Mars

Two Worlds, One Sun

This stunning visual was created by NASA, the Curiosity rover, and photographer Damia Bouic.

The Sun appears slightly smaller from Mars than from Earth, since Mars is 50% further from the Sun than Earth. More striking, perhaps, is that the Martian sunset is noticeably bluer near the Sun than the typically orange colors near the setting Sun from Earth. The reason for the blue hues from Mars is not fully understood, but thought to be related to forward scattering properties of Martian dust.

The terrestrial sunset was taken in 2012 March from Marseille, France, while the Martian sunset was captured in 2015 by NASA's robotic Curiosity rover from Gale crater on Mars.

Destination Mars

On Thursday, Elon Musk shared SpaceX's plans for Mars over the next 8 years (and a permanent moon base, since it's on the way ) - and beyond, to make humanity a multiplanetary species.

It is ambitious, perhaps even audacious. But the suite of technologies Elon has built are, it turns out, all positioned to make this a reality. Rockets, robots, autonomous and hardy vehicles, tunnel diggers, a space-based communications system, battery packs, cutting-edge astronaut suits...it's almost like he had a plan all along.

There will be challenges and setbacks along the way, but I am so here for this.

- First Starship to Mars planned for 2026

- Enlarging future generations of Starship

- Mars settlement in 2030s

- Robotic + human labor used

- Moon Base in planning

- 100s of Mars landings

Here’s the link to the entire presentation, if you'd like to watch it: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1928185351933239641

A Mars Mood

I am obsessed with this grainy image snapped by Percy on Mars. It’s quiet and contemplative, haunting and lonely, yet stirring to life the string that tugs at your soul and whispers of your connection to a vast cosmos.

From the Perseverance X account: “That bright "star" is actually Mars' moon Deimos. In the hours before dawn, I snapped this long-exposure image with my left Navcam and caught Deimos as well as two stars from the constellation Leo in the sky. It's definitely a mood, as they say.”

Original post here.

Ice Clouds Over a Red Planet

From NASA / Astronomy Picture of the Day:

“If you could stand on Mars -- what might you see? You might look out over a vast orange landscape covered with rocks under a dusty orange sky, with a blue-tinted Sun over the horizon, and odd-shaped water clouds hovering high overhead. This was just the view captured last March by NASA's rolling explorer, Perseverance. The orange coloring is caused by rusted iron in the Martian dirt, some of which is small enough to be swept up by winds into the atmosphere. The blue tint near the rising Sun is caused by blue light being preferentially scattered out from the Sun by the floating dust. The light-colored clouds on the right are likely composed of water-ice and appear high in the Martian atmosphere. The shapes of some of these clouds are unusual for Earth and remain a topic of research.”

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241203.html

That'll do, Ingenuity. That'll do.

Who's ready to cry over another anthropomorphized space robot? * raises hand *

Ingenuity's incredible Martian mission has come to an end. It was intended as a technology "proof of concept," with a mission span of 30 days and a max of 5 test flights. Many believed the little helicopter wouldn't fly at all in the thin Martian atmosphere.

Instead, it flew 72 missions in 3 years, traversing over 11 miles and reaching as high as 79 feet in the air. It flew in treacherous terrain, dealt with a dead sensor, cleaned itself off after dust storms, operated from 48 different airfields, performed three emergency landings, and survived a frigid Martian winter. Through all that, it wormed its way into our hearts and inspired our imagination.

On January 18th, it sustained rotor damage during landing and lost contact with Perseverance and NASA. Communications were re-established the next day, and imagery revealed damage to one of its blades severe enough to render it unable to take off again.

With such an amazing performance that silenced every doubter, Ingenuity is only the first craft to fly on Mars; it will not be the last.

That'll do, Ingenuity. That'll do.

Learn more here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends

Sunrise on Mars

Stunning morning clouds over Jezero Crater, captured by the Perseverance rover’s NavCams on March 18 (Sol 738). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill

As Professor of Physics Brian Cox so eloquently said: “A beautiful photograph of clouds in the Martian sky, 200 years after the first photograph was taken and just over a century after the first powered flight. We can do wonderful things when we put our minds to it.”

High-res version: https://flic.kr/p/2onS6xJ

Originally posted on Twitter.

Happy 10th, Curiosity!

Who's the bestest little rover?

10 years ago today, a jetpack lowered NASA’s Curiosity rover onto the Red Planet, beginning the SUV-size explorer’s pursuit of evidence that, billions of years ago, Mars had the conditions needed to support microscopic life.

Since then, Curiosity has driven nearly 18 miles and ascended 2,050 feet as it explores Gale Crater and the foothills of Mount Sharp within it. The rover has analyzed 41 rock and soil samples, relying on a suite of science instruments to learn what they reveal about Earth’s rocky sibling. Curiosity’s mission was recently extended for another three years, allowing it to continue among NASA’s fleet of important astrobiological missions.

This gorgeous poster is courtesy of Justin Van Genderen, and you can download it here: https://mars.nasa.gov/.../curiosity-10-years-of-martian.../

Learn more about Curiosity's 10 years of exploration here: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/

Originally posted on Facebook.

Keep Exploring

NASA has extended the planetary science missions of eight of its spacecraft due to their scientific productivity and potential to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the solar system and beyond.

The missions – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover), InSight lander, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, OSIRIS-REx, and New Horizons – have been selected for continuation

Check that out! Curiosity is such a champ, showing no signs of slowing down on Mars after a decade of exploring the Red Planet. OSIRIS-REx is going to visit * another * asteroid, and New Horizons - can you believe it made its extraordinary visit to Pluto SEVEN years ago - will continue to probe the far outer reaches of our solar system.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-extends-exploration-for-8-planetary-science-missions

Originally posted on Twitter.

Good News From Space

NASA is bursting with great news for us this week!

(1) Following the completion of the final critical mirror alignment steps, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team now expects that Webb’s optical performance will be able to meet or exceed the science goals the observatory was built to achieve. Every optical parameter that has been checked and tested is performing at, or above, expectations. The team also found no critical issues and no measurable contamination or blockages to Webb’s optical path. The observatory is able to successfully gather light from distant objects and deliver it to its instruments without issue.

The image was taken to "prove" alignment had been successfully completed - and, yes, all those smudges are galaxies. Expect the science images to start arriving this summer!

(2) After 21 flights, NASA has extended Ingenuity’s flight operations through September as it continues with scouting efforts for Perseverance. The helicopter that so many insisted would never be able to fly at all, will now fly on Mars for a second year. Go, Ginny! #thelittlehelicopterthatcould

Originally posted on Facebook.

Picture Postcard From Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover captured a remarkable image from its most recent perch on the side of Mars’ Mount Sharp. The mission team was so inspired by the beauty of the landscape, they combined two versions of the black-and-white images from different times of the day and added colors to create a rare postcard from the Red Planet.

More about how the image was created here: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9080/nasas-curiosity-rover-sends-a-picture-postcard-from-mars/

Originally posted on Twitter.

Ingenuity's Many Successes

Ginny has done such an incredible job in 5 flights (each one more daring than the last), that NASA is extending its mission! The little helicopter that could is no longer a simple technology demonstration - now it's going to be Percy's assistant for a while.

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/01/992739491/nasa-makes-new-plans-for-ingenuity-helicopter-on-mars

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Originally posted on Facebook.

Oxygen Created on Mars

Oxygen on Mars. And I'm not even kidding. https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8926/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-extracts-first-oxygen-from-red-planet/

Granted, not a lot of oxygen just yet - about 5 grams produced in an hour - but Percy's MOXIE module just MADE oxygen out of the carbon dioxide in the Mars atmosphere.

MOXIE, like Ingenuity, is another technology demonstration project included in the Perseverance mission. And like Ingenuity, it worked!

Honestly, this might be the biggest breakthrough to come from the entire Perseverance mission. There are a thousand challenges to overcome for humans to live and work on Mars, but oxygen generation has got to be one of the biggest (note: oxygen is also enormously helpful to get people back home to Earth).

What a month for our future in space!

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Originally posted on Facebook.

Ingenuity Makes History On Mars

Here's the full high-res video of Ingenuity's successful test flight on Mars, marking the first powered flight beyond Earth. It takes a few seconds to get going, then executes everything exactly as planned, including landing safely and in excellent shape (actually in better shape, as the flight shook loose some of the dirt coating its solar power panels). The goals of the test flight were for the copter to take flight, rise about 10 feet (3 meters) into the air, then hover in place for 30 seconds before turning in midair and descending back to the surface, and it succeeded beautifully.

Human *ingenuity* in action here. Go us. Go our robots.

Ingenuity will fly several more times in the coming weeks - expect new heights and tricks - before its test mission ends.

The area where Ingenuity flew has been named “Wright Brothers Field,” in honor of this historic achievement. And here’s a really cool fact: the world’s currently oldest living person was alive when the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk AND when the first copter flew on Mars. It’s easy to lose sight of the incredible pace of human progress in the noise of messy day-to-day life, but it’s there nonetheless. This is amazing.

If the video doesn’t play for you in the post, you can view it on YouTube here.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Perseverance's First Panorama

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover got its first high-definition look around its new home in Jezero Crater on Feb. 21, after rotating its mast, or “head,” 360 degrees, allowing the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument to capture its first panorama after touching down on the Red Planet on Feb 18.

Mastcam-Z is a dual-camera system equipped with a zoom function, allowing the cameras to zoom in, focus, and take high-definition video, as well as panoramic color and 3D images of the Martian surface. With this capability, the robotic astrobiologist can provide a detailed examination of both close and distant objects.

Learn more at: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8873/nasas-perseverance-rover-gives-high-definition-panoramic-view-of-landing-site/

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Originally posted on Twitter.