nasas missions updates

NASA Missions Updates

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. September 10th.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft made it's closest flyby of Saturn's moon

Iapetus. Cassini took images of Saturn's 3rd. largest two toned moon

(the pic below) from 1640 kms high. This bizarre moon has a mountain

range that runs along the equator. It also has two different colored

hemispheres, dark and white, too weird. In Arthur C. Clarke's novel

2001: A Space Odyssey Astronaut Dave Bowman finds an alien monolith

waiting for him on Iapetus.

A few of NASA's goals on this flyby are:

1. Determine the characteristics and geological history of Iapetus.

2. Define the different physical processes that created the surface of

Iapetus.

3. Investigate composition and distribution of surface materials on

Iapetus-particularly the dark organic rich material and condensed

ices.

Iapetus is cool, my third fav moon in the universe, the first being

our moon but my second fav moon in the universe is Mimas shown below.

Mimas is Saturn's 7th. largest moon, whatever hit the little moon that

caused the large crater at the top nearly destroyed it, there are

fracture lines on its opposite side. Mimas is made up of ice and water

with a little smattering of rock. May the force be with you.

NASA's rover, Opportunity started into the Victoria Crater on Tuesday

but when it had slipage problems it backed out again. NASA is now

trying to figure out whether or not the loose ground is going to be a

problem for Opportunity and may prevent Opportunity from doing any

science in the crater at all.

The Phoenix Mars Lander which was launched on my birthday August 4,

2007, the day not the year was my birthday, is doing well. NASA did

some tests and all its crucial stuff that has to be working like its

landing radar checked out well. The Phoenix Lander will be landing on

Mars May 25th, 2008 to perform various on board tests with it's cool

built in lab. The lander has travelled more than 50 million miles but

has another 600 million to go. Below is an artistic rendition of the

Phoenix Lander on the surface of Mars.