Red Planet
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NASA
From Hampton to Mars: How NASA Langley Helped Land on the Red Planet
Fifty years ago, NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 landers made the first successful landings on Mars, opening a new era in planetary exploration. Behind that achievement was a team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, whose steady leadership and technical expertise helped turn an ambitious idea into a mission that reshaped how we explore other worlds. Building the…
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NASA
Curiosity Sees Martian Sulfur Up Close
This close-up view shows fragments of sulfur crystals — the first ever seen on the Red Planet. The crystals were found after NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover happened to drive over a rock and crush it on May 30, 2024. Several days later, Curiosity used a camera on the end of its robotic arm to take this image. A recent paper in Science…
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NASA
NASA Pushes Next-Gen Mars Helicopter Rotor Blades Past Mach 1
The rotor blades that will carry NASA’s next-generation helicopters to new Martian heights broke the sound barrier during March tests at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Data from the tests, which took place in a special chamber that can simulate environmental conditions on the Red Planet, indicate that the fastest traveling part of the rotor blade, the tips,…
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NASA
Devil’s in Details in Selfie Taken by NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover
The rover took the image — its fifth since landing in February 2021 — between stops investigating the Martian surface. A Martian dust devil photobombed NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover as it took a selfie on May 10 to mark its 1,500th sol (Martian day) exploring the Red Planet. At the time, the six-wheeled rover was parked in an area nicknamed…
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NASA
NASA’s Europa Clipper Captures Mars in Infrared
Headed for Jupiter’s moon Europa, the spacecraft did some sightseeing, using a flyby of Mars to calibrate its infrared imaging instrument. On its recent swing by Mars, NASA’s Europa Clipper took the opportunity to capture infrared images of the Red Planet. The data will help mission scientists calibrate the spacecraft’s thermal imaging instrument so they can be sure it’s operating…
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NASA
NASA: New Study on Why Mars is Red Supports Potentially Habitable Past
A new international study partially funded by NASA on how Mars got its iconic red color adds to evidence that Mars had a cool but wet and potentially habitable climate in its ancient past. Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance…
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NASA
Art Inspired by Exploration: NASA Unveils Architecture Art Challenge Winners
NASA asked artists to imagine the future of deep space exploration in artwork meant to inspire the Artemis Generation. The NASA Moon to Mars Architecture art challenge sought creative images that represent the agency’s bold vision for crewed exploration of the lunar surface and the Red Planet. The agency has selected the recipients of the art challenge competition. This…
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NASA
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Discovers a Surprise in a Martian Rock
Among several recent findings, the rover has found rocks made of pure sulfur — a first on the Red Planet. Scientists were stunned on May 30 when a rock that NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drove over cracked open to reveal something never seen before on the Red Planet: yellow sulfur crystals. Since October 2023, the rover has been exploring a…
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Press Releases
Astrobotic Awarded NASA JPL Commercial Service Studies to Enable Future Missions to Mars
Astrobotic has been selected by NASA’s Mars Exploration Program for two concept studies of commercial services to support lower-cost, higher-frequency missions to Mars. The company will examine how potential commercial services, both payload delivery and surface imaging, could enable future science missions to the Red Planet. The two studies — one for large payload delivery and hosting services, and the other…
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NASA
After Three Years on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission at the Red Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, imagery of its Jan. 18 flight sent to Earth this week indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage during landing, and it is…
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