Tag: Jezero Crater
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NASA loses contact with MAVEN, Perseverance continues roving around Jezero
In early December, NASA lost contact with its MAVEN spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mars since 2014. MAVEN was supposed to reestablish communications with NASA’s Deep Space Network on Dec. 6 after emerging from behind Mars during a routine blackout period when the spacecraft’s orbit takes it behind the red planet, blocking all communications to…
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Perseverance faces challenges climbing to crater rim as sample tube supply dwindles
In August, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover began its fifth science campaign — the rover’s most ambitious yet. The campaign has seen Perseverance climb the western rim of Jezero Crater and face its steepest and most challenging terrain yet, all the while continuing to take surface samples and look for signs of ancient microbial life. Currently, Perseverance…
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Ingenuity’s mission ends after 72 flights
NASA announced its Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, had ended its mission after experiencing an anomaly during its 72nd flight on Jan. 18. Images recovered after the flight showed severe damage to at least one of the aircraft’s rotor blades, making further flights impossible. The damage spelled the end for the small helicopter that made history in…
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1,000 sols into their mission, Perseverance and Ingenuity continue to investigate Jezero Crater
After celebrating their 1,000th sol, or Martian day, on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter are continuing to explore Jezero Crater on the Red Planet. Recently, the robotic pair completed their extensive investigation of the ancient river delta within Jezero, which contains evidence of flowing water that may have once filled Jezero thousands of…
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Perseverance finds Mars river could have been ‘wilder,’ Mars Express takes new volcano images
May has been a big month for scientific discoveries on Mars, as NASA’s Perseverance rover has continued to find more convincing evidence of what could have once been a “deeper and faster-moving” river than data initially suggested. New images taken by the rover’s main camera show two mosaics of course sediment grains and tall, curving…
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Perseverance finds Mars river could have been ‘wilder,’ Mars Express takes new volcano images
May has been a big month for scientific discoveries on Mars, as NASA’s Perseverance rover has continued to find more convincing evidence of what could have once been a “deeper and faster-moving” river than data initially suggested. New images taken by the rover’s main camera show two mosaics of course sediment grains and tall, curving…
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has now flown more than 50 times
NASA’s Perseverance rover glimpsed the Ingenuity helicopter earlier this month after the rotorcraft’s 50th flight. This view shows dust accumulation on the vehicle. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s pioneering Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to outperform its design specifications, having now notched up more than 50 record-breaking forays across the Red Planet’s surface, 10 times as many flights…
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As Martian spacecraft experience solar conjunction, Perseverance confirms Jezero Crater’s watery past
On October 2, 2021, all actively operating spacecraft at Mars ceased major communication with Earth as the planet entered its solar conjunction — an event wherein Mars crosses behind the Sun, limiting communication with Earth. As this began, NASA’s Perseverance rover’s science team released a new paper detailing the water-filled past of Jezero Crater —…
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NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter aces first longer-range flight on Mars
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 28 with new color image showing the Perseverance rover. 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…
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NASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight
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…