Category Archives: Reports

HiRISE: Sedimentary infill

Posted on August 19, 2019 by rburnham

Interaction. This crater and many of those surrounding it are filled with layered sedimentary material. There are various theories for the origin of this layered fill, and this image will help to constrain the relationship of the fill to the … Continue reading →

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THEMIS: Nanedi Valles

Posted on August 19, 2019 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, August 19, 2019. Today’s VIS image shows a small portion of Nanedi Valles. This channel, likely carved by water, is located in Xanthe Terra. Explore more THEMIS Images of the Day by geological subject.

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ExoMars rover: Moving on Mars

Posted on August 16, 2019 by rburnham

The ExoMars mission will see Rosalind Franklin the rover and its surface platform Kazachok land on the Red Planet in 2021. From fine-grained soil to large boulders and slopes, the rover has to be able to move across many types … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Before Jezero

Posted on August 16, 2019 by rburnham

Before Jezero. Before Jezero Crater was selected as the landing site for the Mars 2020 mission, this area in Gusev Crater was in the running. The terrain here is very different from nearby Columbia Hills (location of the Spirit rover), … Continue reading →

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THEMIS: Nili Fossae graben

Posted on August 16, 2019 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, August 16, 2019. The two linear depressions in this VIS image are part of the Nili Fossae fracture system. Nili Fossae is the name of a collection of curved faults and down-dropped blocks of crust … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: SAM is GO for analyzing the Glen Etive drill sample

Posted on August 16, 2019 by rburnham

Sols 2497-98, August 12, 2019, update by MSL engineer Ashley Stroupe: This morning, after seeing that the redo of the SAM Preconditioning in Monday’s plan was successful, the SAM team was ready to drop-off four portions to SAM for evolved … Continue reading →

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Latest weather at Gale Crater and Elysium Planitia

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rburnham

Daily Elysium charts and data (temperature, wind speed, atmospheric pressure) here.

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Curiosty: On the outcrop

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2496, August 14, 2019. Curiosity’s front and rear Hazcams show the rover remains parked at the outcrop, with the Glen Etive drill hole and conical tailings pile visible on the flat rock in the upper center of the front … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Slope monitoring on Ganges Mensa

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rburnham

Slope monitoring on Ganges Mensa. An existing stereo pair shows dark lineations that look very much like recurring slope lineae, but did not exhibit any observed growth within a 1-month interval of the stereo pair, unlike RSL. This picture is … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020 rover gets its toolkit

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rburnham

The bit carousel – a mechanism that will play a key role in the acquisition, containment and eventual return to Earth of humanity’s first samples from another planet – has been incorporated into NASA’s Mars 2020 rover. “The bit carousel … Continue reading →

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