Tag Archives: Mars

Curiosity rover completes second drilling at ‘Cumberland’

Posted on by
Reply
The Cumberland drill hole. Like with the previous drilling, the powdered rock material is gray compared to the reddish colour on the surface. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

The Cumberland drill hole. Like with the previous drilling, the powdered rock material is gray compared to the reddish colour on the surface.
Click for larger version. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

After successfully coming out of solar conjunction late last month, the Curiosity rover has resumed its science activities, beginning with the second drilling into bedrock, it was reported yesterday. This location, a piece of bedrock called “Cumberland,” is only about 2.75 metres (9 feet) west of the first drill site, called “John Klein.”

Continue reading →

Curiosity rover ready to start drilling again

Posted on by
1
A view of Cumberland, where Curiosity will begin drilling again soon. Credit: NASA-JPL / Caltech / MSSS

A view of Cumberland, where Curiosity will begin drilling again soon.
Credit: NASA-JPL / Caltech / MSSS

After just coming out of its month-long “vacation” due to solar conjunction, the Curiosity rover is ready to resume science operations, and do some more drilling, it was reported last Thursday.

Continue reading →

Predicting snowstorms on Mars

Posted on by
Reply
A view of the north polar ice cap on Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA-JPL / Caltech

A view of the north polar ice cap on Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA-JPL / Caltech

Mars is famous for its duststorms, which can grow big enough to cover the entire planet. But did you know that it also has snowstorms? These storms can dump a lot of snow on the north polar cap during the bitterly cold winter, and now scientists say they can more accurately forecast them, it was reported yesterday, which would aid any future rover missions in these areas.

Continue reading →

Humans 2 Mars conference discusses manned NASA mission by 2030

Posted on by
Reply
Will the first NASA astronauts land on Mars by 2030? Credit: NASA Haughton-Mars Project / Pascal Lee

Will the first NASA astronauts land on Mars by 2030? Credit: NASA Haughton-Mars Project / Pascal Lee

The goal of sending astronauts to Mars is one that NASA has had for a long time now, and a conference this week in Washington, DC is hoping to bring that dream closer to reality.

Continue reading →

Want to go to Mars? Mars One is now taking applications for first human settlers

Posted on by
Reply
Artist's conception of the first Mars One settlement, scheduled for 2023. Credit: Mars One

Artist’s conception of the first Mars One settlement, scheduled for 2023. Credit: Mars One

For those of you who would like to go to Mars and be one of the first humans to set foot on the Red Planet, this may be the ticket. As announced in this morning’s press briefing, Mars One is now searching for the first astronauts to send to Mars in 2023. Yes, really.

Continue reading →

Old Soviet Mars 3 lander discovered?

Posted on by
Reply
Set of images showing possible hardware from the Mars 3 landing in 1971. Click for larger version. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Set of images showing possible hardware from the Mars 3 landing in 1971. Click for larger version. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

A “missing” Mars lander and its associated hardware from the 1970s may have finally been discovered in images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The Soviet Mars 3 lander was the first successful landing on Mars by any spacecraft, but after transmitting for only 14.5 seconds after touchdown on December 2, 1971, it went silent and was never heard from again. Its exact landing site was unknown, but now may have finally been located after all these years.

Continue reading →

The winds still blow in thin but active Martian atmosphere

Posted on by
Reply
Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner now than it once was, but it still has clouds, as seen in this NASA photo, as well as fog, wind, dust storms, and snow. Credit: NASA / JPL

Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner now than it once was, but it still has clouds, as seen in this NASA photo, as well as fog, wind, dust storms and snow. Credit: NASA / JPL

For any future astronauts who land on Mars, there is one piece of advice that shouldn’t even need to be said: keep your helmet on! Mars has an atmosphere, like Earth, but it is much thinner than ours (and mostly carbon dioxide), and so is unbreathable by humans. However, evidence has continued to grow that Mars’ atmosphere was once a lot thicker than it is now, early on in the planet’s history. Recent findings from the Curiosity rover have added to that evidence, as well as showing not only how Mars has lost most of the atmosphere that it once had, but also that the atmosphere which remains is still very active.

Continue reading →

Follow the water? No, follow the Martian salt

Posted on by
1

The next direction for NASA, in terms of searching for life on Mars, might not be “follow the water” – it might be “follow the salt.” Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS

You may be familiar with the phrase “follow the water” when it comes to the search for life on Mars, and for good reason – any place on Earth where there is liquid water, there is life. So, logically, the best places to look for evidence of past or present life on Mars would be where there has been liquid water in the past (or perhaps even still is, underground). But now there is also another approach being taken, in terms of possible present-day habitability in particular: follow the salt.

Continue reading →

Has Curiosity found Martian rock varnish?

Posted on by
1
Before and after image of a rock lasered by Curiosity. The surface of the rock has darkened around the spot hit by the laser. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Before and after image of a rock lasered by Curiosity. The surface of the rock has darkened around the spot hit by the laser. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Scientists studying data from the Curiosity rover have found another interesting puzzle, one which may easily have gone unnoticed were it not for one diligent researcher in particular, it was announced last week at the 44th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference at The Woodlands, Texas.

Continue reading →

Curiosity finds odd ‘bubbles’

Posted on by
3

One of the larger and most prominent “bubbles.” Credit: NASA / JPL

Having just finished its sampling of the soil at Rocknest, Curiosity is now moving farther north-east into the Glenelg area, and has come across another interesting “curiosity” – small, usually roughly circular ring-like features on some of the surrounding bedrock slabs which look like shallow depressions with a raised rim, kind of like frothy “bubbles” which have popped.

Continue reading →