Mars

NASA's Opportunity Rover mission's craft has spoken its last, and after 5,352 days on Mars, its watch is ended. NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA science division chief, are expected to hold a conference at 2PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, February 13th, 2019, to make this announcement official. The day this rover died will be Sol 5352 (Martian solar days in operation), after 15 years and 20 days in service, having started roving on January 25th, 2004.

Continue Reading

Mars One's mission to take humans to the red planet isn't over, the company insists, claiming talks with a new investor could bring the ill-fated space travel company out of bankruptcy. If the deal goes through, Mars One Ventures says, it'll take a new approach to publicizing - and funding - the whole project.

Continue Reading

While some are still arguing whether man even landed on the moon at all or not, there are those who have already set their eyes on making Mars humanity's next home. Elon Musk immediately comes to mind, but he was hardly the only one. Almost seven years ago, a never before heard of organization proposed landing humans on the red planet to eventually establish a colony. Unsurprisingly, there was no small amount of suspicion over the years but all the speculation has ended now that the tiny company has run into bankruptcy.

Continue Reading

NASA launched a pair of spacecraft that were very small, about the size of a briefcase, known collectively as MarCO last year. NASA knew when the spacecraft launched that they would be pushing the limits by merely operating in deep space, and their success was measured in survival. The MarCo (short for Mars Cube One) mission was the first interplanetary mission to use small CubeSats.

Continue Reading

In December, NASA's InSight rover successfully deployed its seismometer instrument on the Martian surface. This was the mission's first big milestone, one recently joined by another completed effort: giving the instrument its own small house. The dome-shaped shelter, which NASA calls a shield, is positioned on top of the seismometer to help protect it from the elements.

Continue Reading

Back in the Apollo mission days to the moon in 1972, the moon rover that the astronauts drove around had instruments on board to measure the gravity of the surface. Scientists wanted to measure the gravity on the surface of Mars, but the Curiosity rover lacks sensors for such measurements. That didn't stop researchers from figuring out a way to measure gravity with what Curiosity does have on board.

Continue Reading

After more than a year spent in the region, NASA's Curiosity rover has departed from the Red Planet's Vera Rubin Ridge and is now making its way toward Mount Sharp. The departure was marked by a selfie at Vera Rubin Ridge's "Rock Hall" drill site, according to NASA, which published an image of the area on Monday. The upcoming new project will help shed light on Mars' history.

Continue Reading

Multiple European space agencies recently deployed Mars rovers in Morocco for field tests conducted in a Mars-like environment. According to the European Space Agency, the tests took place on the Sahara Desert's northern edge, which the Europlanet Research Infrastructure designated as a site that is very similar to the Martian landscape. The tests involved three Mars rovers and more than 40 engineers.

Continue Reading

The European Space Agency is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of its Mars Express mission entering orbit, and here to join it is a new image from the Red Planet. ESA has given the public a look at the Korolev crater filled with ice, one it captured with the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera. According to the space agency, the image is comprised of five strips combined into a single unified photo.

The InSight lander has been on the surface of Mars since November 26 and has been preparing to deploy two of its main instruments. One of those instruments is a seismometer that is meant to detect marsquakes. NASA has announced that InSight has successfully placed that first instrument on the Martian soil.

Continue Reading

NASA's InSight rover touched down on Mars late last month at a landing site that the space agency's researchers narrowed down to a 81-mile-long ellipses. Thanks to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera, NASA has been able to visually confirm its lander's exact position, as well as its parachute and heat shield. Three images of the objects have been shared with the public.

Continue Reading

Humanity has been provided with a recording of winds on Mars for the first time ever thanks to NASA's newly deployed InSight rover. The vehicle arrived on Mars in November, successfully landing after months of travel to the Red Planet. NASA shared two copies of the wind recording, one as it was captured and another adjusted for playback on phones and laptops.

Continue Reading