Author: Earl White

NASA’s second robotic rover lander Opportunity has safely landed on the surface of Mars at Meridiani Planum. Read the latest news as it unfolds at NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission Homepage.
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The proceedings of the 2nd Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC 2002) are now available online. These include abstracts and papers from over 24 presentations, on diverse topics including geology, habitat design, space suit technology, surface rovers and communications. Audio recordings of the conference presentations are also now available online by tuning in to Radio Free Mars, where you can hear the keynote address by Apollo astronaut Dr Harrison Schmitt.
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The fourth annual Australian Mars Exploration Conference, AMEC2004, will be held this year in Adelaide over the weekend of July 30th-August 1st, 2004. The conference will explore the latest results from local and international researchers in one of the most exciting years in Mars exploration yet.
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NASA’s Deep Space Network has received its first images from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, shortly after it descended to the surface at around 3.35pm Eastern Australian time. Once deployed, it is planned that the rover will undertake a 90 day mission of scientific investigations around the landing site in Gusev Crater.
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As Mars Express makes history as the first European spacecraft to successfully enter Martian orbit, the search continues for the Beagle 2 lander, which entered the Martian atmosphere on the afternoon of Christmas Day Australian time. Australia is heavily involved strategies to establish contact with the craft. NASA’s orbiter Mars Odyessy is sending back search results via NASA’s Deep Space Network, which includes the Tidbinbilla Radio Telescope outside Canberra.
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The European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft is about to say farewell to the Beagle 2 lander on 19 December, as the latter is released and heads off to the surface of Mars. Once separated from Mars Express, Beagle 2 becomes a spacecraft in its own right for the last five days of its momentous journey to study some of the mysteries of the Red Planet.

Read more here.
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If you register for AMEC before the 30th of June, you will receive on arrival a FREE special Mars Society Australia polo shirt celebrating the conference. This is our 5th AMEC and this will be a special issue only available to attendees. For those that don’t make the deadline, you can purchase a polo shirt at the venue for AU$ 35.00.
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MSA is delighted to announce that the keynote speaker for AMEC 2005 will be Professor Steve Squyres. A professor of astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Mr Squyres is a principal investigator for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Missions. Spirit and Opportunity. Along with his work on MER, he is also a co-investigator on the 2003 Mars Express.
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The long awaited laboratory for the Starchaser Marsupial Manned Analog Rover has begun to be constructed. The concrete slab has been poured and it is expected the shed structure will be commenced this week. Photos will follow soon. For more details on the Starchaser Rover visit the Starchaser Marsupial homepage at www.marsupial.org.au.
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The 5th Australian Mars Exploration Conference will be held in Canberra this weekend, allowing locals and visitors to hear the latest news about Mars exploration, including findings from the surface of the Red Planet.
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