The public’s perception of space exploration and astronomy is almost as important as the events themselves. One of the most prominent figures in shaping that perception in Britain is astronomer, author and television presenter Heather Couper. New Mars conducted an extensive interview with Heather on her current projects and her thoughts about the future of space exploration, both around the world and in Britain.
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Filed under: Interviews on March 21st, 2002 | 3 Comments »
Cognitive scientist and NASA researcher Bill Clancey talks to New Mars about his experiences with the NASA Haughton Mars Project at Devon Island, and the human factors involved in a manned Mars mission.
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Filed under: Interviews on February 1st, 2002 | No Comments »
Adrian Hon presents an in-depth report on the first Mars Society UK Symposium. With speakers from Dr. Robert Zubrin to Prof. Colin Pillinger, the director of the Beagle 2 Mars lander, the symposium certainly had an interesting range of presentations and was by all accounts a resounding success.
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Filed under: Articles on January 25th, 2002 | 3 Comments »
We interview Kees Veenenbos, a computer programmer who transforms the raw binary code from Mars Orbiter spacecraft into beautiful vistas of the red planet - or not so red, in some cases…
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Filed under: Interviews on January 18th, 2002 | 17 Comments »
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts have discovered a unique community of micro-organisms living underground in Mars-like conditions. The organisms don’t use light for energy, as photosynthesizing plants do, but instead use hydrogen gas. These findings provide support towards the possibility that life could exist on Mars.
Filed under: Meta on January 16th, 2002 | Comments Off
Some long-needed good news for the Mars exploration effort has arrived: The Mars Odyssey has successfully completed aerobraking after skimming through the planet’s atmosphere 332 times.
Filed under: Meta on January 14th, 2002 | Comments Off
UPDATE^2: I think the problem exists only at my end, probably something to do with the Cambridge University web cache. It’s something that I can sort out in time, but for now, ironically I am the only person who can’t view the forum posts. Sigh.
UPDATE: Interestingly, it appears that someone managed to post to the board today, which is strange since I can’t view any forums or topics. If you can view topics and post, please email me.
As some of you may have noticed, the forums are currently experiencing some problems. I still do not have access to my computer to try and solve this, although efforts will be made in an attempt to sort it out.
Filed under: Meta on January 11th, 2002 | Comments Off
Unfortunately, since I managed to break my main computer while upgrading it, there won’t be any new articles added until mid to late next week. However, by then we’ll have at least three new in-depth interviews lined up, and of course this column and the forums will remain active.
In the meantime, it’s worth reading about the problems involved in getting people to walk on Mars - both with the spacesuits, and with bone loss problems. The scientist featured in the story, Dava Newman, apparently intends to go to Mars; along with the three women who I know want to be the first human on Mars, it looks as if the first mission will be composed entirely of females…
Filed under: Meta on January 10th, 2002 | Comments Off
“After dark tonight, I won’t be able to go outside and see numerous space stations spinning gracefully in the sky to a Straussian soundtrack, nor will I watch Pan Am shuttles and tourist spaceplanes flitting between them. There are no IKEA-outfitted science outposts on the Moon, no orange-spacesuited astronauts slowly walking down ramps into the floodlit depths of excavated lunar craters.”
Let’s face it, 2001 wasn’t all it was shaped up to be, and despite Pathfinder and the Global Surveyor, the public aren’t showing any signs of increased interest in Mars. Stuart Atkinson laments the sorry state of Mars’ portrayal in entertainment media and gives a few ideas about how things could be made better.
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Filed under: Articles on January 8th, 2002 | 16 Comments »
First the ISS, and now Mars? That’s what’s on the mind of the Canadian Space Agency, who want to participate in the NASA Mars 2007 ‘Smart Lander’ mission. The venture could cost Canada hundreds of millions of dollars if it gets the go-ahead, but would give the country’s scientists a chance to contribute experiments on the lander and perhaps make sure they can get their hands on samples of Mars soil future any future sample return missions.
Filed under: Meta on January 6th, 2002 | Comments Off
