Tag: Mars

Massive Mars dust storm spotted by China’s Tianwen-1 probe (photos)

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China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter spotted a massive dust storm on Mars near Olympus Mons, the biggest mountain in the solar system. The massive dust storm was captured by the medium-resolution MoRIC camera on Tianwen-1 in January 2022. The mission launched in July 2020 and arrived in orbit around Mars just ahead of the arrival of NASA’s Perseverance rover in February 2021.  An image of the storm was processed by Andrea Luck, using data from China’s Lunar and Planetary Data Release System. Luck then shared the images on X. A larger version…

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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Captures a Martian Day, From Dawn to Dusk

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) While stationary for two weeks during Mars solar conjunction in November 2023, NASA’s Curiosity rover used its front and rear black-and-white Hazcams to capture 12 hours of a Martian day. The rover’s shadow is visible on the surface in these images taken by the front Hazcam. Videos from the rover show its shadow moving across the Martian surface during a 12-hour sequence while Curiosity remained parked. When NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover isn’t on the move, it works pretty well…

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Mars’ atmosphere swelled like a balloon when solar wind stopped blowing. Scientists are thrilled

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Mars’ atmosphere, once as thick as if not thicker than Earth’s today, is leaking into space. About 0.25 lbs of Mars’ atmosphere (0.11 kg) is pushed away every second by the incessant solar wind, the speedy stream of charged particles routinely blasted from the sun which pervade the solar system and even reach beyond Pluto. But for a rare two days last December, some of that wind went away. Its sudden and dramatic disappearance, causing the atmosphere on Mars’ sun-facing side to swell by nearly four times its usual size…

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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Deciphers Ancient History of Martian Lake

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This 360-degree mosaic from the “Airey Hill” location inside Jezero Crater was generated using 993 individual images taken by the Perseverance Mars rover’s Mastcam-Z from Nov. 3-6. The rover remained parked at Airey Hill for several weeks during solar conjunction. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Now at 1,000 days on Mars, the mission has traversed an ancient river and lake system, collecting valuable samples along the way. Marking its 1,000th Martian day on the Red Planet, NASA’s Perseverance rover recently completed its exploration of the ancient river delta that holds evidence of a lake…

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Japan may delay its Mars moon sampling mission MMX due to rocket problems

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Japan’s ambitious mission to explore the two mini moons of Mars could be facing a lengthy delay.  The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) is scheduled to launch in September 2024, taking advantage of a once-every-26-months launch window to the Red Planet.  Arriving in Mars orbit in August 2025, coinciding with the World Expo in Osaka, MMX would attempt landings on Phobos to collect a minimum 0.35 oz (10 grams) of samples. It would then make flybys of the smaller moon Deimos before a module containing the…

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Here’s what astronauts in orbit around Mars would see from their spacecraft

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Have you ever wondered what it might be like to view Mars from the vantage point of a spacecraft in orbit above the Red Planet? New images from NASA’s Mars Odyssey Orbiter capture what Mars would look like when viewed from above. Mission scientists recently rotated Odyssey toward the Martian horizon for one complete orbit to capture the new imagery of the Red Planet, revealing deep craters and diverse cloud structures as astronauts orbiting Mars would expect to see them. “If you were an astronaut, the first thing that would…

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A Miniature Mariner-C

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NASA A model of the Mariner-C spacecraft seems to float in the darkness of space in this photo from a June 1964 Conference on New Technology at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Mariner-C and Mariner-D were identical spacecraft designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to fly by Mars and photograph the Martian surface. Mariner-C was launched on Nov. 4, 1964, but the mission ended unsuccessfully two days later. Mariner-D, or Mariner 4, launched on Nov. 28, 1964, and became the first successful mission to Mars, as well as the…

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The Mars helicopter Ingenuity is an amazing success. NASA’s already testing tech for the next generation (video)

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NASA recently released a video showing a pair of Mars helicopter rotor blades getting tested at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The test occurred on Sept. 15, just one day before NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made a record-breaking flight on the Red Planet. With Ingenuity’s major success, NASA is planning to incorporate helicopter-like drones into future Mars missions too, built with designs more robust than their predecessor — which has completed 66 flights, and counting. The new dual rotor system recently tested at JPL features two carbon-fiber blades measuring more…

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NASA’s Mars Fleet Will Still Conduct Science While Lying Low

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NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this view of the location where it will be parked for several weeks during Mars solar conjunction, a period when engineers stop sending commands to spacecraft at the Red Planet because the Sun may interfere with radio signals. NASA/JPL-Caltech Rovers and orbiters will continue collecting limited data during a two-week communications pause due to the position of Earth, the Sun, and the Red Planet. NASA will hold off sending commands to its Mars fleet for two weeks, from Nov. 11 to 25, while Earth and the…

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Mars, Earth, or deep space? ESA narrows down finalists for a future space mission

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The European Space Agency (ESA) has narrowed down proposals for a future medium-sized (M-class) mission.  On Wednesday (Nov. 8), the final three proposals were revealed to be M-Matisse, Plasma Observatory and Theseus, which have varying goals ranging from studying the effects of the solar winds on both Earth and Mars to examining high-energy blasts of radiation from far beyond the solar system.  The ESA called for these M-class proposals in 2021, and the launch of the winning mission is set provisionally for midway through the 2030s. A total of 27…

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