Category Archives: Mars

Mars, Rockets, Space Systems

Video: SpaceX unveils the Interplanetary Transport System

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Coming up at 2:30 pm ET today, Elon Musk will describe the design of the “SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System” that will be used to send people to Mars and elsewhere. Here is a video animation of the system:

You can watch his talk online here:

Update: Here are the slides that Elon showed during hits talk: Mars Presentation (pdf)

Mars, Solar Sci-Fi, Space TV

Videos: National Geographic’s MARS series premiers in November

The National Geographic Channel‘s MARS mini-series, directed by Ron Howard, will debut in the US on Nov. 14 and Nov. 13 internationally. The program consists of a drama about the settlement of the Red Planet plus interviews with a diverse array of experts on Mars, space technologies and space science. The 21 interviewees include, for example, Andy Weir, author of The Martian: A Novel, Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Here are two trailers released to promote the series:

 

Find more about the program at

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Mars, Multiple media, Space Science

Mars Curiosity rover sends remarkable images of layered rocket formations

Lots of wonderful new pictures from the Curiosity rover on Mars:

Mars Rover Views Spectacular Layered Rock Formations

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This view [larger image] from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) in NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows an outcrop with finely layered rocks within the “Murray Buttes” region on lower Mount Sharp. The buttes and mesas rising above the surface in this area are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed. Curiosity closely examined that layer — called the “Stimson formation” — during the first half of 2016, while crossing a feature called “Naukluft Plateau” between two exposures of the Murray formation. The layering within the sandstone is called “cross-bedding” and indicates that the sandstone was deposited by wind as migrating sand dunes. The image was taken on Sept. 8, 2016, during the 1454th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars.
The layered geologic past of Mars is revealed in stunning detail in new color images returned by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, which is currently exploring the “Murray Buttes” region of lower Mount Sharp. The new images arguably rival photos taken in U.S. National Parks.

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This view [see larger image] from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) in NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows a sloping hillside within the “Murray Buttes” region on lower Mount Sharp. The rim of Gale Crater, where the rover has been active since landing in 2012, is visible in the distance, through the dusty haze. The image was taken on Sept. 8, 2016, during the 1454th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars.
Curiosity took the images with its Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Sept. 8. The rover team plans to assemble several large, color mosaics from the multitude of images taken at this location in the near future.

“Curiosity’s science team has been just thrilled to go on this road trip through a bit of the American desert Southwest on Mars,” said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

The Martian buttes and mesas rising above the surface are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed.

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This view [see larger image]  from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) in NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows sloping buttes and layered outcrops within the “Murray Buttes” region on lower Mount Sharp. The buttes and mesas rising above the surface are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed. Curiosity closely examined that layer — called the “Stimson formation” — during the first half of 2016, while crossing a feature called “Naukluft Plateau” between two exposures of the Murray formation. The layering within the sandstone is called “cross-bedding” and indicates that the sandstone was deposited by wind as migrating sand dunes.

“Studying these buttes up close has given us a better understanding of ancient sand dunes that formed and were buried, chemically changed by groundwater, exhumed and eroded to form the landscape that we see today,” Vasavada said.

The new images represent Curiosity’s last stop in the Murray Buttes, where the rover has been driving for just over one month. As of this week, Curiosity has exited these buttes toward the south, driving up to the base of the final butte on its way out. In this location, the rover began its latest drilling campaign (on Sept. 9). After this drilling is completed, Curiosity will continue farther south and higher up Mount Sharp, leaving behind these spectacular formations.

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This view [see larger image] from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) in NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows finely layered rocks within the “Murray Buttes” region on lower Mount Sharp. The buttes and mesas rising above the surface in this area are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed. Curiosity closely examined that layer — called the “Stimson formation” — during the first half of 2016, while crossing a feature called “Naukluft Plateau” between two exposures of the Murray formation. The layering within the sandstone is called “cross-bedding” and indicates that the sandstone was deposited by wind as migrating sand dunes. The image was taken on Sept. 8, 2016, during the 1454th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars.
Curiosity landed near Mount Sharp in 2012. It reached the base of the mountain in 2014 after successfully finding evidence on the surrounding plains that ancient Martian lakes offered conditions that would have been favorable for microbes if Mars has ever hosted life. Rock layers forming the base of Mount Sharp accumulated as sediment within ancient lakes billions of years ago.

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This view [see larger image]  from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) in NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows a hillside outcrop with layered rocks within the “Murray Buttes” region on lower Mount Sharp.
On Mount Sharp, Curiosity is investigating how and when the habitable ancient conditions known from the mission’s earlier findings evolved into conditions drier and less favorable for life.

For more information about Curiosity, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl

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Mars, Multiple media, Space Science

Explore Mars in 360-degree panorama sent from the Curiosity rover

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Here is an interactive 360 degree panorama of the scenery that recently surrounded NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover:

Explore this Mars panorama by moving the view with your mouse or mobile device. This 360-degree panorama was acquired on Aug. 5, 2016, by the Mastcam on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover as the rover neared features called “Murray Buttes” on lower Mount Sharp. The dark, flat-topped mesa seen to the left of the rover’s arm is about 50 feet (about 15 meters) high and, near the top, about 200 feet (about 60 meters) wide.

If you can’t move the view:

Important note: Not all browsers support viewing 360 videos/images. YouTube supports uploading and playback of 360 degree videos/images on computers using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera browsers.

If your browser does not support 360, a static view of this same panorama image is available at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/d…

Download raw images used to make this 360-degree mosaic from:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimed…

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From the press release that accompanied this image:

Full-Circle Vista from NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Shows ‘Murray Buttes’

Eroded mesas and buttes reminiscent of the U.S. Southwest shape part of the horizon in the latest 360-degree color panorama from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover.

The sweeping view that marks Curiosity’s arrival at “Murray Buttes” on lower Mount Sharp is online at:
http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7994

The rover used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) to capture dozens of component images of this scene on Aug. 5, 2016, four years after Curiosity’s landing inside Gale Crater.

The visual drama of Murray Buttes along Curiosity’s planned route up lower Mount Sharp was anticipated when the site was informally named nearly three years ago to honor Caltech planetary scientist Bruce Murray (1931-2013), a former director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. JPL manages the Curiosity mission for NASA.

The buttes and mesas are capped with rock that is relatively resistant to wind erosion.  This helps preserve these monumental remnants of a layer that formerly more fully covered the underlying layer that the rover is now driving on.

Early in its mission on Mars, Curiosity accomplished its main goal when it found and examined an ancient habitable environment. In an extended mission, the rover is examining successively younger layers as it climbs the lower part of Mount Sharp. A key goal is to learn how freshwater lake conditions, which would have been favorable for microbes billions of years ago if Mars has ever had life, evolved into harsher, arid conditions much less suited to supporting life. The mission is also monitoring the modern environment of Mars.

These findings have been addressing high-priority goals for planetary science and further aid NASA’s preparations for a human mission to the Red Planet.

For more information about Curiosity, visit:

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Check out also this stereo image of Boulders at ‘Bimbe’ on Lower Mount Sharp, Mars (Stereo) – Mars Science Laboratory

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Breccia-Conglomerate Rocks on Lower Mount Sharp, Mars (Stereo) This July 22, 2016, stereo scene from the Mastcam on NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover shows boulders at a site called “Bimbe” on lower Mount Sharp. They contain pebble-size and larger rock fragments. The image appears three dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. Larger image.

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Contests and Games, Mars, Simulators

NASA rover game released to mark Curiosity’s 4 year anniversary on Mars

Check out NASA’s free Rover Game:

NASA Rover Game Released for Curiosity’s Anniversary

As Curiosity marks its fourth anniversary (in Earth years) since landing on Mars, the rover is working on collecting its 17th sample. While Curiosity explores Mars, gamers can join the fun via a new social media game, Mars Rover.

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On their mobile devices, players drive a rover through rough Martian terrain, challenging themselves to navigate and balance the rover while earning points along the way. The game also illustrates how NASA’s next Mars rover, in development for launch in 2020, will use radar to search for underground water.

“We’re excited about a new way for people on the go to engage with Curiosity’s current adventures on Mars and future exploration by NASA’s Mars 2020 rover too,” said Michelle Viotti, manager of Mars public engagement initiatives at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “Using social networks, the user can share the fun with friends. The interest that is shared through gameplay also helps us open a door to deeper literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”

JPL collaborated with GAMEE, a network for game-players, for development of the game, called Mars Rover.

For more information about how the Mars Rover game relates to exploration by NASA’s Mars rovers, visit:

mars.nasa.gov/gamee-rover

Meanwhile, on Mars the real rover has driven to position for drilling into a rock target called “Marimba,” to acquire rock powder for onboard laboratory analysis. The rover has begun a multi-month ascent of a mudstone geological unit as it heads toward higher and progressively younger geological evidence on Mount Sharp, including some rock types not yet explored.

The mission is examining the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, a layered mountain inside Gale Crater, to learn more about how and when ancient environmental conditions in the area evolved from freshwater settings into conditions drier and less favorable for life. Six of the mission’s 13 drilled rock-samples so far, and two of its four scooped soil samples, have been collected since the third anniversary of landing. In its four years, Curiosity has returned more than 128,000 images and fired its laser more than 362,000 times. As of the fourth anniversary, Curiosity has driven 8.43 miles (13.57 kilometers).

Curiosity landed inside Mars’ Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012, EDT (evening of Aug. 5, PDT), with a touchdown technique called the sky-crane maneuver. During the rover’s first Earth year on Mars, the mission accomplished its main goal when it found and examined an ancient habitable environment. Researchers determined that a freshwater lake at the “Yellowknife Bay” site billions of years ago offered the chemical ingredients and energy favorable for supporting microbial life, if life has ever existed on Mars.

NASA’s orbiters and rovers at Mars enable continued scientific discoveries and prepare the way for future astronauts to explore the Red Planet.

More information about NASA’s Journey to Mars is available online at: www.nasa.gov/topics/journeytomars

For more information about Curiosity, visit:

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