Red Planet Report

MAVEN: Status update, September 22, 2014

Posted on September 23, 2014 by rburnham

Right on schedule last night at 9:50 p.m. EDT, the MAVEN spacecraft fired its main engines for 33 minutes and 26 seconds in order to slow down the spacecraft enough to capture into Mars orbit. Following that event at about 10:30 p.m. EDT, David Folta, the Goddard Mission Design/Navigation lead—stationed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory—made the call that we were all waiting for, “Based on observed navigation data, congratulations, MAVEN is now in Mars orbit!”… [More at link, including video]

Timeline for transition to science orbit (80 KB, PDF)

Posted in Reports | Tagged Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, MAVEN, NASA, University of Colorado | Comments Off

MAVEN: Mars & solar coronal mass ejections

Posted on September 23, 2014 by rburnham

Two main types of explosions occur on the Sun: solar flares and coronal mass ejections [CME]…giant clouds of solar material that take one to three days to reach Earth. [...] From Sept. 22 to 26, 2014, we explore different aspects of these giant eruptions that surge out from the star we live with. [...] Now safely in orbit around Mars, MAVEN will observe the Martian upper atmosphere, including keeping an eye on just what effect the solar wind and CMEs have on the red planet. Such observations not only help us understand the history of what led to the desert surface we see today, but also pave the way for protecting astronauts on future…. [More at link, including video]

Posted in Reports | Tagged Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, MAVEN, NASA, solar activity, solar coronal mass ejections, Sun, University of Colorado | Comments Off

Opportunity: Rock on the rim

Posted on September 23, 2014 by rburnham

Sol 3791, September 22, 2014. Ulysses Crater looks lopsided because it was formed by a meteorite impact on the sloping surface of Wdowiak Ridge. (Also, the meteorite likely struck at an angle to the surface itself.) The result is a crater which from ground level looks unlike the classic bowl shape many impacts display.

The sharp-edged blocks lying all around are probably pieces of ridge rock which were thrown into the air by the impact and fell close to the crater. Since the impact, winds have carried sand and dust up the ridge slope and dropped them into the crater.

Opportunity raw images, its latest mission status, and a location map.

Posted in Reports | Tagged Cape Tribulation, Endeavour Crater, Mars Exploration Rover, MER, NASA, Opportunity, Ulysses Crater, Wdowiak Ridge | Comments Off

THEMIS: Terra Cimmeria

Posted on September 23, 2014 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, September 23, 2014. The unnamed channels in this VIS image are located in Terra Cimmeria.

More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

Posted in Reports | Tagged Arizona State University, ASU, channels, Mars Odyssey, NASA, Terra Cimmeria, THEMIS, Thermal Emission Imaging System | Comments Off

Curiosity update: ‘Mini-drilling Pahrump Hills’

Posted on September 22, 2014 by rburnham

Sol 755-758, September 22, 2014, update from USGS Scientist Ryan Anderson: “Curiosity has had a busy weekend! We arrived at the location called Pahrump Hills, which has a nice flat expanse of bedrock for us to drill and get our…” [More at link]

Posted in Reports | Tagged Aeolis Mons, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, NASA, Pahrump Hills | Comments Off

Curiosity: Drilling pavement at Pahrump

Posted on September 22, 2014 by rburnham

Sol 756, September 21, 2014. Drilling in progress: the instrument arm sits on the cracked expanse of bare rock “pavement” lying at the foot of the Pahrump Hills (background, center and right).

As reported earlier, if project scientists are correct, this unit may be the layer that underlies the entire 5-kilometer-high stack of sediments making up Mount Sharp.

What the MAHLI saw.

Posted in Reports | Tagged Aeolis Mons, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, NASA, Pahrump Hills | Comments Off

Opportunity field report: September 22, 2014

Posted on September 22, 2014 by rburnham

Sol 3790 (September 22, 2014) Rover Field Report by Larry Crumpler, MER Science Team & New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science: “There was a stand-down of activities on Opportunity for a week or so as we emptied the flash memory and reformatted it following discovery of some “bad” flash memory blocks. Like re-formatting the memory card in your camera when it becomes troublesome, Opportunity simply wiped its data storage memory and reformatted it. This was completed about sol 3773… Opportunity has re-commenced the long climb up this high and steep segment of the Endeavour crater rim…” [More at link]