Mars Exploration Rovers to talk to Earth via Mars Satellites
Once they have landed on Mars, not only can the rovers send messages directly to the Deep Space Network stations, but they can uplink information to other spacecraft orbiting Mars, utilizing the 2001 Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor orbiters as messengers who can pass along news to Earth for the rovers. The orbiters can also send messages to the rovers. The benefits of using the orbiting spacecraft are that the orbiters are closer to the rovers than the DSN antennas on Earth and the orbiters have Earth in their field of view for much longer time periods than the rovers on the ground. Because the orbiters are only 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the surface of Mars, the rovers don't have to "yell" as loudly (or use as much energy to send a message) to the orbiters as they do to the antennas on Earth. On the rover above can be seen the cameras, on the white shaft, that will be sending images back to Earth.

Dr. Stuart Strahl to speak at EEAW
Dr. Stuart D. Strahl, president/CEO of Audubon of Florida, is the guest speaker for the opening ceremony of Environmental and Energy Awareness Week. The ceremony will take place April 21 at 10 a.m. in the KSC Training Auditorium. A well-respected author and distinguished lecturer, Dr. Strahl is the principal author of numerous scientific and popular publica-tions, and served for more than 10 years as the founding chair of the IUCN/SSC Specialist Group on the Avian Family Cracidae. He also has considerable background in higher education and has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Florida, State University of New York, Washington College, and elsewhere. Dr. Strahl received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Bates College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and his Ph.D. in biology from the State University of New York in Albany, with an emphasis on ecology and conservation.

NASA Science News
Last week astronauts onboard the International Space Station studied strange magnetic fluids that might one day flow in the veins of robots, silence noisy appliances, help buildings resist earthquakes, and much more. Read the full story at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/02apr_robotblood.htm.

Education Opportunity
The University of Miami will begin accepting applications for Master of Science in Management of Technology (MSMOT) and Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (MSIE) degrees starting in the summer 2003 semester. Both programs will be taught at the Space Coast. Courses are held Friday evenings and Saturdays to accommodate working professionals. For more information and to receive an application/brochure, please call Augusto Roca, program administrator, at 1-305-284-4100, or send e-mail to augusto@miami.edu.