News Archive / Tagged: Mars

• Curiosity mission team operates rover from home

  Jim SharkeyMay 13th, 2020

  While the majority of scientists and engineers who work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California are currently off-site, that doesn’t mean that their work supporting interplanetary missions has ground to a halt.

• Mars’ magnetic field is 10 times stronger than previously thought

  Laurel KornfeldApril 14th, 2020

  Data collected by NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander on Mars has surprised scientists by indicating the Red Planet has a magnetic field 10 times stronger than previously suspected.

• Launch of Shijian 20 lights up Chinese skies and exploration ambitions

  SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 28th, 2019

  China has big plans for its space program. But before it can achieve them, it needed to make sure a key launch vehicle was up to the task. A recent mission suggests that it is.

• This Bud’s for you! SpaceX sends ‘King of Beers’ to orbit on CRS-19

  Jim SiegelDecember 5th, 2019

  Propellant? Check. Science experiments? Check. Hardware? Check. Budweiser? Checkity-check!

• Motel Rooms and Gas Stations: How to Leave Mars

  Jay GallentineOctober 24th, 2019

  One day in the future, humans might actually land on the surface of Mars. After collecting rock samples, taking photos and performing all the other tasks demanded by this mission, the intrepid explorers will then face a daunting challenge, one often overlooked by most - leaving.

• Curiosity rover marks seven years of Martian exploration

  Laurel KornfeldAugust 9th, 2019

  Seven years after successfully completing a difficult landing maneuver onto the floor of Mars' Gale Crater, NASA's Curiosity rover continues to make pioneering discoveries on the Red Planet.

• Mars 2020 rover makes ‘pit stop’ at JPL

  Jim SharkeyJuly 19th, 2019

  The launch window for NASA's Mars 2020 rover opens in just under a year, and engineers at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been hard at work assembling the vehicle in the clean room of JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility. As one might imagine getting a vehicle prepped for such a massive undertaking - is a group effort.

• Mars 2020 rover get rock-zapping SuperCam

  Jim SharkeyJuly 4th, 2019

  With its scheduled launch date just over a year away, work on NASA's Mars 2020 rover continues apace. In recent weeks, the rover has received MastCam-Z, its legs and wheels and its main robotic arm. and now one of the "big guns" of its scientific suite has been added to the rover.

• Is Mars undergoing Global Warming? Data from Curiosity suggests it might be

  Laurel KornfeldJune 28th, 2019

  Using its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) tunable laser spectrometer, NASA's Curiosity rover has detected the highest concentration of methane  ever found in the Martian atmosphere, in the Teal Ridge region of Gale Crater.

• Want to send you name to Mars? Now’s your chance

  Jason RhianMay 22nd, 2019

  NASA is inviting individuals to submit their names to be etched onto a chip that will fly aboard its next Mars rover, slated to launch in 2020.

• Curiosity rover team maps route up Mount Sharp

  Jim SharkeyMay 18th, 2019

  Since landing on the Red Planet in August 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has been collecting data about the geology and chemistry of the Martian surface.

• InSight dust cleanings could provide new science

  Jim SharkeyMay 16th, 2019

  Martian weather events like global dust storms can end missions operating on the Red Planet, but they can also be beneficial.

• NASA’s InSight lander views Martian sunrise, sunset

  Jim SharkeyMay 6th, 2019

  The InSight Mars lander recently trained one of its cameras on the Martian horizon, capturing a series of sunrise and sunset images.

• Marsquake detected by InSight lander’s seismometer

  Laurel KornfeldApril 24th, 2019

  A small tremor in the Martian interior was detected by a highly-sensitive seismometer placed on the Red Planet by NASA's InSight lander.

• Curiosity update: Methane spike confirmed and Martian eclipses observed

  Jim SharkeyApril 7th, 2019

  A methane spike detected by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in 2013 has been confirmed by researchers reanalyzing data captured by the Mars Express orbiter.