When NASA sent the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to the red planet in 2006, the spacecraft took an instrument with it called CRISM—Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars. CRISM’s job is to produce maps of Mars’ surface mineralogy. It’s been an enormous success, but unfortunately, the loss of its last cryocooler in 2017 means the …
A New Map of Mars, Made From 51,000 Orbital Images Read More »
We are carbon-based life forms. That means the basis for the chemical compounds that forms our life is the element carbon. It’s crucial because it bonds with other elements such as hydrogen and oxygen to create the complex molecules that are part of life. So, when we look for evidence of life elsewhere in the …
Curiosity Finds Life-Crucial Carbon in Mars Rocks Read More »
Dust is an everyday feature on Mars and wreaks havoc on various pieces of equipment humans decide to send to it, such as Insight’s continual loss of power or the losses of Opportunity and Spirit. But we’ve never really understood what causes the dust to get up into the air in the first place. That …
Dust Devils and Strong Winds Produce the Constant Haze on Mars Read More »
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA Administrator Bill Nelson holds up a picture of China’s Zhurong Mars rover during a virtual hearing with a House of Representatives subcommittee Wednesday. Credit: NASA/U.S. House of Representatives Holding up a photo taken by China’s new Mars lander, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warned Congress Wednesday that his …
Nelson cites China’s growing space prowess, calls for sustained NASA funding Read More »
China’s Zhurong rover sits atop the Tianwen 1 mission’s landing platform on Mars. Credit: CNSA China’s space agency released the first pictures from the Zhurong Mars rover Wednesday, showing the six-wheel robot ready to drive down a ramp from its landing platform to begin exploring the Red Planet. The 529-pound (240-kilogram) Zhurong rover landed Friday, …
China releases first pictures from Zhurong rover since Mars landing Read More »
Artist’s illustration of the Tianwen 1 orbiter and rover at Mars. Credit: CNSA / Chinese Academy of Sciences / Nature Astronomy A Chinese rover outfitted with cameras, a weather station, and a sophisticated laser spectrometer could touch down on Mars as soon as Friday, a feat that would make China the second nation to successfully …
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flew farther and faster Sunday than the rotorcraft’s first two test flights in the Martian atmosphere, traveling the length of a football field while exceeding distances and speeds achieved during testing on Earth, officials said. On Sunday’s test flight, the diminutive rotor-driven drone flew a distance of some 164 feet (50 meters) …
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter aces first longer-range flight on Mars Read More »
This is the first color image of the Martian surface taken by an aerial vehicle while it was aloft. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured it with its color camera during its second successful flight test on April 22, 2021. At the time this image, Ingenuity was 17 feet (5.2 meters) above the surface and pitching …
NASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight Read More »
This view from the Perseverance rover’s navigation cameras shows the “Mars 2020” and “Perseverance” name plates on the vehicle’s robotic arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In another first, an instrument inside NASA’s Perseverance rover has made oxygen out of carbon dioxide sucked in from the atmosphere of Mars, officials said Wednesday. The technology could help future astronauts …
In another first, NASA’s Perseverance rover generates oxygen on Mars Read More »
The work isn’t over for NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. Engineers hope to fly the rotorcraft four more times in the next two weeks before calling it quits on the pioneering technology experiment, which accomplished the first powered flight of an aircraft on another planet Monday. As officials celebrated the helicopter’s historic flight, teams were already …
After successful first flight, NASA wants to push Mars helicopter to its limits Read More »
