Ex astris, scientia: Star Trek logo spotted on the surface of Mars
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been boldly going to Mars, and now it has spotted something where no man has gone before: a structure on the planet's surface which looks suspiciously like the Star Trek logo. The shape was created by an interaction of dust dunes, erupting lava, and strong winds.
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will pave the way for manned missions to Mars
Survival on Mars will be a massive challenge for humanity. Due to its thin atmosphere, there are high variations in temperature, no breathable oxygen or water, high levels of radiation, and severe dust storms. But NASA is charging ahead with plans to eventually put humans on Mars all the same.
Methane mystery: Curiosity detects highest-ever levels of methane on Mars
The strange puzzle of methane on Mars continues. Curiosity has detected the highest yet levels of methane at 21 parts per billion units by volume using its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) spectrometer. This suggests that transient plumes of methane appear in addition to seasonal changes in levels of gas.
Ready to roll: Mars 2020 rover fitted with wheels ahead of mission next year
The Mars 2020 rover is getting ready for its trip to the red planet next year. The latest step in readying the rover is installing its wheels and suspension system, which engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been doing this month.
Armed and ready: Mars 2020 rover is fitted with its robotic arm
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory continues to make progress on preparing the Mars 2020 rover for its upcoming mission. Recently the rover had its six wheels fitted so it can traverse the Martian surface, and now it has had its 2.1 meter-long robotic arm installed as well.
Installation of SuperCam Mast Unit on Mars 2020 rover is a towering success
The Mars 2020 rover reached another milestone this week, when technicians installed its mast, the SuperCam Mast Unit. The rover already has its wheels and a robotic arm, and the next step was to add the mast. The rover's camera, laser, and spectrometers installed as part of the mast unit.Â
Orbiter spots Curiosity from space, shows our rover friend on surface of Mars
If you've been wondering how Curiosity is faring on Mars, now you can see for yourself, thanks to this image of the rover captured from orbit by NASA's HiRISE camera. Curiosity is sitting pretty in a location called Woodland Bay, which is part of the clay-bearing unit that the rover has been exploring.
Meet NASA’s climbing robots, able to move through the slipperiest environments
When it comes to exploring far off planets, robots need to be able to tackle all sorts of environmental challenges. NASA has been working on a series of climbing robots to take on different tasks in inhospitable environments, like LEMUR which can climb rock walls using fishhooks in its fingers.
See a gargantuan dust storm covering the north pole of Mars
An epic dust storm around Mars' north pole has been imaged by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. Smaller localized dust storms are common on Mars, but occasionally a storm will expand into a planet-wide event like this one or the one which caused the demise of the Opportunity rover.
Mars 2020 rover enters its final year of engineering before launch
The countdown has begun in the last year of development before the Mars 2020 launches. The launch window opens on July 17, 2020, and runs until August 5, 2020 for the launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Progress on finalizing the rover is right on track, according to NASA.
Could Mars’ now-barren Gale Crater lake have once supported life?
The Gale Crater, the dried up lake bed on Mars on which the Curiosity rover landed, could once have supported life. Using data from Curiosity, a team of scientists from NASA and Penn State University were tasked with determining if life could ever have existed in the now barren Gale Crater.
All systems nearing go: NASA fuels Mars 2020 rover’s plutonium power system
Preparations continue for the launch of the Mars 2020 rover, with NASA engineers now fueling its power system. The latest component to be readied is the rover's generator, the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG, which is essentially a nuclear battery, according to NASA.
Curiosity rover celebrates its 7th birthday by investigating a clay mystery
The Mars rover Curiosity just celebrated its seventh birthday, having been exploring Mars since it landed in 2012. And it's busy as ever, recently drilling its 22nd hole in the Martian rock. Curiosity is now halfway along its path through a region called the "clay-bearing unit."
NASA wants your help developing autonomous robots to explore other worlds
NASA is asking for your help to create the autonomous robots which could one day explore the moon, Mars, and beyond. It has launched the second phase of its Space Robotics Challenge, searching for bright ideas from the public to develop robots to assist future astronauts on long-duration missions.
NASA wants to send two more missions to Mars to collect rock samples
With its Mars 2020 mission, NASA hopes to collect samples from the surface of the planet when it launches next year. The challenge is how to get those samples back to Earth. Now, NASA has revealed its plans for two followup missions to Mars which would collect the sample and bring it home.
Autonomous helicopter joins its rover buddy for Mars 2020 mission
NASA has a bold plan to send not only a rover but also a helicopter to Mars as part of its Mars 2020 mission. The autonomous Mars Helicopter has successfully passed its flight tests and vacuum and deployment tests. Now, it has been attached to the Mars 2020 rover ready for its journey to the red planet.
European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover is constructed and ready to explore
NASA's Mars 2020 mission isn't the only the rover headed to the red planet -- the ESA also has the ExoMars project. Recently, construction was completed on the ExoMars rover and soon it will be ready for launch next year. The aim is to discover more about the history of water on the planet.
Spin me right round: Mars 2020 rover gets its balanced checked
NASA's Mars 2020 rover recently entered its final year of engineering before it is launched on its journey to the red planet, and it has been subjected to a battery of tests to ensure it is ready to touch down. The latest test was a spin on a rotating table to check its weight distribution.
NASA develops autonomous drill to search for life beneath the surface of Mars
One of the challenges of investigating Mars is how to collect samples from beneath the surface. Current projects like the Insight lander have a drill to place probes. But now NASA is trying a new approach: An autonomous drill which can go several feet deep and which can adapt to different environments.
Can the InSight lander free its stuck drill and continue exploring Mars?
NASA's InSight lander is equipped with a drill designed to tunnel up to 16 feet beneath the surface. Unfortunately, earlier this year the drill stopped moving in an issue caused by the drill getting stuck in the soil. Now the team is trying to rescue the stuck drill using the lander's robotic arm.
Hear the sounds of Mars with these incredible audio samples from InSight
NASA's InSight lander may be struggling with its stuck drill, but while it's sat in place on the Martian surface it's still collecting a ton of useful scientific information about the planet. This week NASA released a unique set of sounds collected by the lander from its time on the red planet.
NASA plans to cut cost of space exploration by commercializing low-earth orbit
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has spoken about the Artemis mission to the moon and a manned mission to Mars after that. And he laid out how NASA plans for pay for this new era of manned space exploration -- by encouraging the commercialization of low -arth orbit in order to cut costs for the agency.
Multitalented Curiosity rover snaps a selfie, performs a chemistry experiment
Everyone's favorite Martian resident, the Curiosity rover, has proudly snapped a selfie while performing an unusual experiment. The team controlling the rover wanted to image the ground to perform a chemistry experiment in which it analyzed the chemical composition of two samples of Martian rock.
Mars 2020 rover stands on its own wheels for the first time
Progress continues for NASA's Mars 2020 rover, set to begin its journey to the red planet next year. The rover was recently lowered onto the ground, with the rover taking its full weight on its wheels and legs for the first time. The legs are made of titanium, while the wheels are aluminum.
Astronaut smart glove controls drones wirelessly, could be used to explore Mars
Scientists from NASA and the SETI Institute have developed a new "smart glove" for astronauts which could be used for future exploration of locations like the Moon and Mars. The gloves allow astronauts to wirelessly control robots such as drones through one-handed gestures.
See the Mars 2020 rover winched into the air and moved into a test chamber
NASA's Mars 2020 rover is roving ever nearer to completion. Having recently stood on its own six wheels for the first time and practiced its descent separation from the craft that will transport it to the red planet, the rover has now undergone vacuum testing at a facility in Pasadena, California.
Curiosity captures eerie images of lonely Martian landscape
The Curiosity rover is continuing its lonely exploration of Mars, and it has captured a series of beautiful but haunting views of the deserted Martian landscape. The images were snapped this week and show the desolate outlook across the Gale Crater.
Mars 2020 mission will search for fossils in the Jezero Crater
With the Mars 2020 rover undergoing final testing, scientists are turning their attention to its landing site in the Jezero Crater. A new paper has identified mineral deposits around the rim of the crater which mark some of the best places to look for evidence of ancient life on the planet.
NASA scientists train to spot Martian fossils in the Australian Outback
One of the biggest ambitions of upcoming missions to Mars is to look for evidence of ancient life on the planet. But in order to identify potential fossils of microbial life, Mars rovers will need to know what to look for -- so scientists have undertaken a study mission to the Australian Outback.
Global storms on Mars shoot towers of dust 50 miles into the sky
We have dust storms here on Earth, and on Mars, too. But occasionally something much more dramatic happens on Mars: multiple dust storms grow and come together to cover the entire planet in a dusty haze. Huge dust clouds can reach up to 50 miles into the air and form a layer of dust wider than the continental U.S.
Mars’s strange equatorial terrain could have formed under an ice sheet
The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft has been investigating an area called Deuteronilus Mensae, and scientists believe that it looks the way that it does due to ancient flowing ice. Millions of years ago, glaciers moved through the area, eroding rock and carving out channels that can still be seen today.
NASA simulates the clouds on Mars using a supercomputer
We usually think of Mars as being an arid desert planet. And while that's mainly true, there is some small amount of water on Mars, existing as vapor in the atmosphere. Recently, NASA has used a supercomputer to simulate the Martian weather, showing how clouds move and disperse over time.
Mars has auroras of its own, which could explain why the planet lost its water
Here on Earth, you can see the aurora of the Northern Lights. It turns out that Mars has its own auroras too, called proton auroras, but they give off ultraviolet light. Scientists have been investigating the relationship between these proton auroras and the fact that Mars lost its water over time.
See ExoMars rover’s parachutes deploy at 125 mph ahead of its landing on Mars
One challenge of missions to Mars is landing heavy items like rovers safely on the surface. The European Space Agency's upcoming ExoMars mission will need a descent module containing a rover to slow from 13,000 miles per hour as it enters to planet's atmosphere to a gentle landing pace in just six minutes.
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will search for evidence of ancient life on red planet
NASA has shown its Mars 2020 rover to journalists for the first time. With construction and testing now completed, the rover will be packed up and shipped to Florida ahead of final testing before launch in 2020. The rover has an ambitious mission: To search for evidence that life once existed on the red planet.
Exoplanets with high-oxygen atmospheres are more likely than we thought
We know that at different points in Earth's history, it had varying levels of oxygen. New research shows that high levels of oxygen aren't that unlikely, as the key ingredient that has been missing from these prior models is phosphorus. This means finding oxygen on alien planets isn't so unlikely after all.
See ripples of dust and ice on Mars’ northern polar cap
The European Space Agency has released a striking image of the northern pole of Mars, showing stormy weather and ripples of dust and ice. It shows the north polar ice cap in summertime, when it is easier to image the poles as there are fewer clouds of carbon dioxide to obscure the view.
Mars’ water is evaporating away even faster than we expected
Billions of years ago, Mars could have been like Earth with water on its surface. But over time, that water rose into Mars's thin atmosphere and evaporated into space. There are only small amounts of water vapor left in the atmosphere today, and a new study shows vapor is lost even faster than previously believed.