Wednesday, 25 May 2011

Where's your Spirit?

NASA has all but given up trying to contact the Spirit rover on Mars after being unable to communicate with it since 22 March 2010.

Engineers are now almost certain it's curtains for the plucky little rover that has helped shed light on the red planet.

It's been a staggering success though... it was one of two rovers that landed on the surface of Mars in January 2004 and it was thought their mission would last all but 3 months! Incredibly, the other rover, Opportunity is still scuttling across the planet and returning valuable information. Spirit got stuck in some soft sand in 2009. Here's the first colour picture sent back by Spirit:

'Spirit's 1st Colour Picture on the Red Planet' - NASA/JPL


NASA is now focusing on Curiosity - a Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, which is due to launch at the end of the year, though will occasionally listen-out for any sign that Spirit has come back to life.

'Curiosity' - NASA/JPL-Caltech

Sunday, 1 May 2011

5 Great Apple iPhone Apps for May

Get your Apple iPhone kitted out with the latest apps and you'll be dancing all the way through May!

1. Genuis Scan
(Free - Business)
Turn your iPhone into a document scanner that fits in your pocket.

2. Everyday
(£1.19 - Photography)
Snap an image of your face everyday and then watch the changes over the weeks and months.

3. Groupon
(Free - Lifestyle)
Daily deals in a city near you delivered to your handset in an instant.

4. Zapd
(Free - Lifestyle)
Create beautiful mini-websites in 60 seconds from your iPhone.

5. Angry Birds
(£0.59 - Games)
Get the game everyone is talking about.