Robert Burnham

Rock pile reaches 10,000

pkrecker — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:18:49 -0600

What weighs 2,600 pounds, would fill a Smart Car to overflowing, and comes to ASU from all over the world? --by Robert Burnham

Never get lost on Mars again!

dianeb — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:08:43 -0600

Want to suggest places on Mars for ASU's THEMIS camera to photograph? Want to see the very latest infrared images being beamed back from the Red Planet? Now you can, through two new features of Google Earth 5.0. (image courtesy of NASA) --by Robert Burnham

THEMIS monitors Martian dust storm

dianeb — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:52:13 -0600

Scientists at ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility are using the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to monitor a new dust storm that has erupted on the Red Planet. --by Robert Burnham

Mercury a seething hotbed of volcanoes

pkrecker — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:30:48 -0700

Scientists studying NASA's MESSENGER data have imaged parts of Mercury never seen before. They have found that volcanos played a large role in shaping the planet's surface, and that Mercury's rocks are unusually iron deficient. --by Robert Burnham

ASU Mars instrument gets new lease on life

pkrecker — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:38:37 -0600

NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has a new orbit around the Red Planet. The change, part of a two-year extension for the mission, will give an ASU-operated instrument greater sensitivity for mapping Martian minerals. --by Robert Burnham

Mars in their sights

pkrecker — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:54:34 -0700

U.S. and Chinese high school students are taking aim at the Red Planet using an ASU-designed camera on a Mars-orbiting spacecraft. --by Robert Burnham

Mars update: An ancient lake in Melas Chasma?

pkrecker — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:57:53 -0700

Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to make new discoveries--like a deposit of silica--more than three years after landing. Meanwhile, NASA is planning where to send its next-generation rover, the Mars Science Laboratory. A promising site is Melas Chasma, a dried-up ancient lake that could hold evidence of microbial life.--by Robert Burnham

Back to the moon--digitally

pkrecker — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:23:04 -0600

For almost 40 years, the complete photographic record from the Apollo moon project sat in a freezer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Now, scientists at Arizona State University and NASA are working together to create a new digital archive. High-resolution scans of the original Apollo flight films will be available publicly on the Internet. --by Robert Burnham

Pluto's ice machine

pkrecker — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:53:14 -0600

Charon is very cold place. Frigid geysers spew material up through cracks in the crust of Pluto's companion world. Charon just might be the equivalent of an outer solar system ice machine, according to Jason Cook. --by Robert Burnham

Slip-sliding away: Landslide on Mars

pkrecker — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:07:20 -0600

A mosaic image made with data from ASU's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) shows a massive landslide in the Martian canyon Noctis Labyrinthus. --by Robert Burnham