MARS - SKY NIGHTLY

Storm Reduces Available Solar Energy on Opportunity

Sep 05, 2016 (JPL)

Opportunity is completing the exploration of 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour crater. The rover completed a Panoramic Camera (Pancam) mosaic of the gro...

NASA Approves 2018 Launch of Mars InSight Mission

Sep 05, 2016 (JPL)

NASA is moving forward with a spring 2018 launch of its InSight mission to study the deep interior of Mars, following final approval this week by the agency's S...

Anomalous grooves on Martian moon Phobos explained by impacts

Aug 31, 2016 (SPX)

Some of the mysterious grooves on the surface of Mars' moon Phobos are the result of debris ejected by impacts eventually falling back onto the surface to form ...

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Mars 2020 Rover Mission

Aug 29, 2016 (JPL)

NASA has selected United Launch Services LLC of Centennial, Colorado, to provide launch services for a mission that will address high-priority science goals for...

Boredom was hardest part of yearlong dome isolation

Aug 29, 2016 (AFP)

Monotony was the hardest part of a yearlong NASA experiment about the mental and psychological rigors of longterm spaceflight, crew members said after the test ...

Year-long simulation of humans living on Mars ends in Hawaii

Aug 28, 2016 (UPI)

One year after living in isolation to simulate a mock mission to Mars, the six crew members emerged Sunday from their 1,200-square-foot solar-powered dome. The ...

Fossilized rivers suggest warm, wet ancient Mars

Aug 25, 2016 (SPX)

Extensive systems of fossilised riverbeds have been discovered on an ancient region of the Martian surface, supporting the idea that the now cold and dry Red Pl...

Test for damp ground at Mars' seasonal streaks finds none

Aug 25, 2016 (JPL)

Seasonal dark streaks on Mars that have become one of the hottest topics in interplanetary research don't hold much water, according to the latest findings from...

China unveils 2020 Mars rover concept: report

Aug 24, 2016 (AFP)

China has unveiled illustrations of a Mars probe and rover it aims to send to the Red Planet at the end of the decade in a mission that faces "unprecedented" ch...

MAVEN Spacecraft Gears Up to Observe Global Dust Storm on Mars

Aug 23, 2016 (SPX)

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN) orbiter will have a front-row seat to watch a marvelous dusty spectacle in late 2016. The spacecra...

Full-Circle Vista from NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Shows 'Murray Buttes'

Aug 22, 2016 (JPL)

Eroded mesas and buttes reminiscent of the U.S. Southwest shape part of the horizon in the latest 360-degree color panorama from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. Th...

Opportunity rover studying grooves

Aug 19, 2016 (JPL)

Opportunity is wrapping up exploration of 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover has driven to an area were the rock outcrop has interestin...

Crewed Missions to Mars

Aug 17, 2016 (SPX)

Sending humans to Mars has been a dream of scientists and a large part of the population ever since Nicolaus Copernicus first postulated that it was a planet, a...

New spectroscopic technique may help zero in on Martian life

Aug 17, 2016 (SPX)

In 2020, NASA plans to launch a new Mars rover that will be tasked with probing a region of the planet scientists believe could hold remnants of ancient microbi...

So you want to drive a spacecraft

Aug 17, 2016 (ESA)

ESA's Education Office is organising a four day course at the ESA Academy that will take 22 university students into the fascinating world of spacecraft operati...

Limited power as Mar Lab approaches Murray Buttes

Aug 15, 2016 (JPL)

MSL drove over 45 meters on Sol 1428, closer to the Murray Buttes. I helped select ChemCam targets again this morning, and was glad to see that some of them mad...

Spotlight on Schiaparelli's landing site

Aug 15, 2016 (ESA)

Schiaparelli, the Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module of the joint ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars 2016 mission, will target the Meridiani Planum region for it...

Opportunity going back for closer look at grooves seen in images

Aug 12, 2016 (JPL)

Opportunity is wrapping up the exploration 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour crater. On sol 4452 (Aug. 1, 2016), the high terrain walls of the valley pr...

Curiosity Has Disproved 'Old Idea of Mars as a Simple Basaltic Planet'

Aug 10, 2016 (SPX)

As NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) celebrates four years on the Red Planet Leicester planetary scientist Professor John Bridges recounts the mission's succ...

Evidence of Martian life could be hard to find in some meteorite blast sites

Aug 10, 2016 (SPX)

Scientists in their preliminary findings suggest signs of life from under Mars' surface may not survive in rocks excavated by some meteorite impacts. Scientists...