Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Mars Rovers Set Surface Longevity Record

Mars Exploration Rover Mission
Artist concept of the Mars Exploration Rover on Mars. Credit: NASA

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Congrats to the science and engineering teams for the Mars Exploration Rover program! Today, (Thursday May 20) the Opportunity rover marked an historic milestone: it has now passed the duration record set by NASA’s Viking 1 Lander of six years and 116 days operating on the surface of Mars. The celebration was tempered just a bit because Oppy may be the longest lasting mission on Mars, or it may be second to its twin, Spirit. Spirit has not communicated with Earth since March 22, succumbing to the cold and decreased power from its solar panels. If Spirit awakens from hibernation and resumes communication, then she will attain the Martian surface longevity record.

The rover teams are encouraged now about resuming communications with Spirit, as the winter solstice has now passed, on May 12 here on Earth. “Passing the solstice means we’re over the hump for the cold, dark, winter season,” said Mars Exploration Project Manager John Callas.

Unless dust interferes, which is unlikely in the coming months, the solar panels on both rovers should gradually generate more electricity. Operators hope that Spirit will recharge its batteries enough to awaken from hibernation, start communicating and resume science tasks.

Opportunity's view of the far-off rim of Endeavour Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

Opportunity is doing well and still driving towards Endeavour crater, but making shorter drives since there is less power available from the solar panels. But that should continue to improve.

For the next few weeks, some of Opportunity’s drives have been planned to end at an energy-favorable tilt on the northern face of small Martian plain surface ripples. The positioning sacrifices some distance to regain energy sooner for the next drive. Opportunity’s cameras can see a portion of the rim of Endeavour on the horizon, approximately eight miles away, across the plain’s ripples of windblown sand.

“The ripples look like waves on the ocean, like we’re out in the middle of the ocean with land on the horizon, our destination,” said Steve Squyres principal investigator for the two rovers. “Even though we know we might never get there, Endeavour is the goal that drives our exploration.”

Opportunity's tracks show how the rover avoided driving through potentially dangerous sand dunes. Credit: NASA/JPL/U of AZ

Viking was a flagship mission that launched in 1975. It consisted of two orbiters, each carrying a stationary lander. Viking Lander 1 was the first successful mission to the surface of Mars, touching down on July 20, 1976. It operated until Nov. 13, 1982, more than two years longer than its twin lander or either of the Viking orbiters. The record for longest working lifetime by a spacecraft at Mars belongs to a later orbiter: NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor operated for more than 9 years after arriving in 1997. NASA’s Mars Odyssey, in orbit since in 2001, has been working at Mars longer than any other current mission and is on track to take the Mars longevity record late this year.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Last Chance for Phoenix to Call Home Starts Today

Artists rendition of Phoenix on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL

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Starting today, the Mars Odyssey orbiter will be listening once again for the Phoenix Mars Lander, lending an ear to hear if Phoenix has come back to life. Until May 21,Odyssey will listen for a signal from Phoenix during 61 flights over the lander’s site on Mars’ northern arctic region. Earlier attempts to detect a transmission from the lander — totaling 150 overflights in January, February and April – were not successful.

NASA decided to add another round of listening sessions that weren’t originally scheduled.


“To be thorough, we decided to conduct this final session around the time of the summer solstice, during the best thermal and power conditions for Phoenix,” said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Phoenix quit communicating with Earth in November, 2008, and since that time endured a long and fierce Mars winter, where it was likely encased in CO2 ice in temperatures under -150 C. The solar arrays may have cracked and fallen off the vehicle, and the electronics probably became brittle and broke in the severe cold, so the wiring boards probably are nonfunctional.

Phoenix worked superbly for five months before reduced sunlight caused energy to become insufficient to keep the lander functioning. The solar-powered robot was not designed to survive through the dark and cold conditions of a Martian arctic winter.

Northern Mars experienced its maximum-sunshine day, the summer solstice, on May 12 (Eastern Time; May 13, Universal Time), so the sun will be higher in the sky above Phoenix during the fourth listening campaign than during any of the prior ones. Still, expectations of hearing from the lander remain low.
But nobody is ready to give up just yet.

We’ll let you know if Phoenix phones home.

Source: JPL

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

New Views of Meridiani Planum Show Deposits of Volcanic Ash

Mars Express' view of Meridiani Planum. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

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Earth isn’t the only place we’re seeing volcanic ash these days. New high resolution color images from ESA’s Mars Express of Meridiani Planum on Mars – the Opportunity rover’s neighborhood — shows evidence of volcanic ash in a small impact crater that is about 50 km wide. The wind-blown dark material also provides clues to the prevailing wind direction in this region of Mars. These images are stunning, especially in the large hi-resolution versions, so click on each image to see Mars up close and personal.

Perspective view of Meridiani Planum. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Mars is only about one-half the size of Earth, but yet has several volcanoes larger than anything we have on our home planet. The most massive volcanoes are located on huge uplifts or domes in the Tharsis and Elysium regions of Mars. Meridiani Planum lies close to Tharsis, and is a large plain at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars.

Poking through the dark covering are small mounds, probably made of harder, more resistant material. The softer material around them has been eroded and blown out of the crater by north-easterly winds and now lies outside the crater, forming dark streaks at the bottom left of the image.

This dark crater is close to Mars’ equator, and early on this area was chosen as a central reference point for Mars’ geographical coordinate system, so the martian prime meridian runs right through here. Hence the name “Meridiani.”

Meridiani Planum extends 127 km by 63 km and covers an area of roughly 8000 sq km

Three craters stretch across Meridiani Planum. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Three craters stretch across Meridiani Planum, as seen in this image. The nearest is an old crater, almost worn away. It is 34 km across. The second is covered in dark material, most likely a substance resembling volcanic ash. It is 50 km wide. The third crater, more distant, is smaller at 15 km wide. Again it possesses a dark floor, perhaps because material from the largest crater has been blown out by the wind and has settled in the smallest one.

The image below gives a broader perspective of the area. The color images were actually taken in 2005 and were just recently released by ESA.

Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars. The region lies at about 2°N/352°E . Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)/MOLA
Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

One Moment, Two Worlds

Meridiani Planum on Mars, at 15:00 local Mars time on May 2. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell University

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The New York Times Lens Blog came up with a great idea: They called it “A Moment in Time,” and asked people everywhere to take a picture on May 2, 2010 15:00 UTC and submit it, to share the variety and complexity of life on our world. Emily Lakdawalla from the Planetary Society saw this and thought, “Why limit it to Earth?” she wrote on the Planetary Blog. “What about Mars? What will Opportunity be doing at 15:00 U.T.C. on May 2?” Emily approached Jim Bell, planetary scientist at Cornell University and lead for the rovers’ Pancam team, who was immediately enthusiastic about the idea of having Opportunity take an image to submit to the “Moment in Time” project.

“My immediate reaction when Emily suggested the idea was ‘Cool!'” Bell told Universe Today. “My second reaction was to wonder whether we’d be able to take the photo at the right time, given the low power situation that Opportunity is in right now. Then my third through tenth reactions were ‘Cool!'”

The image has now been posted on the Lens blog, with this caption:

“Two worlds, one sun: while humans’ lives unfolded on Earth, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity paused in its southward trek and captured this photomosaic. Dusty, reddish-brown sand dunes stretch to the horizon in a view taken around 15:00 local Mars time on May 2.”

Getting the image from Mars, though was not just as easy as pulling out a camera and taking a picture like people on Earth can do.

“The process of acquiring the image was perhaps just a bit more challenging than “normal” on the rover project,” said Bell, who asked us to remember–lest we all get jaded–how incredibly complex and amazing it is *whenever* we take images with robots on another planet!), — “because we were aiming for a specific time of day, and to try to get the data downlinked on that same day, very soon after taking the data. However, the rover engineering and science teams were very excited about participating in this global photo event, and that support was critical in helping to make it happen.”

Bell added that the image turned out to be a really lovely shot. The MarsDial (sundial) visible at the bottom of the image on Opportunity is engraved with the words “Two Worlds, One Sun” to mark the unity of Earth and Mars as part of the same solar system.

The timing was “a bit of a fudge” Emily admitted. “Our appointed hour would have been too late for Opportunity in midwinter. Besides, the data began arriving from Mars close to 15:00 U.T.C., so that’s when humans were first able to see the view.”

But the Lens blog folks thought, too, it was a really great idea and decided not to disqualify the picture.

I asked Emily if doing having this image taken at her request was even better than having a request approved for an image from HiRISE, with the “HiWISH” program (public suggestions for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). “It was kind of a HiWish with the rovers!” she said with a smile. “Of course the rover image wouldn’t have happened if the whole rover team wasn’t excited about participating. But it’s important to remind people that those rovers, and all the other spacecraft, and all the people who support them, are out there working hard every day to bring back the data.”

Indeed – wonderful idea, Emily, and great execution on the rover team’s part, making the Mars rovers even more endearing to us Martian wannabes here on Earth.

See the image on the Lens Blog, Emily’s description on the Planetary Blog, and the Mars Rover website.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Latest Mars Avalanche Likely Triggered by Impact Event

Big Impact-Triggered Dust Avalanche seen by the HIRSE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. (ESP_017229_2110) Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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The HiRISE team from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured a few avalanches on Mars, some actually while in progress. But this latest landslide is a little different. Above is a dust avalanche that created a streak on the slopes of Olympus Mons, the solar system’s largest volcano. While scientists believe some of the previous avalanches seen on Mars occur due to the expansion and contraction of ice from seasonal temperature differences, this one was caused by an impact event. This HiRISE image was taken on March 31, 2010 and reveals a small, pristine impact crater (blue arrow). “It shows a fuzzy source area, which resembles the airblast patterns seen at many other recent impact sites,” said Alfred McEwen, Principal Investigator for HiRISE. “The crater is only about 4.5 meters across, meaning the bolide was only about a half a meter wide, so it didn’t take much to trigger this landslide.”

CTX images from Nov. 18, 2007 and Feb. 14, 2010. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

MRO’s Context Camera (CTX) took an image of this area on Nov. 18, 2007 (left) and the adjacent image on Feb. 14, 2010, which shows a large new avalanche. HiRISE then took the follow-up image in March. McEwen said slope streaks , or dust avalanches are common on Mars, but this one is unusually wide and began from an unusual extended or “fuzzy” source area. This made HiRISE team conclude that an impact event occurred sometime between the dates of the CTX images and triggered the large dust avalanche.

“Sometimes, these dust avalanches are easily triggered,” McEwen told Universe Today. “We’ve seen them caused just by dust devils. The dark area was created by an atmospheric blast associated with the impact event, with the bolide coming in at about 10 km per second that distributes the dust. You can see that the upper most fresh dust on the surface is bright, so this landslide disturbed either bare substrate or compacted, older dust.

Color image of the impact-triggered dust avalanche. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Planetary scientists say that landslides or avalanches on Mars can also be caused by small Mars-quakes or the sublimation of carbon dioxide frost which dislodges rocks.

Sources: HiRISE, phone conversation with Alfred McEwen.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Opportunity’s Long and Winding Road to Endeavour Crater

Opportunity's view of the far-off rim of Endeavour Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

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Back in September of 2008, Mars Exploration Rover Principal Investigator Steve Squyres announced the Opportunity rover would head out to a large, faraway crater named Endeavour, and Squyres said he hoped to one day see the view from the rim. Well, Oppy has now provided an improved view OF the rim: off in the distance in the image above are the “Endeavour Hills,” the mounds which surround the perimeter of the crater, about 13 km (8 miles) away, along with the rim of an even more distant crater, Iazu, on the right.

As the crow flies, Endeavour is about 12 km away from Oppy’s starting point in 2008, Victoria Crater. But while the intrepid rover has already traveled 7 km towards Endeavour, it still has 12 km to go, as the route chosen to avoid potentially hazardous dune fields is more like 19km, as presently charted, said Guy Webster at JPL. You can see an example of Opportunity’s circuitous driving below.

Opportunity's tracks show how the rover avoided driving through potentially dangerous sand dunes. Credit: NASA/JPL/U of AZ

The original target timing for Opportunity reaching Endeavour was about two years, but since the science team has had the rover spend several weeks stopping at interesting targets of study along the way, the rover will definitely not make it to Endeavour by September 2010. It might take another year, or even two.

Additionally, it is now winter on Mars, and according to A.S.J. Rayl’s Rover Update from the Planetary Society, Opportunity is now roving for only about 30 minutes at a time, which enables it to cover only 30-to-50 meters on a drive sol. And, the rover is also taking Martian days off to re-charge its batteries. Record cold temps this winter (down to -37 C) on Mars is slowing the aging rover.

But back in March Oppy reached 20 kilometers (12.43 miles) of total driving in its 74 months on Mars. Pretty amazing for a piece of hardware that was supposed to last six months and drive about 600 meters. Later this month, Oppy will surpass the Viking Lander 1’s record of 6 years and 116 days to become the longest-lived robot on Mars. The Spirit rover has already surpassed that record, but it is unknown if the rover is only hibernating and we’ll hear from it when it warms up again, or if Spirit is no longer with us (sniff!).

Endeavour Crater is 21 kilometers (13 miles) in diameter, which is about 25 times wider than Victoria crater. The view in the top image is an area about 140 kilometers (about 90 miles) wide.

Orbital view of Opportunity's location from THEMIS. mage Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University

This view shows a top-down look at the area from orbit, and is a mosaic of daytime infrared images taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter.

Additionally, a new gif “movie” was released this week showing how Oppy emerged from Victoria crater about a year and a half ago. Click here to see it.

Sources: JPL, Mars Rover homepage, Planetary Society

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Are We Contaminating Mars?

A new image from the HiRISE camera on MRO showing mounds of south polar layered deposits. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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With Mars seemingly the destination of choice in NASA’s future, researchers are taking a look at what kinds of things we want to bring with us when we go to Mars. But also, just as important is what we don’t want to take with us. A new study by the University of Central Florida reveals that bacteria common to spacecraft may be able to survive the harsh environment of Mars long enough to inadvertently contaminate the Red Planet with terrestrial life. So, if we do find life on Mars, the question might be: is it them, or is it us?

The research team replicated Mars-like conditions, such as a very dry environment, low barometric pressure, cold temperatures and intense UV radiation. They exposed one of our favorite bacteria, E. coli (Escherichia coli) – which is a potential spacecraft contaminant– to these conditions for a week, and found it likely would survive but not grow on the surface of Mars if it were shielded from UV irradiation, such as in nooks and crannies in a spacecraft, or even if it was covered by thin layers of dust.

“If long-term microbial survival is possible on Mars, then past and future explorations of Mars may provide the microbial inoculum (biological materials) for seeding Mars with terrestrial life,” said the researchers. “Thus, a diversity of microbial species should be studied to characterize their potential for long term survival on Mars.”

Even though NASA and other space agencies do sterilize spacecraft in an effort to reduce the chance of contamination to other bodies in our solar system, recent studies have shown that microbial species are likely still hitching a ride. And in what might be a more-harm-than-good scenario, the sterile nature of spacecraft assembly facilities ensures that only the most resilient species survive, including acinetobacter, bacillus, escherichia, staphylococcus and streptococcus. So we’re likely sending the worst of the worst kinds of bacteria, at least by human standards.

This research was published in the April 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Source: American Society for Microbiology

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

HiRISE Captures Amazing Close-Up of Spirit Rover

Spirit rover, as seen by HiRISE on Feb. 15, 2010. Crop and colorization by Stuart Atkinson, image credit: NASA/JPL, U of AZ

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The HiRISE team released some new images on Wednesday — one of which was another incredible avalanche image. But then there was another shot of Gusev Crater, the home of the Spirit rover. It was a wide shot of the entire region (you can see it below), and visible are the Columbia Hills, and if you look real close you can see the “Home Plate” region where Spirit sits. Our friend Stu Atkinson took a real close look and found Spirit sitting all alone –but very visible in this wonderfully amazing zoom-in closeup! (Click the image for access to a larger version). Stu also colorized it to show almost intricate detail of Spirit’s solar panels. The image was taken on Feb. 15, 2010, and she looks great! She’s in her current stationary position, and even though this image is from before she went into hibernation, it’s great to know she’s still sitting there, waiting for warmer days. “Hang in there rover, hang in there…” Stu said on Twitter, which echoes all our sentiments. Awww, Spirit….

Thanks to Stu and HiRISE for keeping our hopes alive!

The Spirit rover landing region. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Stu has also written a few of wonderful items about Spirit: A poem called Spirit Shivering, a great story about someone who maybe could travel to Mars and free Spirit, and a great blog post titled, “Spirit, Time to Rest.” Stu is a very talented writer and image editor, so check out his incredible handiwork!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

More Mars Avalanches from HiRISE, Oh My!

A shot monitoring the original site of active frost-dust avalanches (ESP_016173_2640) Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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In 2008, the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was monitoring a certain region on Mars for changes in frost patterns as spring progressed, and serendipitously captured an avalanche in action. This year, the HiRISE team has been on the lookout, ready to capture more avalanches as spring approaches in Mars’ northern hemisphere. They’ve been successful — and how! This awesome shot was captured on January 27, 2010 of a steep cliff in the northern polar region of Mars, and shows at least three isolated clouds of particles falling from the cliff. The HiRISE teams says that these clouds, rolling or hovering close to the ground likely reach up tens of meters high (up to 180 feet)! The avalanches are a result of carbon-dioxide frost that clings to the scarp in the darkness of winter, and when sunlight hits them in the spring they loosen up and fall. The cliff, approximately 700 meters (2000 feet) high is made up of layers of water ice with varying dust content, roughly similar to the polar ice caps on Earth. But wait, there’s more! Yes, it’s avalanche season on Mars!

Another avalanche seen earlier in 2010. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Here’s another avalanche captured on January 12, 2010, and below, the HiRISE camera was trained on the same site that the original avalanche was captured back in 2008.

A shot monitoring the original site of active frost-dust avalanches (ESP_016173_2640) Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

The HiRISE teams says that by looking at all of the individual instances of avalanches from all of the images will also allow them to piece together a sequence of snaphots of the whole avalanche process, from beginning (a stream of material falling down the cliff face) to end (lingering puffy clouds). Patrick Russell writes:

Based on this year’s observations, these events happen mostly in the middle of spring, roughly equivalent to April to early May on Earth. And, they are indeed more widespread than just this one scarp. All together, it seems this is a regular spring process at Mars’ north pole that may be expected every year – avalanche season! This information, in conjunction with the results of numerical modeling of the behavior of the materials involved, will help us find out what is causing these dramatic events.

For more wonderful images, check out the HiRISE website.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Amazing Mars Flyover Videos Keep Getting Better and Better

How do the folks from UnmannedSpaceflight do it?!! They keep surpassing themselves with every new flyover video! We’ve posted some Mars flyover videos before, created by UMSF founder Doug Ellison. Now, colleague Adrian Lark — who has been working on creating animations and enhanced images with data from the Mars missions for several years — has produced new features on the videos. This latest, which flies you around the scarp surrounding Olympus Mons has speed and height information as well as a context map included on the video. “The data I am using is generated from the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,” Adrian told me. “The elevation data has a spatial resolution of 1 meter and the image data has a spatial resolution of 25 centimeters. There is no vertical exaggeration in any of the videos.”

Also, Adrian has experimented with You Tube’s stereoscopic 3-D player, providing a 3-D experience of flying through Candor Chasma. IMAX, watchout! You’ve got competition!

So hang on while you watch these incredible videos! See more below, and also Adrian shared with me a little about his software and how he creates these flyover videos.
Continue reading “Amazing Mars Flyover Videos Keep Getting Better and Better”