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Mars Express instrument under investigation EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY NEWS RELEASE Posted: September 14, 2005 The European Space Agency (ESA) has started a technical investigation into the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) on board Mars Express, after a problem developed in the instrument a few months ago. Vibration effects -- induced by spacecraft activities -- have been suggested as a cause for the observed behaviour. However no source has yet been identified and other causes internal to the instrument cannot be fully ruled out. In order to establish the exact cause of the problem, ESA's Mars Express team is setting up an investigations board involving experts from the Mission Science Working Team, ESA, industry and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). This could lead to resuming scientific observations using modified procedures but, until all existing data and a number of additional measurements currently being planned have been examined, it is too early to draw a conclusion on the operational status of the PFS instrument. The PFS instrument has performed without any such problems for almost two years, following the launch of Mars Express in June 2003. In this period, the instrument has provided much new information on the global composition and movement of the Martian atmosphere. Even if it is found that PFS is no longer fully functional, it is only one element in the scientific package on board Mars Express. The other six instruments (HRSC, OMEGA, ASPERA, SPICAM, MARSIS, MaRS) are all currently working well and are providing new insights into the Red Planet and its evolution. These remaining instruments will continue the scientific success of the Mars Express mission. |
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Astronomers announce the detection by NASA's Swift satellite of the most distant explosion yet, a gamma-ray burst from the edge of the visible universe, during this media teleconference held Monday, September 12. (54min 01sec file)
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has reached the summit of Husband Hill, returning a spectacular panorama from the hilltop in the vast Gusev Crater. Scientists held a news conference Sept. 1 to reveal the panorama and give an update on the twin rover mission.
To gain a new perspective on space shuttle Discovery's ascent and gather additional imagery for the return to flight mission, NASA dispatched a pair of high-flying WB-57 aircraft equipped with sharp video cameras in their noses.
When space shuttle Discovery launched its two solid-fuel booster rockets were equipped with video cameras, providing dazzling footage of separation from the external fuel tank, their free fall and splashdown in the sea.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifts off aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.