Tag: Mars
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InSight Mars lander joined with Atlas 5 launcher at Vandenberg Air Force Base
File photo of a payload being lifted atop an Atlas 5 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base before a previous mission. Credit: United Launch Alliance Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s Central Coast hoisted NASA’s InSight Mars lander atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Monday, kicking off nearly two weeks…
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Breakthrough Discuss turns spotlight on search for life elsewhere in solar system
Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco shows a graphic that compares the size of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, with the British Isles. (Breakthrough Initiatives Photo) STANFORD, Calif. — Are there microbes falling in the snows of Enceladus? Could a drone fly to biological hot spots on Titan? Is life floating in the sulfurous clouds of Venus?…
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Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg says that humans could get to Mars within a decade*
Politico’s Robert Albritton (left) chats with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg (right) during a space conference. (Politico Live via Facebook) Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg says it’s possible that humans will set foot on Mars in the next decade, and he’s convinced the first people will get there on a Boeing-built rocket. Muilenburg’s comments, made today during…
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NASA is counting on long-lived Mars orbiter lasting another decade
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, seen here before its launch in 2005, carries the largest high-gain antenna ever sent to Mars for data relay and science downlinks. Credit: NASA NASA’s focus at the red planet has shifted to collecting and bringing rock samples back to Earth — a feat that could take a decade and leave…
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NASA’s InSight lander inside one month to launch toward Mars
InSight’s heat shield (left) will soon be re-installed on the Mars lander (right) in preparation for launch May 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now NASA’s InSight Mars lander will be buttoned up for launch in the coming weeks at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, in preparation for its hoisting…
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Curiosity marks 2,000th Martian day of operation; science team eyes rover’s future
Today marks the 2,000th Martian day (Sol) of operation for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory – more commonly known as the Curiosity rover. The exploration platform touched down on the surface of the Red Planet after a daring and never-before-used landing sequence on 5 August 2012 (Pacific Daylight Time) and has since well surpassed its initial…
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Curiosity marks 2,000th Martian day of operation; science team eyes rover’s future
Today marks the 2,000th Martian day (Sol) of operation for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory – more commonly known as the Curiosity rover. The exploration platform touched down on the surface of the Red Planet after a daring and never-before-used landing sequence on 5 August 2012 (Pacific Daylight Time) and has since well surpassed its initial…
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Atlas 5 rocket assembled for first Mars mission launch from Vandenberg
The Atlas 5’s first stage booster for the InSight mission arrives at Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with…
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NASA to decide soon whether flying drone will launch with Mars 2020 rover
Artist’s illustration of the Mars helicopter drone that could travel to the red planet as soon as 2020. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Testing of a lightweight robotic helicopter designed to fly in the alien atmosphere of Mars has produced encouraging results in recent months, and NASA officials expect to decide soon whether the aerial drone will accompany…
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Elon Musk Q&A: First Mars spaceship is being built, with flight tests set for 2019
Billionaire Elon Musk (in the black hat) and his brother, Kimbal Musk (in the white hat), join in a rendition of “My Little Buttercup” at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. (SXSW via YouTube) SpaceX is building its first Mars transport vehicle, also known as the BFR, and “making good progress” toward short-hop test flights…