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Word: soiled (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
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...serious attention from some very smart people. Mars, they're concluding, is not out of reach for human beings--and it need not take decades to get there. Indeed, there may be any number of possible routes to the Red Planet that could, some say, have boots on the soil in as few as 10 years. All that's needed is the commitment to go--and the institutional maturity to see that commitment through...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Space: Mission to Mars | 1/26/2004 | See Source »

...middle of last week, the Spirit rover--which bounced down on Mars at the beginning of the month--at last rolled off its landing ramp and onto the dry flats of Gusev Crater. As J.P.L. engineers radioed up instructions, the rover prepared to stick its snout in the soil and begin the hunt for signs of ancient water, and with it the hunt for clues to ancient life. Meanwhile, Spirit's sister rover, Opportunity, continues to head for its own landing on the planet...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Space: Mission to Mars | 1/26/2004 | See Source »

...possibility is that the soil, while now dry, was once wet. Water rising to the surface or sinking down from above could have caused the dirt to congeal, perhaps leaving salty deposits that help hold it together. The Viking probes investigated similar-looking callused patches back in 1976. Investigators on those missions dubbed the features duracrust. The science team working this trip is eager to dig around in the stuff...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Space: Return to Mars | 1/19/2004 | See Source »

...scattering of small craters within the larger Gusev Crater are attractive to mission planners as well. Such secondary-impact pits do geologists' excavation work for them, gouging away upper layers of soil and rock and offering a free peek at what lies below. There appears to be an especially inviting population of small craters to the east and southeast of the rover, providing one more reason for Spirit to head that way when it dismounts. "We've got a capable machine, but we can't dig 20-ft. holes with it," says Squyres. "The way to do that...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Space: Return to Mars | 1/19/2004 | See Source »

Something the scientists do know is that once Spirit has its wheels in the dirt, it's going to act fast. Almost immediately, it will extend its robotic arm and begin sampling the soil directly in front of it. This will allow it both to calibrate its instruments and get the data flow streaming back to Earth. The Apollo astronauts used to do something similar, spending their first moments on the moon collecting what they called a contingency sample--a clump of lunar soil and rock they would tuck into a spacesuit pocket so they would have something to show...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Space: Return to Mars | 1/19/2004 | See Source »

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