After several months of futile efforts to contact Opportunity, which went silent last year during a dust storm that covered most of Mars, NASA today officially declared the end of the rover’s mission: NASA’s Record-Setting Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Archive for Mars
A sampling of space and solar science items of interest: ** Parker Solar Probe update: All Systems Go As Parker Solar Probe Begins Second Sun Orbit – Parker Solar Probe On Jan. 19, 2019, just 161 days after its launch […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
A sampling of planetary science news: ** Yet more Mars water: A new study finds evidence for a deep groundwater table on Mars: Well water likely available across Mars | Behind The Black A science paper released today and available […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Some space science items of interest: ** Planetary rover update: January 22, 2019 | Behind The Black – Bob Zimmerman reports on the status and plans for the Mars rovers and the Chinese Yutu-2 rover on the Moon. Since November […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
[ Update: A brief video report from NASA JPL on Mars exploration news: ] Bob Zimmerman looks at where the Curiosity rover is heading in the coming weeks: Curiosity’s future travels | Behind The Black. The peak of Mount Sharp […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
China heads for the Moon’s far side, NASA listens to Martian winds, and a Dragon arrives at the ISS
Lots of activity in space this weekend: ** Moon: China launched on Friday the Chang’e-4 mission to the far side of the Moon. The 3,780 kg package includes a lander (1,200 kg), a rover (140 kg). This will be the first […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Mars: Insight deploys solar arrays + Cliffs expose ice layers + Successful deep space CubeSat demo
NASA’s Insight lander, which arrived on Mars on Monday, is moving quickly towards operational status. The solar panels have been deployed and in the … coming days, the mission team will unstow InSight’s robotic arm and use the attached camera […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
[ Update: The landing was a success: NASA InSight Lander Arrives on Martian Surface | NASA ] NASA’s Insight spacecraft will set down on the Martian surface today Nov. 26th at around noon PST (3 p.m. EST). NASA TV will […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
NASA TV will webcast two programs today about the upcoming touch down of the Insight lander on Mars: NASA Live: InSight Mars Landing | NASA NASA’s InSight lander is scheduled to touch down on Mars at approximately 3 p.m. EST, […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
NASA’s Insight lander is set to settled down on the Mars surface on November 26th. Emily Lakdawalla gives a preview of the event from : What to Expect When InSight Lands on Mars | The Planetary Society InSight’s will be […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Check out the latest 360 degree panorama of the Martian landscape taken by the rover Curiosity: Curiosity Surveys a Mystery Under Dusty Skies After snagging a new rock sample on Aug. 9, NASA’s Curiosity rover surveyed its surroundings on Mars, producing a […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Settlers on Mars will need to live off the land and off the atmosphere as well. For example, methane for rocket fuel can be derived from the Red Planet’s abundant carbon dioxide (CO2). NASA has now opened a Centennial Challenges contest to find […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Videos: The Nexø II story + The Mars Helicopter + Commercial Crew test flights + Dream Chaser update
More videos: ** The full story of the Nexø II mission August 2018 – Highlights of the recent rocket launch by the all-volunteer Copenhagen Suborbital group: On August 4th 2018 we successfully launched the Nexø II rocket. Nexø II is Copenhagen […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
** Paul Wooster of SpaceX talked at the recent Mars Society conference about the company’s plans for sending people to Mars by 2024: ** SpaceX’s Spacesuit, up close and personal – Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, describes SpaceX spacesuits during […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Mars Society founder and president Robert Zubrin gives a vigorous presentation opening the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention: ====
The 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention starts tomorrow in Pasadena, California and will last through Sunday. Check out the schedule (pdf) packed with keynote talks and multiple parallel session tracks. There are over 40 different sessions listed in the Conference flyer (pdf). I […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The planet-wide dust cloud on Mars continues and may last another month or two. Opportunity rover remains in a deep freeze mode while the sun is blocked from powering its solar panels but Curiosity‘s nuclear power planet keeps it running regardless of […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Mars has lots of weird and wonderful features on its surface. For example, here is one highlighted by NASA last week: Once in a Blue Dune Sand dunes often accumulate in the floors of craters. In this region of Lyot […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The dust storm on Mars that had has cut off the Opportunity rover’s access to the power of the Sun has now engulfed the whole planet: Martian Dust Storm Grows Global Curiosity Captures Photos of Thickening Haze A storm of […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The latest TMRO.tv Space episode is now available on line: The different personalities of the JPL rovers – Orbit 11.24 – TMRO JPL Science System Engineer Kim Steadman joins us to talk about some past, present and future missions that JPL […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…