Mars
Cascading dunes visible in a Martian crater
A breathtaking new mosaic from ESA’s Mars Express shows a stunning swirling field of dark dunes cascading into sunken pits within a large impact crater. The mosaic was created from two images and focuses on the 108 km-wide Rabe crater. The region is 320 km to the west of the large Hellas impact basin, about halfway …
Kim Lichtenberg spends her days sampling Martian soil and rocks
RocketSTEM spoke with Dr. Kimberly Lichtenberg, a scientist and engineer who works on NASA’s Mars rover missions at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., in conjunction with our “Women in Aerospace” series. We spoke about her career at NASA, role models, education and how she became interested in space exploration. Indeed she’s been in …
NASA’s MAVEN on way to Mars
NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) space probe thundered to space on Nov. 18 following a flawless blastoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 1:28 p.m. EST atop a powerful Atlas V 401 rocket. “Hey Guys we’re going to Mars!” gushed Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN’s Principal Investigator at a post …
India’s first Mars probe joins MAVEN in race to Red Planet
Indian space engineers initiated the 440 Newton liquid fueled engine firing precisely as planned during a critical nail-biting burn lasting some 22 minutes. The Trans Mars Insertion (TMI) firing propelled India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) away from Earth forever and placed the spacecraft on course for a rendezvous with the Red Planet on September 24, …
NASA Mars spacecraft reveals a more dynamic Red Planet
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed to scientists slender dark markings — possibly due to salty water – that advance seasonally down slopes surprisingly close to the Martian equator. “The equatorial surface region of Mars has been regarded as dry, free of liquid or frozen water, but we may need to rethink that,” said Alfred …
Robotic armada is invading Mars from all directions
The Red Planet is getting a whole lot of attention from Earthlings right now, and it’s like never before in the history of humanity and space exploration. Currently, an armada of five spacecraft from Earth are actively exploring the vicinity of Mars, including a trio of orbiters and a duo of rovers. All but one …