Category Archives: Mars

Video: A report from the Mars Desert Research Station

January 11, 2014 TopSpacer

In this video journalist Elizabeth Howell reports on the activities of Crew 133, which is currently carrying out a Mars mission simulation at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah: Video Update from MDRS – The Mars Society

Mars, Multiple media, Space Science

Images from Mars orbiter show Curiosity rover and its tracks

January 10, 2014 TopSpacer

Check out the amazing new images from the HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showing the both the tracks of the Curiosity rover but the rover itself as well:

Mars Orbiter Images Rover and Tracks in Gale Crater

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and its recent tracks from driving in Gale Crater appear in an image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Dec. 11, 2013.

Excerpts from the large HiRISE observation are at:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17755, showing the rover, and
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17754, showing tracks across a landscape in enhanced color.

The tracks show where the rover has zigzagged around obstacles on its route toward the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, its next major destination.

Curiosity Rover Tracks, Viewed from Orbit in December 2013

Two parallel tracks left by the wheels of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover cross rugged
ground in this portion of a Dec. 11, 2013, observation by the High Resolution Imaging
Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The tracks show where the rover has zigzagged around obstacles on its route toward the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, its next major destination.

HiRISE first imaged the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft while it was descending on a parachute to place Curiosity on Mars 17 months ago. Since then, it has provided updated views of the rover’s traverse, as seen from orbit.

Curiosity Trekking, Viewed from Orbit in December 2013

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and tracks left by its driving appear in this portion of
a Dec. 11, 2013, observation by the High Resolution Imaging Science
Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

HiRISE is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson. The instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project and Mars Science Laboratory project are managed for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

For more information about HiRISE, see http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu . For more information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/mro . For more information about Curiosity, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

Mars, Space Science, Space Systems

Video: Commemoration of 10 years of roving on Mars

January 8, 2014 TopSpacer

This NASA video is of an event to mark the 10 years of Mars exploration by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers:

NASA and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Media held public events at the museum to commemorate 10 years of roving across Mars. Activities highlighted the images and achievements of Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity and how Mars robotic exploration and discovery will aid plans for a future human mission to Mars. NASA landed the rovers on Mars in January 2004 and both completed three-month prime missions in April 2004. Although Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010, Opportunity continues to explore. The rovers have made important discoveries about wet environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting microbial life.