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
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…
Read MoreHere’s what astronauts in orbit around Mars would see from their spacecraft
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…
Read MoreA Miniature Mariner-C
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…
Read MoreThe Mars helicopter Ingenuity is an amazing success. NASA’s already testing tech for the next generation (video)
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…
Read MoreNASA’s Mars Fleet Will Still Conduct Science While Lying Low
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…
Read MoreMars, Earth, or deep space? ESA narrows down finalists for a future space mission
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…
Read MoreNASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter flies on back-to-back days to prep for ‘solar conjunction’
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter just made its 65th and 66th Red Planet flights, two short hops that helped prep the chopper for a coming stretch in which it will be cut off from ground control. Flight 65 occurred on Nov. 2. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity stayed aloft that day for 48 seconds, covering 23 feet (7 meters) of Mars ground in the process. Then, the rotorcraft was at it again on Nov. 3 with an even briefer sortie: It lasted 23 seconds and involved a horizontal movement of just 2…
Read MoreNew Japanese spacecraft aims to explore the mysterious moons of Mars
Mars itself is a world of puzzlement, particularly when it comes to whether or not the planet is the home of ancient or even present-day life. But put that aside for the moment. Even without the possible presence of life, the Red Planet is mysterious enough due to the fact that it’s circled by a couple of oddballs. Nobody knows for sure how the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, got where they are or what they are made of. But now an audacious, adventurous undertaking is being readied…
Read MoreNASA, JAXA Benefit from Collaborative Fellowship Experience
NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Katherine Cook, fourth from the left, attends a welcome reception for the 26th class of Mansfield Scholars at the Iikura House in Japan on Sept. 1, 2022. The reception was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Mansfield Foundation, and the National Personnel Authority of Japan. Contributed photo A yearlong journey of cultural and professional development overseas has a NASA Deep Space Logistics employee excited about current and future collaboration with one of America’s key international partners in the agency’s Artemis program. …
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