Latest Mars exploration Stories
GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft is assembled and is undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin Space Systems facilities, near Denver, Colo. MAVEN is the next mission to Mars and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) During the environmental testing phase, the orbiter will undergo a...
DENVER, Feb. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has completed the assembly of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. The orbiter is now undergoing environmental testing at the company's Space Systems facilities, near Denver, Colo. MAVEN is the next mission to Mars and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. Photo and video of MAVEN:...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA announced on Thursday its Curiosity rover has performed a mini drilling test on Mars for the first time. The drill, according to NASA, went through percussion and rotation tests to bore into about 0.8-inches of rock on Mars, generating cuttings for evaluation in advance of the rover's first sample-collection drilling. NASA said this test was confirmed in data received from Mars late Wednesday at the Jet Propulsion...
NASA The bit of the rock-sampling drill on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity left its mark on a Martian rock this weekend during brief testing of the tool's percussive action. The successful activity, called a "drill-on-rock checkout" by the rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, is part of a series of tests to prepare for the first drilling in history to collect a sample of rock material on Mars. Another preparatory test, called "mini drill," will precede the full...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing to use its drill to bore into a Martian rock in the coming days. The rover carried out “pre-load” testing on January 27, placing the drill tip on a series of four locations on the rock and pressing down to test whether the amount of force applied to the hardware matches predictions formulated by NASA engineers. The team next planned to have Curiosity conduct an overnight pre-load test,...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online More evidence is coming in Mars used to be thriving with ancient riverbeds, according to a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Brown University researchers found networks of narrow ridges in impact craters on Mars that appear to be fossilized remnants of underground cracks through which water once flowed. The study adds more weight to the growing pile of evidence Mars once had an active hydrology and...
HAMPTON, Va., Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A full-scale Mars Curiosity rover model that was featured in President Barack Obama's Inaugural Parade is one of the highlights of a Black History Month celebration, called "Red Tails to Red Planet," at NASA Langley Research Center's official visitors' facility, the Virginia Air & Space Center (VASC). (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Visitors can learn more about Mars and NASA Langley's role in...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA's newest Martian rover has snapped a nocturnal image of a rock on the Red Planet for the first time. Mars Science Lab's Curiosity used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera attached to its arm to take photos at night, illuminated by white lights and ultraviolet lights on the instrument. Scientists used MAHLI to take a close-up nighttime look at a rock target known as "Sayunei," in an area called "Yellowknife Bay" where...
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Space enthusiasts will be able to get "up close and personal" (bring your camera) with a full-scale replica of the Curiosity Mars rover before the free Jan. 23 public premiere of the documentary film "The Changing Face of Mars." The model, about the size of a small SUV automobile, will be on display outside Caltech's Beckman Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif. Also on display will be the "first image of Mars." The unusual origins of this historic image is one...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA's Opportunity rover is closing in on its 10-year anniversary, and is still performing science missions on the Red Planet, reports the Associated Press. The veteran rover first entered Mars' southern hemisphere on January 24, 2004, a few weeks after its twin rover, Spirit, landed on the opposite side of the planet. Before the media began to have an appetite for Curiosity, Opportunity was the darling rover, touching down on an...
