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Monthly Archives: September 2018
Opportunity: Still mum, but at least it’s visible
NASA still hasn’t heard from the Opportunity rover, but at least the agency can see it again. A new image produced by HiRISE shows a small object on the slopes of Perseverance Valley. That object is Opportunity, which was descending … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Cape Byron, dust storms, Endeavour Crater, global dust storms, Mars Exploration Rover, MER, NASA, Opportunity, Perseverance Valley
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Mars Orbiter Mission: Four years in orbit
It’s been four years since [India's] Mars Orbiter successfully got inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in its first attempt. MOM‘s mission life was expected to be six months! So far, the Mars Colour Camera has acquired 980+ … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, Mars Color Camera, Mars Orbiter Mission, MCC, MOM, outflow channels
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THEMIS: North polar dunes meet Escorial Crater
THEMIS Image of the Day, September 25, 2018. At the bottom of this image is Escorial Crater. The dune field to the north are called Hyperboreae Undae. The subtle blue and yellow arcs over the crater are clouds. The THEMIS … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Arizona State University, ASU, Escorial Crater, Hyperboreae Undae, Mars Odyssey, NASA, north polar sand sea, sand, sand dunes, THEMIS, THEMIS Image of the Day, Thermal Emission Imaging System
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HiRISE: Clays in a well-preserved impact crater in Acidalia Planitia
Clays in a well-preserved impact crater in Acidalia Planitia. Beautiful Mars series. [More at links]
Posted in Reports
Tagged Acidalia Planitia, Beautiful Mars, clays, High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiRISE, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, NASA, phyllosilicates, University of Arizona
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Phobos may have come from big impact on Mars
Spectral fingerprints of Phobos’ surface support an ancient big crash origin for the Martian moon. The weird shapes and colors of the tiny Martian moons Phobos and Deimos have inspired a long-standing debate about their origins. The dark faces of … Continue reading
Curiosity team confident rover will bounce back from glitch
[From Space.com] It’s still unclear exactly what’s ailing NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, but mission team members are optimistic they can get the six-wheeled robot up and running again. Since last Saturday night (Sept. 15), Curiosity has had trouble beaming home … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Vera Rubin Ridge
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HiRISE: Up above the dust clouds
When much of Mars was enshrouded by a recent massive dust storm, HiRISE captured this clear view of the surface because of the target’s unique location. Olympus Mons is the biggest volcano in the Solar System, reaching a height of … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged dust storms, global dust storms, High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiRISE, lava flows, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, NASA, Olympus Mons, University of Arizona, volcanics
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MAVEN: Four (Earth) years in Mars orbit
[Ed. note: The video shows a presentation on September 20, 2018, by MAVEN principal investigator Bruce Jakosky providing an update on the latest data from the mission. The story excerpted below is on the MAVEN mission website.] Today [September 21], … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph, IUVS, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, MAVEN, NASA, University of Colorado
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HiRISE: Martian haze
A massive, planet-encircling dust storm occurred on Mars during the summer of 2018, resulting in many images where the surface could not be seen due to the dust. This is a problem for HiRISE but also gives us an exciting … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, dust storms, eolian processes, global dust storms, haze, High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiRISE, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, NASA, University of Arizona, wind
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THEMIS: Arabia Terra landscape in false color
THEMIS Image of the Day, September 24, 2018. Today’s VIS image shows part of Arabia Terra. The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Arabia Terra, Arizona State University, ASU, basaltic sand, false color, Mars Odyssey, NASA, THEMIS, THEMIS Image of the Day, Thermal Emission Imaging System
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