NASA has run into an issue on the surface of Mars with one of the instruments on the InSight probe. The instrument is part of a tool called the "Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package" but is informally known as the mole. Mole possibly hit rock shortly after deployment in March and has been sitting unable to dig since then.
The Mars 2020 rover has gained its robotic arm, with NASA fitting the SUV-sized robotic explorer with the primary tool with which it will perform experiments on the red planet. The new milestone comes shortly after the rover was shod with its six wheels for the first time, as the countdown to its 2020 launch nears.
NASA has announced that it is running a contest that will allow K-12 students the opportunity to name the rover that will be part of the Mars 2020 mission. NASA has selected two partner organizations to run the nationwide contest and is now asking for applications for judges to decide on the name.
We take for granted a lot of gases here on Earth, including our precious oxygen. Even less so gases like methane, which is mostly a waste product of certain living organisms. But when you find unusually high levels of that substances in a planet bereft of life but believed to have once hosted life, it's a pretty big deal. That's the reason why scientists at NASA were more than happy to spend their weekend at work to analyze and do more tests with the data that the Curiosity Rover just sent them from Mars.
NASA's new Mars 2020 rover has finally got its wheels, with the countdown to blast-off now only twelve months out. Handiwork of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the Mars rover is expected to join Curiosity on the red planet and pave the way for an eventual manned mission there.
Scientists may have unraveled the mystery of how clouds form over Mars and it involves obliterated meteors. The study focused on the clouds that form in Mars' middle atmosphere starting around 18 miles above the planet's surface. According to the new study, these clouds may be the result of meteors that slammed into the Martian atmosphere, resulting in a dusty, icy mess.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been circling the Red Planet and looking for interesting things for over a decade now. One of the most recent discoveries that the MRO has made is a new crater formed by a meteorite impact on the surface of Mars. The image below was snapped on the surface of Mars using the MRO HiRISE camera in April and posted on June 6.
Mars is a vastly different environment from the Earth, and according to the laws of physics, it would be nearly impossible to fly on Mars. NASA says that flying on Mars with a vehicle that is heavier than air is very hard to do. The space agency wants to send a helicopter to Mars with the Mars 2020 mission that will be used as a technology demonstrator.
NASA and its crews are hard at work on the Mars 2020 rover getting it ready for its launch next year. NASA has announced that the cameras have been installed in the remote sensing mast (RSM) that carries optics and instrumentation. The RSM and the twin cameras installed inside it will be installed onto the deck of the rover on June 3, 2019.
NASA has announced that its Curiosity rover confirmed the presence of clay in the Martian region it is exploring. That area, which is called the 'clay-bearing unit,' is the rover's latest point of interest due to what researchers say were signs hinting at the presence of clay minerals. The 'clay cache,' as NASA calls it, was confirmed in a pair of drilling sites called Kilmarie and Aberlady.
The NASA official meant to lead the 2024 Moon mission has unexpectedly quit the agency, after Congress slapped down plans to create a new mission directorate. Mark Sirangelo only joined the agency a month and a half ago, but was widely expected to take the helm at a new group focused on NASA's return to the Moon, the mission that will help pave the way for a manned mission to Mars.
NASA may not be ready to take passengers to Mars, but you'll be able to put your name down in the meantime - quite literally. The space agency is offering "frequent flyer" points along with souvenir boarding passes to members of the public for a trip to Mars, as part of its push around the Mars 2020 mission.