At the International Aerospace Exhibition and Conference (ILA) in Berlin, May 2006, a new ‘International Space Village’ within groups together space agencies and industry from around the world. In the space pavilion Europe's highly ambitious Aurora programme for the future exploration of Mars and the solar system is featured, including the ExoMars rover.

The large rover and its deployment on the surface of Mars are probably the most challenging elements of the ExoMars mission, currently slated for launch in 2011, which will search for traces of life on and underneath the surface of Mars. The rover will carry a payload, dubbed Pasteur, and will be equipped with a drilling system that will reach up to two metres below the Martian surface. 

Through the mock-up and accompanying background animation the many visitors to ILA2006 could gain an appreciation of the different mission phases, the rover surface operations, as well as the rover's expected size.

While an artist's view was used to produce both the rover and its animated graphics, European industry is gearing up to design and manufacture the real thing after having conducted conceptual studies (Phase A) both for the mission and for the rover as one of the mission elements.

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Artist's rendering of Orbital's Hybrid Launch Vehicle (HLV) in flight (Photo: Business Wire).

“For the first time, we have discovered a planetary system composed of several Neptune-mass planets”, said Christophe Lovis, from the Geneva Observatory and lead-author of the paper presenting the results.

During more than two years, the astronomers carefully studied HD 69830, a rather inconspicuous nearby star slightly less massive than the Sun. Located 41 light-years away towards the constellation of Puppis (the Stern), it is, with a visual magnitude of 5.95, just visible with the unaided eye. The astronomers’ precise radial-velocity measurements allowed them to discover the presence of three tiny companions orbiting their parent star in 8.67, 31.6 and 197 days.

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Help dad grow beautiful, delicious tomatoes like these. (Photo: Business Wire)

Start off Right

First, choose a good location with full sun, good drainage, and soil amended with natural composts. Good soils with adequate drainage head off root diseases or the stress of too much or too little water. Next choose healthy tomato plants -- dark green with thick stems, a strong root system, and absolutely no brown spots or wilted leaves. Look for varieties resistant to the main diseases and known to grow well in your area (a nursery or extension service can advise). Space tomato plants at least 18-24 inches apart in the row, with at least half of the transplant height buried. New roots will form on the part of the stem that is buried.

Grow It Bigger

Plan for size. These are dad's tomatoes, so do things to help grow really big ones. Keep the soil around the plant moist and rich with compost and mulch. Use stakes to keep leaves and fruit off the ground. Be sure to remove the suckers (small unproductive vegetative branches on main stems and at the base of the plant). Fertilize weekly with a liquid plant food. Remove any damaged or misshaped fruit. Apply Messenger(R) to direct more of the plant's energy into producing more and bigger fruit. Messenger contains a natural protein that also enhances a plant's own disease resistance systems. Apply Messenger every three weeks starting at bloom. This sets the stage for really huge tomatoes.

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