This article was written by Diane K. Fisher. It was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars five years ago. Ever since, the two trusty robotic rovers have been showing us an alien world almost as if we ourselves were there.

The rovers that have explored Mars so far have done amazing things. But every action they take is directed by humans back on Earth, by long-distance remote control. Rovers could explore even more if they could do some of their thinking for themselves.

With the AEGIS program running on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the rovers can decide for themselves whether something is worth a second look.

Soon they will be able to--at least a little bit. Early next year, the rovers will get a new computer program called AEGIS (EE-jis). AEGIS stands for Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science. Here's an example of how AEGIS will help.

Say that Opportunity has been programmed to drive a certain distance due north. It uses its "Navcam" camera to avoid obstacles and hazards. Along the way the Navcam image shows a large, round, light-colored area. Normally, unless this area were directly in its path, Spirit would ignore it. But the AEGIS program now running in Spirit's "brain" detects edges in the image--edges that meet, like in a rough circle. That is the telltale sign of an object--a rock, most likely.

The program then looks for other characteristics. Is the area light or dark? Is it large or small? Is it round or angular? AEGIS can pick pictures that match whatever a scientist is looking for. If it finds a match, it turns on the high-resolution Pancam on top of the rover, which takes sharp, clear images of the object for the scientist to study.

No one knows how much longer Spirit and Opportunity will last. But by serving as "guinea pigs" for the AEGIS software, they will pave the way for future missions to be smarter, more efficient, and more useful.

AEGIS is based on technologies test on the Earth Observing-1 spacecraft. That mission is part of NASA's New Millennium Program to develop and test new technologies for future space exploration.

Find out how Professor Starr got his dream trip using a futuristic space technology. Go to Space Place.

Rich Wilson continues his journey as he sails past Antartica. sites alive.pdf

Watch Wilson's videos.

Some quick lessons using the newspaper: Quickie-Lessons.pdf

Download this Ultimate Holiday Activity Guide now: Ult_Hol_Activity_Guide.pdf

It's 42 days until inauguration day!

The first presidential inauguration -- George Washington's -- took place in New York City in 1789. January 20th marks the "56th quadrennial Presidential Inauguration."

Inauguration Day follows a specific schedule: a morning worship service followed by a procession to the capitol building, the swearing in of the vice president, the swearing in of the president, the inaugural address and the departure of the outgowing president -- all before lunch!

After the inaugural luncheon, there's a parade and an inaugural ball.

The East Greenwich High School band will get a close up look at the inauguration. They'll be marching in the parade, it was announced yesterday.

Activities:

Follow inaugural events in The Providence Journal, on television or online.

Ask students to find the following information -- first inauguration in Washington, D.C.; first auguration shown on television; first inauguration covered on the Internet; first president inaugurated in each century.

Have students compose a poem that expresses their hopes for the new adminstration.

Ask students to design Michelle Obama's dress for the inaugural ball.

Give the following writing prompt: You are standing on the sidelines of the Inaugural Parade when suddenly . . .

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth (February 12, 1809), the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial co-chairs -- U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) and Congressman Ray LaHood (R-Illinois) -- recently launched the "Looking for Your Lincoln Hero" Global Essay and Art Contest.

President Lincoln exemplified the qualities of a leader with integrity, compassion, perseverance and an unwavering commitment to the moral principle that all people are created equal.

The "Looking for Your Lincoln Hero" contest encourages students and adults to think about the people in their lives who share some of Lincoln's heroic qualities and write an essay about them or create an piece of art that features the artist's contemporary hero.

Contest entrees must be submitted by March 1, 2009. Twenty-five essay finalists will be selected from grade levels K-6 and 7-12, college, and adult authors. One finalist from each age group will be invited to the Illinois Lincoln Bicentennial events in Springfield, Ill. including visits to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and many Lincoln Legacy sites across the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area

Contest rules are available online.

Teacher resources are available on the MyHero website.

In this week's installment -- Sites Alive December 8.pdf -- sailor Rich Wilson muses about invisible places: the people and places he sails by on his solo race around the world.

Who have you sailed by today?