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- CRISM: Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars
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- SHARAD: Shallow Radar
- THEMIS: Thermal Emission Imaging System
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- Mars Odyssey
- Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) / Mangalyaan
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- Perseverance Rover
- Tianwen-1 orbiter/rover
news
Category Archives: Reports
THEMIS: Goodbye Opportunity
THEMIS Image of the Day, April 2, 2019. This false-color VIS image shows part of Meridiani Planum. While this image does not show where the Opportunity MER rover explored, Meridiani Planum was Opportunity’s home since it arrived in January 2004. … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Arizona State University, ASU, false color, Mars Exploration Rover, Mars Odyssey, MER, Meridiani Planum, NASA, Opportunity, THEMIS, THEMIS Image of the Day, Thermal Emission Imaging System
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Curiosity update: Drilling on the horizon?
Sols 2363-64, April 1, 2019, update by MSL engineer Ashley Stroupe: Curiosity is getting close to the area in which we next want to drill. We are possibly as close as 2-3 drives (including today’s) away from our next drill … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, Ardnamurchan, CBU, clay-bearing unit, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Glen Torridon, Mars Science Laboratory, Maud, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA
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Evidence against vast glaciation in Mars’ grandest canyons
Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, April 1, 2019: Lucy Kissick (Durham University, now at University of Oxford). The Valles Marineris (Image 1) form the largest system of interconnected canyons on Mars, up to 2000 km long and in parts … Continue reading
Rivers raged on Mars late into its history
Long ago on Mars, water carved deep riverbeds into the planet’s surface — but we still don’t know what kind of weather fed them. Scientists aren’t sure, because their understanding of the Martian climate billions of years ago remains incomplete. … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Curiosity, fluvial channels, fluvial erosion, fluvial landforms, fluvial processes, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, MSL, valley networks
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Mars Express saw same methane spike detected by Curiosity
A reanalysis of data collected by ESA’s Mars Express during the first 20 months of NASA’s Curiosity mission found one case of correlated methane detection, the first time an in-situ measurement has been independently confirmed from orbit. Reports of methane … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Curiosity, ESA, European Space Agency, Gale Crater, Mars Express, Mars Science Laboratory, methane, MEX, MSL, PFS, Planetary Fourier Spectrometer
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HiRISE: Frost-covered dunes
Frost-covered dunes. Sprinkled with hopes and dreams, no less. This is a relatively new monitoring site that seems to have heavy carbon-dioxide snowfall. HiRISE Picture of the Day archive [More at links]
Posted in Reports
Tagged CO2 frost, dunes, frost, High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiPOD, HiRISE, HiRISE Picture of the Day, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, NASA, northern lowlands, northern plains, sand dunes, seasonal processes, snow, University of Arizona
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NASA, Google join in simulating Mars exploration
A crewed mission to Mars might be a long way off, but researchers are busy preparing, nonetheless. One of the best ways to prepare is by training scientists and testing new technologies in some of the most Mars-like locations on … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged crewed Mars missions, Devon Island, Google, Haughton-Mars Project, HMP, Mars Institute, NASA, Nunavut, SETI Institute
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THEMIS; Rutherford Crater in false color
THEMIS Image of the Day, April 1, 2019. Today’s VIS image shows part of the floor of Rutherford Crater. Blue tones in false color images are indicative of basaltic sand. Rutherford Crater is approximately 107 km (66 miles) in diameter. … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Arabia Terra, Arizona State University, ASU, basaltic sand, false color, Mars Odyssey, NASA, Rutherford Crater, THEMIS, THEMIS Image of the Day, Thermal Emission Imaging System
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Groundwater origin for recurring slope lineae?
In mid-2018, researchers supported by the Italian Space Agency detected the presence of a deep-water lake on Mars under its south polar ice caps. [Ed. note: previously reported here.] Now researchers at the USC Arid Climate and Water Research Center … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged fractures, groundwater, impact craters, Palikir Crater, recurring slope lineae, RSL
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Curiosity: Rolling along behind the ridge
Sol 2361, March 29, 2019. Leaving a zigzag track (click the composite image above), Curiosity continues to roll northeastward behind Vera Rubin Ridge, roughly paralleling its direction. Sand dune “blow-overs” are visible to the left of the rover in the … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, CBU, clay-bearing unit, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Glen Torridon, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, sand, sand dunes, TARs, transverse eolian ridges, Vera Rubin Ridge, wind
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