Tag: Mars
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Perseverance’s first sample collection fails, new science points to subsurface Martian clay lakes
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover recently attempted its first-ever sample collection of the Martian surface on August 6. However, data shows that while the rover’s drill successfully drilled into the surface, no regolith was collected in the sample tube. Meanwhile, as Perseverance was preparing for the sample collection event, a team of researchers using ESA’s Mars…
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Mars Ascent Vehicle from Northrop Grumman takes shape for Mars Sample Return mission
Since Mariner 9 entered orbit around Mars on November 14, 1971, NASA has been continuously studying the Red Planet. The Viking landers reached the surface of Mars five years later and began sampling the soil. Since then, numerous landers and rovers with instruments from institutions across Earth have studied and traveled the red terrain in…
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Potential organic salt detection from Curiosity yields further evidence for past organics on Mars
While organic compounds have been confirmed on the Martian surface and near-surface areas since 2018, new Earth-based experiments point to a potentially tantalizing series of signatures from Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument that could indicate the presence of organic salts at the rover’s Gale Crater location. What’s more, the new research from a…
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Nelson cites China’s growing space prowess, calls for sustained NASA funding
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…
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China releases first pictures from Zhurong rover since Mars landing
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,…
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China lands its first probe on Mars
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) with more details. Artist’s illustration of the Tianwen 1 orbiter and rover at Mars. Credit: CNSA / Chinese Academy of Sciences / Nature Astronomy China’s space agency said Friday the country’s first Mars rover safely touched down and began sending data back to Earth, joining the United…
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China succeeds on country’s first Mars landing attempt with Tianwen-1
China has become only the second nation to successfully land a spacecraft on Mars on Friday, joining the United States. Tianwen-1, China’s first mission to the Red Planet, launched in the middle of last year, sharing the particularly busy July 2020 Martian launch window with NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, including the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, and…
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Chinese rover heads for landing on Mars
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…
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Ingenuity enters operations demonstration phase as Perseverance team marks initial science returns
Nearly three months after landing on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance mission is marking its initial science returns from the Martian surface as the Ingenuity helicopter enters its new phase of operational demonstration flights on the Red Planet. Ingenuity’s flight will gather information on the surrounding Martian terrain for the mission’s teams to identify science targets for…
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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…