camera Target Request Site, at http://www.msss.com/plan/intro.

No place like dome

It was 1969 and Neil Armstrong had just become the first man to set foot on the moon. A space enthusiast placed a small advertisement in a local newspaper asking for people who were interested in astronomy. A handful of men answered, resulting in the formation of the Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society.

Hubble To Snap Mars In Best Bi Annual Photo Op In 60,000 Years

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) will make observations of the planet Mars on Aug. 26-27, when Earth and Mars will be closer together than they have been in the last 60,000 years. As soon as Hubble's high-resolution images of the Red Planet are received at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and are digitally processed by the Mars observing team, they will be released to the public and news media via the Internet.

A brighter Mars sparks marketing

The biggest Mars encounter in more than 50,000 years is under way, and that has sparked an upsurge in products related to the Red Planet, ranging from books to telescopes. MARS MANIA is on the rise along with the Red Planet, which is heading toward an unusually close pass with Earth on Aug. 27. The two planets will be about 34.65 million miles (55.75 million kilometers) away from each other � as close as they�ve been since around the year 57,617 B.C. (the precise date is still under debate). Astronomers say the next time they�ll come that close again will be on Aug. 28, 2287.

Paul Contursi has his heart set on people going to Mars. For now, he will have to settle for the next best thing. On Aug. 27, Mars will swing nearer to Earth than it has been in almost 60,000 years, affording a rare, close-up peek at our colorful next-door neighbor. "Everybody with a telescope will be out that night, if the weather's good," said Contursi, president of the Mars Society of New York, half of whose 150 members are New Jerseyans.

Mars Watch: Where is the Red Planet Now?

On Aug. 27, 2003, Mars will be less than 34.65 million miles (55.76 million kilometers) away -- closer to our planet than it�s been in nearly 60,000 years. The view will be stupendous. Track Mars� growing brightness with SPACE.com's exclusive Mars viewing maps and charts.

Mars Will Not Kill You

On Aug. 27, Mars will be closer to Earth than in nearly 60,000 years. This "close approach," as it's being billed, has some folks worried about potential dangers here on our planet. One SPACE.com reader asks: "Will it be dangerous when Mars gets that close to Earth? It has me a little worried." Others have e-mailed to say they heard there would be earthquakes or other disasters. One of the many rumors going around says the two planets will collide. The true gravity of the situation is benign. There is absolutely nothing to worry about.

This year Mars and the earth will be extraordinarily close -- on August 27 the earth will sweep closer than 35 million miles to Mars. It's enough to give earthlings Mars Fever. Not since the deep ice of the last glaciation swept across much of cold northern Europe and North America, not since the wooly rhinoceros ran through southern France, not since modern man's close relative Neandertalensis dominated the caves of western Europe, not for more than 59,000 years has Mars been so near the earth.

On August 27, the orbits of Earth and Mars will bring the two planets the closest they have been in nearly 60,000 years. For the weeks surrounding this celestial event, the red planet will be the brightest star in the night sky. Precisely 34,646,418 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) will separate Earth and Mars during the event. Mars won't approach the Earth as closely again for another 284 years, at which time it will approach even closer, according to astronomers.

Ray Bradbury, the celebrated science fiction author, has taken millions of people on imaginative journeys to Mars through his work for over half a century. Now Mars is coming to Bradbury, so to speak, when the planet draws closer to Earth than it has been in over 50,000 years. To celebrate the opposition of Mars on August 27 and Bradbury's 83rd birthday on August 22, The Planetary Society is gathering birthday greetings from well-wishers around the world to present to Bradbury in a giant birthday card. Anyone can join in sending these greetings by visiting The Planetary Society�s web page at http://planetary.org/bradbury. The deadline for birthday greetings is August 20.

See Mars a Mere 186 Light-Seconds Away

Communicating with spacecraft at Mars always involves a wait. Depending on how far apart the planets are, it can take up to 21 minutes to get a signal from Earth to the red planet, resulting in a round-trip time of more than 40 minutes. The lag can be agonizing for an engineer trying to steer a surface probe or debug a software problem. On Aug. 27, when Mars is closer to Earth than ever in human history, the one-way travel time of light and radio signals will be just 3 minutes and 6 seconds. Astronomers love to measure cosmic distances in light-years. In this case, you can think of the distance between the two planets as being 186 light-seconds.

It�s prime time for the Red Planet

Just ahead of a historically close approach to Earth later this month, Mars has become the �star� of the night. For months visible only during morning hours, the Red Planet begins August rising around 9:45 or 10 p.m. local daylight time and peeks above the horizon about four minutes earlier each night. Mars is now the third-brightest object in the nighttime sky, after the moon and Venus. To the unaided eye, Mars is by far the brightest �star� in the late-evening sky. Venus is currently too near the sun to be visible.

Using orbital spectral data, Los Alamos scientists are able to view the apparent water content of martian soil. Their findings suggest that in some regions of the Red Planet, a pound of soil could release a half-pound of water if the ice-rich dust and rocks were placed in an oven.

Reverse Course! Mars Motion Soon to be Backward

As Mars has grown closer and brighter daily for several months, it has gradually moved easterly in relation to background stars in the pre-dawn sky. That's about to change as the red planet begins to backpedal in our sky, moving steadily westward. Astronomers call this backward motion "retrograde." The shift comes as Mars is gradually becoming visible in the late evening, too, just in time for the historic close approach to Earth that will occur in late August.

New Map of Water Ice on Mars

A new global map of Mars shows likely locations of water ice based on observations of hydrogen made by NASA's Odyssey spacecraft. The presence of hydrogen is a strong indicator that water -- most of it almost surely frozen -- exists near the surface of Mars, embedded in the soil. Liquid water might exist on the red planet, but no data so far has provided firm indications. The new map is based on more than a year's worth of Odyssey data, much of which has already been announced. The purpose is to show the extent of frozen water on Mars in a visual format. Bill Feldman, a Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher who led the observations, called the map "breathtaking."