NASA's Kepler mission to seek other Earth-like planets is
undergoing final preparations for liftoff Friday, March 6, from Pad
17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA has two
opportunities for launch Friday, from 7:49 to 7:52 pm PST and 8:13
to 8:16 pm PST.
Jet packs -- that is, real ones -- generally suffer from very
short endurance. The longest flight of the original Bell rocket
belt was just 26 seconds. A newer, lighter, carbon-fiber design
using hydrogen peroxide rockets, has upped that record to 33
seconds.
Loose soil piled against the northern edge of a low plateau
called "Home Plate" has blocked NASA's Mars Exploration Rover
Spirit from taking the shortest route toward its southward
destinations for the upcoming Martian summer and following winter.
The rover has instead begun a trek skirting at least partway around
the plateau, instead of directly over it.
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