Sol 4433, July 13, 2016. A sequence of false-color Pancam frames outlines the edge of Hinners Point, which forms the north wall of Marathon Valley (color versions by Holger Isenberg). Click to enlarge.
Opportunity raw images, its latest mission status, a location map. and atmospheric opacity, known as tau.
Sol 1401, July 14, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: The drive on Sol 1400 went well, and Curiosity drove ~13 m along the edge of the blocky deposit “Bimbe.” Today’s plan involves a number of ChemCam and Mastcam observations to assess the composition and textural properties of three large blocks in the deposit. We’ll also acquire a Mastcam mosaic to document the eastern edge of the deposit, and a Navcam observation to search for dust devils. Then Curiosity will continue driving… [More at link]
After an extensive review process and passing a major development milestone, NASA is ready to proceed with final design and construction of its next Mars rover, currently targeted to launch in summer of 2020 and arrive on the Red Planet in February 2021.
The Mars 2020 rover will investigate a region of Mars where the ancient environment may have been favorable for microbial life, probing the Martian rocks for evidence of past life. Throughout its investigation, it will collect samples of soil and rock, and cache them on the surface for potential return to Earth by a future mission.
“The Mars 2020 rover is the first step in a potential multi-mission campaign to return carefully selected and sealed samples of Martian rocks and soil to Earth,” said Geoffrey Yoder, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This mission marks a significant milestone in NASA’s Journey to Mars — to determine whether life has ever existed on Mars, and to advance our goal of sending humans to the Red Planet.” [More at link]
THEMIS Image of the Day, July 15, 2016. Located on the extensive lava plains between Olympus Mons and Alba Mons, these complex intersecting valleys were created by lava flow. Volcanic flows occurred both along the surface and in buried lava tubes.
More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.
We [the US Geological Survey] have created 39 regional semi-controlled CTX mosaics at 5m/pixel for the 2015 proposed Mars Human Exploration zones. They are individually available for download in GeoTiff format from the “Online Linkage” tag below. Cosmetically, mosaics will have hard edges between images due to seasonal, time, and calibration differences. [Note: the image files average 2 GB each in size.]
These regions were originally proposed during the Mars Human Exploration Zone meeting in October 2015. http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/explorationzone2015/.
The Context Camera (CTX) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a Facility Instrument (i.e., government-furnished equipment operated by a science team not responsible for design and fabrication) designed, built, and operated by Malin Space Science Systems and the MRO Mars Color Imager team (MARCI). CTX will (1) provide context images for data acquired by other MRO instruments, (2) observe features of interest to NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (e.g., candidate landing sites), and (3) conduct a scientific investigation, led by the MARCI team, of geologic, geomorphic, and meteorological processes on Mars. [More at links]
NASA will host a Facebook Live event at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) Friday, July 15, to talk about the science and technology aboard NASA’s next Mars rover, Mars 2020, and the significant step the agency is taking on its Journey to Mars, proceeding with final design and construction of the robotic explorer.
During the event, viewers will get a glimpse of the Mars Yard and rock drilling facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and can ask questions during the program via Facebook. Media can submit questions by email at: hq-social@nasa.gov.
Participants will be:
• Kenneth Farley, Mars 2020 project scientist at Caltech in Pasadena
• Matt Robinson, Mars 2020 sampling and caching team deputy manager at JPL
• Allen Chen, Mars 2020 entry, descent and landing lead at JPL
The event can be viewed live on NASA’s Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/nasa
[More at links]
High above the thin Martian skies, the MAVEN spacecraft is carrying out a mission: determine how Mars lost its early atmosphere, and with it, its water.
MAVEN is currently executing the 9th stellar occultation campaign of the mission. These campaigns involve the IUVS instrument using the light from a setting star as it passes through Mars’ atmosphere to look for subtle changes in its color as it dips through the limb of Mars.
Such stellar occultations reveal what Mars’ atmosphere is made of, and how its composition varies with altitude. [More at link]
Sol 1400 [!], July 13, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: On Sol 1399, Curiosity drove ~32 m closer to a blocky deposit known as “Bimbe.” We’ve identified several notable blocky deposits in orbital images, and this will be our last chance to fully investigate one of these deposits on the ground to try to determine their origin. Today’s plan starts with some Mastcam mosaics to characterize laminations in the Murray bedrock, and to document the “Bimbe” region. We’ll also study “Bimbe” with ChemCam at a target named “Auchab.” Additionally, the morning science block includes some systematic atmospheric monitoring… [More at link]
THEMIS Image of the Day, July 14, 2016. This VIS image is located on the eastern margin of Terra Sabaea. The boundary region between the highlands of Terra Sabaea and the lower elevations of Utopia Planitia is a complex of channels, chaos and graben.
More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.
