When the Mars rover Opportunity's instrument heater wouldn't
turn itself off when it wasn't needed, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
was faced with a tough decision: risk some of the
temperature-sensitive equipment used to conduct soil tests or put
the whole rover to sleep during the Martian night in order to save
power. Otherwise, the heater, which was running both day and night,
would drain the solar-fed power cells and render the rover almost
useless.
Goal: Help Protect Future Space Explorers And Detect Life Forms
On Mars
With a microscope and computer monitor, researchers at NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville (AL) watch fluorescent
bacteria flow through tiny, fluid highways on a dime-sized lab on a
chip.
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