Imagine standing on Mars, and seeing this with your own eyes.
Continue reading “Wow! Perseverance Sees a Solar Eclipse on Mars”Wow! Perseverance Sees a Solar Eclipse on Mars
Perseverance Finally Spots its Own Parachute on the Surface of Mars
More than 13 months after the Perseverance rover landed on Mars (on February 18, 2021), the rover’s cameras have finally spotted some of the parts of the Mars 2020 landing system that got the rover safely to the ground. The parachute and backshell were imaged by Perseverance’s MastCam-Z, seen off in the distance, just south of the rover’s current location. The image was taken on Sol 404, or April 6, 2022 on Earth.
Continue reading “Perseverance Finally Spots its Own Parachute on the Surface of Mars”What a Feat! Ingenuity Photographed From Space
It seems like only months ago that the Perseverance Rover landed in Jezero Crater on Mars. But in fact, it’s been there longer than a year. Perseverance has had company during this time; its sidekick, the Ingenuity helicopter, completed 23 flights in Mars’ thin atmosphere so far.
The HiRISE camera on the MRO has captured an image of the rover and the tiny helicopter on Mars as it rests on the surface.
Continue reading “What a Feat! Ingenuity Photographed From Space”According to Perseverance, Mars is Quiet… too Quiet
If you want to hear what Mars has to say, you’re going to have to listen closely. Very closely.
Continue reading “According to Perseverance, Mars is Quiet… too Quiet”This is Where the Mars Sample Return Mission Could be Landing
NASA’s Perseverance Rover is busy exploring Jezero Crater on Mars. Part of its mission is to collect samples for retrieval by a future mission. NASA and the ESA haven’t determined where the sample return mission will land yet.
That depends on the Perseverance mission and how it spends the rest of its time on Mars. But we know of one possible—albeit ambitious—landing spot: just west of Jezero Crater.
Continue reading “This is Where the Mars Sample Return Mission Could be Landing”Strange Terraces on Mars are a Clear Signal of Sedimentary Rock
If we’ve learned anything about Mars the past 2-3 decades from the various rovers, landers and orbiters we’ve sent to the Red Planet, it’s that the planet’s geologic history is much more complicated and diverse than what we thought.
This picture from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows fractured sedimentary rock inside a crater called Danielson. Sedimentary rock is a sure sign that this planet was active in the past. The fracturing, layering and terrace-like structures suggests a long-term watery history in this region.
Continue reading “Strange Terraces on Mars are a Clear Signal of Sedimentary Rock”There’s a Big Rock Stuck Inside one of Perseverance’s Wheels
It looks like the Perseverance rover has an unwanted passenger, a rock stuck inside one of its wheels. The image of the stone was selected as the “Image of the Week” for Week 54 (Feb. 20 – 26, 2022) for the Perseverance mission. The Image of the Week is selected by public input. Perseverance captured this image on February 25th, 2022.
Continue reading “There’s a Big Rock Stuck Inside one of Perseverance’s Wheels”How Time Flies: Perseverance and Ingenuity Have Been on Mars for a Year
What a year it’s been — Earth year, that is!
The dramatic touchdown on Mars for the Perseverance rover and the stowaway Ingenuity helicopter on February 18, 2021 was a bright moment in a tumultuous year here on Earth. And even though the pandemic meant that many people were watching the event from home – even some of the Mars rover team – NASA made sure to share the event as widely as possible.
Here’s a video highlight of that day, with pictures and video from both planets, and watching it brings smiles, goosebumps tears of joy. Of course, the incredible video we received of the landing from from the rover itself – especially the sky-crane lowering Perseverance to the planet’s surface — is nothing short of stunning.
Continue reading “How Time Flies: Perseverance and Ingenuity Have Been on Mars for a Year”Bad Weather Postpones Ingenuity’s 19th Flight on Mars
The first flight of 2022 for the Ingenuity Helicopter has been delayed due to a regional dust storm on Mars. Mission planners had originally targeted January 5 for the tiny helicopter’s 19th flight, but they needed to push back the flight when orbital images and weather instruments on the Perseverance rover indicated a worsening weather situation.
Weather conditions have now improved, however, and the Ingenuity team anticipates the next flight will take place on Sunday, January 23.
Continue reading “Bad Weather Postpones Ingenuity’s 19th Flight on Mars”Remember When Life was Found in a Martian Meteorite? Turns out, it was Just Geology
The Alan Hills meteorite is a part of history to Mars aficionados. It came from Mars and meteorite hunters discovered in Antarctica in 1984. Scientists think it’s one of the oldest chunks of rock to come from Mars and make it to Earth.
The meteorite made headlines in 1996 when a team of researchers said they found evidence of life in it.
Did they?
Continue reading “Remember When Life was Found in a Martian Meteorite? Turns out, it was Just Geology”