Mars Archives

May 2, 2023May 24, 2023 by Matt Williams

Airbus Designs a Space Station With Artificial Gravity

Airbus LOOP concept art. Credit: © Airbus 2023

The International Space Station (ISS) is nearing the end of its service. While NASA and its partners have committed to keeping it in operation until 2030, plans are already in place for successor space stations that will carry on the ISS’ legacy. China plans to assume a leading role with Tiangong, while the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to deploy its own space station by mid-decade. NASA has also contracted with three aerospace companies to design commercial space stations, including Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef, the Axiom Space Station (AxS), and Starlab.

Well, buckle up! The European multinational aerospace giant Airbus has thrown its hat into the ring! In a recently-released video, the company detailed its proposal for a Multi-Purpose Orbital Module (MPOP) called the Airbus LOOP. This modular space segment contains three decks, a centrifuge, and enough volume for a crew of four, making it suitable for future space stations and long-duration missions to Mars. The LOOP builds on the company’s long history of human spaceflight programs, like the ISS Columbus Module, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), and the Orion European Service Module (ESM).

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 by Matt Williams

NASA Seeks Greater Diversity in Research Collaborations

MUREP Partnership Learning Annual Notification (MPLAN). Credit; NASA

In its pursuit of scientific research and human spaceflight, NASA engages in partnerships with various universities, laboratories, and academic institutes. In keeping with NASA’s policy of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility and the Science Mission Directorate’s (SMD) Science Plan, NASA is seeking to expand its partnerships and encourage “a culture of diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility.” To this end, NASA created the Minority University Research and Education Project Partnership (MUREP) – administered through its Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM).

Through MUREP, NASA provides expert guidance and financial assistance via competitive awards to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), which are announced annually through a MUREP Partnership Learning Annual Notification (MPLAN). NASA has teamed up with the leading crowdsourcing platform HeroX for this year’s MUREP opportunity and is awarding multiple prizes of $50,000 to MSIs for innovative ideas and action plans for commercialization that will advance NASA’s Mission Directorate priorities.

April 26, 2023April 26, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

New High-Resolution Photos of Deimos From the Hope Mission

The Hope spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates took this image of Mars and its moon Deimos from a distance of approximately 100 km from the moon. Credit: UAE Space Agency.

We’ve seen our share of photos of Mars from orbit and the surface, but what about its moons? The United Arab Emirates Hope orbital mission to Mars sent home new beautiful high-resolution images of the Red Planet’s moon Deimos when it flew within 100 km of the moon last month. This is the closest any spacecraft has been to Deimos in almost 50 years.

In the photos, the science team says that their images of Deimos help provide evidence that the moon wasn’t a captured asteroid but came from Mars itself during an impact in the ancient past, much like Earth’s Moon.

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 by Matt Williams

NASA Wants New Ideas for Launching Lunar Payloads and Unlocking Climate Science!

NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge 2023. Credit: HeroX

NASA has a long history of crowdsourcing solutions, seeking input from the public, entrepreneurs, and citizen scientists. Currently, the agency is tasked with preparing for the long-awaited return to the Moon (the Artemis Program) and addressing the growing problem of Climate Change. The former entails all manner of requirements, from launch vehicles and human-rated spacecraft to logistical concerns and payload services. The latter calls for advances in climate science, Earth observation, and high-quality data collection.

To enlist the help of entrepreneurs in addressing these challenges, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has once again teamed up with the world-leading crowdsourcing platform HeroX to launch the NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge. With a total prize purse of $1,000,000, NASA is looking for ideas to develop and commercialize state-of-the-art technology and data usage that advances lunar exploration and climate science. The challenge launched on April 10th and will run until November 29th, after which the winners will be invited to a live pitch event hosted at the Defense TechConnect Innovation Summit and Expo in Washington, D.C.

April 24, 2023July 11, 2023 by Matt Williams

NASA is Sending Humans Back to the Moon, But it Won't Stop There. Next Comes Mars

NASA recently announced the astronauts that will make up the Artemis II crew. This mission will see the four-person crew conduct a circumlunar flight, similar to what the uncrewed Artemis I mission performed, and return to Earth. This mission will pave the way for the long-awaited return to the Moon in 2025, where four astronauts will fly to the Moon, and two (“the first woman and first person of color“) will land on the surface using the Starship HLS. These missions are part of NASA’s plan to establish a program of “sustained lunar exploration and development.”

As NASA has emphasized for over a decade, the Artemis Program is part of their “Moon to Mars” mission architecture. On Tuesday, April 18th, NASA released the outcomes from its first Architecture Concept Review (ARC 2022), a robust analysis designed to align with its overall mission strategy and define the supporting architecture. This included an Architecture Document and an executive summary that provide a detailed picture of the mission architecture and design process, plus six supporting white papers that addressed some of the biggest questions regarding exploration and architecture.

April 13, 2023April 13, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Navigate a Global Image of Mars (If Your Computer Can Handle It)

The Global CTX Mosaic of Mars allows scientists and the public to explore the planet like never before. It includes different layers of data that can be turned on or off, like these labels for named geographic features on the planet. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS,

Using data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), planetary scientists have created one of the most unique and detailed maps of Mars ever. But fair warning, the biggest version of this is a could overload your computer.

Global CTX Mosaic of Mars is the highest-resolution global image of the Red Planet ever created and it even allows you see Mars in 3D.

April 11, 2023April 11, 2023 by Matt Williams

Perseverance is Turning Into That Friend That's Always Picking Up Rocks

This image shows the rock core from “Berea” inside inside the drill of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

On Thursday, March 30th, NASA’s Perseverance rover drilled and stored the first rock core sample of its newest science campaign. This is the sixteenth sample the rover has taken as part of the ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, a collaborative effort between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to retrieve Perseverance’s samples and bring them back to Earth. Once they arrive (expected to happen by 2033), scientists will analyze them using state-of-the-art machinery too heavy and cumbersome to send to Mars as part of a robotic mission.

April 5, 2023April 5, 2023 by Matt Williams

China Tests a Stirling Engine in Orbit

The uncapped Stirling thermoelectric converter. Credit: China Manned Space Agency

The China National Space Agency (CNSA) has made considerable progress in recent years with the development of its Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket and the completion of its Tiangong-3 space station. The agency also turned heads when it announced plans in June 2021 to create an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) that would rival the Artemis Program. On top of all that, China upped the ante when it announced later that month that it also had plans to send crewed missions to Mars by 2033, concurrent with NASA’s plans.

As part of their growing efforts to become a major power in space, which includes human exploration, China recently announced the completion of the first in-orbit test of a Stirling thermoelectric converter. The Shenzou-15 mission crew performed the test aboard Tiangong-3, and it was the first successful verification of the technology in space. This technology is also being investigated by NASA and is considered a technological solution to the challenges of space exploration, especially where long-duration stays and missions to locations in deep space are concerned.

April 4, 2023April 5, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

Perseverance Sees Drifting Clouds on Mars

Animation showing a series of pre-sunrise images of drifting clouds in the Martian sky taken by NASA's Perseverance rover on March 18, 2023. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA’s Perseverance rover mission provided a bluish pre-sunrise gift above Jezero Crater on March 18, 2022, aka Sol 738, or the 738^th Martian day of the mission, with “sol” being the official timekeeping method for Mars missions since one Martian day is approximately 40 minutes longer than one Earth day. And, on this particular sol, the car-sized explorer used one of its navigation cameras (Navcam) to snap images of high-altitude clouds drifting in the Martian sky, which it shared on its officially Twitter page on March 23, 2023.

April 1, 2023April 23, 2023 by Matt Williams

2033 is the Perfect Year to Send Humans to Mars (With a Bonus Venus Flyby)

According to a new report, NASA could launch a orbital-only mission to Mars in 2033. Credits: NASA

In the coming decade, NASA and China plan to send the first crewed missions (astronauts and taikonauts) to Mars. Both agencies hope to begin sending missions by 2033, coinciding with a Mars Opposition, followed by additional missions in 2035, 2037, and after. These missions will culminate with the creation of a Mars surface habitat that will enable future missions and research. Launch opportunities for these missions are limited because the distances between Earth and Mars vary considerably over time, ranging from about 56 million km (~35 million mi) to more than 400 million km (250 million mi).

The times when Earth and Mars are at their closest (known as a Mars Opposition) only occur once every 26 months. Moreover, using conventional propulsion methods, it takes missions six to nine months to travel between Earth and Mars. As a result, round-trip missions to Mars could take up to three years, dramatically increasing radiation exposure for the crew and the time they spend in microgravity. According to a recent study from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 2033 will be a unique opportunity to send a crewed orbital mission to Mars that lasts just 1.6 years.