Category Archives: Reports

Watch Mars 2020 rover assembly via JPL webcam

Posted on June 7, 2019 by rburnham

A newly installed webcam offers the public a live, bird’s-eye view of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover as it takes shape at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. You can watch as JPL engineers and technicians assemble and test the … Continue reading →

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Latest weather at Gale Crater and Elysium Planitia

Posted on June 7, 2019 by rburnham

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

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Curiosity: Where next?

Posted on June 7, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2429, June 7, 2019. Two Navcam composites, one forward-facing (above) and one to the rear, show Curiosity’s surroundings. Click either image to enlarge it. Sol 2428 raw images (from all cameras).

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HiRISE: In western Mawrth Vallis

Posted on June 7, 2019 by rburnham

In western Mawrth Vallis. The layered deposits here exhibit strong and diverse spectral signatures of clays. HiRISE Picture of the Day archive. [More at links]

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THEMIS: Faulting in Labeatis Fossae

Posted on June 7, 2019 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, June 7, 2019. The linear depressions in this VIS image were created by tectonic forces. The sides of the depression are faults. Paired faults will allow the block of material between them to “slide down” … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: A ‘no-touch-and-go’

Posted on June 6, 2019 by rburnham

Sols 2429-30, June 6, 2019, update by MSL scientist Brittney Cooper: The original plan for Sol 2429 involved a “touch-and-go” where the rover would have engaged in contact science (that’s the “touch” portion) followed by a drive (the “go” portion), … Continue reading →

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The evolution of Endeavour Crater

Posted on June 6, 2019 by rburnham

[Editor’s note: From a paper by Madison Hughes and five co-authors recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.] Degradation of Endeavour Crater Based on Orbital and Rover‐Based Observations in Combination With Landscape Evolution Modeling • Landscape evolution modeling indicates … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Woodland Bay under scrutiny

Posted on June 6, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2428, June 5, 2019. The right front Hazcam shows the multi-layered outcrop named Woodland Bay getting the close-up treatment by Curiosity’s instrument arm. Click the image to enlarge it. Sol 2428 raw images (from all cameras).

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Mars 2020 helicopter enters final testing phase

Posted on June 6, 2019 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Helicopter flight demonstration project has passed a number of key tests with flying colors. In 2021, the small, autonomous helicopter will be the first vehicle in history to attempt to establish the viability of heavier-than-air vehicles flying on … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: A work of art

Posted on June 6, 2019 by rburnham

A work of art. An impressionist painting? No, it’s a new impact crater that has appeared on the surface of Mars, formed at most between September 2016 and February 2019. What makes this stand out is the darker material exposed … Continue reading →

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