An image released on 09/07/98 showing the mysterious "Giant Polygons" of the Martian northern plains. These "Polygons" were first seen by the Viking Orbiters in the 1970's...they appear to be huge cracks in the surface of the Red Planet.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA
Exploring Mars - Slowly But Surely...
News story originally written on September 11, 1998
The
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) reached Mars in September 1997. It has circled the planet almost 600 times so far!
There is a problem with one of the antennae on the MGS. Engineers will send it a signal, and then the antenna will pop open. But engineers aren't sure if it will pop open too quickly. This could shake up the spacecraft so that we can't communicate with it any more. Right now, people who work for the MGS project are trying to figure out what to do.
Check out this picture to the left. The MGS took that picture this week...it is of the surface of Mars!
You might also be interested in:
It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,
...moreThe Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on October 29th at 2:19 p.m. EST. The sky was clear and the weather was great. This was the America's 123rd manned space mission. A huge
...moreScientists found a satellite orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is the second one ever! A special telescope allows scientists to look through Earth's atmosphere. The first satellite found was Dactyl.
...moreThe United States wants Russia to put the service module in orbit! The module is part of the International Space Station. It was supposed to be in space over 2 years ago. Russia just sent supplies to the
...moreA coronal mass ejection (CME) happened on the Sun last month. The material that was thrown out from this explosion passed the ACE spacecraft. ACE measured some exciting things as the CME material passed
...moreTrees and plants are a very important part of this Earth. Trees and plants are nature's air conditioning because they help keep our Earth cool. On a summer day, walking bare-foot on the sidewalk burns,
...moreThere is something special happening in the night sky. Through mid-May, you will be able to see five planets at the same time! This doesn't happen very often, so you won't want to miss this. Use the links
...more