Tag Archives: European Space Agency

ExoMars: Rover fitness trials in Spanish desert

Posted on November 28, 2018 by rburnham

The sun set on a week of trials for the ExoMars rover prototype named Charlie (in the foreground). The first of two field trials for the mission, known as ExoFiT, took place in the Tabernas desert in Spain between 13-26 … Continue reading →

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‘SpaceBok’ hopping robot tested in ESA Mars Yard

Posted on November 28, 2018 by rburnham

This walking and hopping robot is currently being tested in European Space Agency’s Mars Yard. SpaceBok is a quadruped robot designed by a Swiss student team from ETH Zurich and ZHAW Zurich, under the supervision of Professor Marco Hutter and … Continue reading →

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European Space Agency: Supporting InSight

Posted on November 26, 2018 by rburnham

At just before 9pm Central European Time on 26 November, Mars will receive a new visitor: NASA’s InSight lander. (…) Since InSight’s study is focused on sensing the planet’s interior, surface geology is not such an important factor in deciding … Continue reading →

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Mars Express: Shaping the surface with water, wind, and ice

Posted on November 23, 2018 by rburnham

ESA’s Mars Express has imaged an intriguing part of the Red Planet’s surface: a rocky, fragmented, furrowed escarpment lying at the boundary of the northern and southern hemisphere. This region is an impressive example of past activity on the planet … Continue reading →

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ExoMars: Oxia Planum landing site favored

Posted on November 9, 2018 by rburnham

[Ed. note: See also here.] The ExoMars Landing Site Selection Working Group has recommended Oxia Planum as the landing site for the ESA-Roscosmos rover and surface science platform that will launch to the Red Planet in 2020. The proposal will be … Continue reading →

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Sandstone outcrops seen with the ExoMars PanCam emulator

Posted on November 5, 2018 by rburnham

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, November 1, 2018: Peter Fawdon (The Open University, U.K.). PanCam (Coates et al., 2017) is the imaging instrument on the 2020 ExoMars rover and consists of two wide angle cameras; (WAC’s) and a High … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: An ExoMars landing site

Posted on October 31, 2018 by rburnham

HiRISE plays an important role in finding suitable landing sites for future rover missions. Scientists have narrowed down the candidate landing sites for the upcoming European ExoMars rover mission to two regions: the plains of Oxia and Mawrth Vallis. Images … Continue reading →

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Closer to solving the methane mystery

Posted on October 29, 2018 by rburnham

Planetary scientists are getting closer to solving the puzzle of methane on Mars. New calculations could help to explain why NASA’s Curiosity rover detects peaks of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere during the planet’s northern summer. As winter gives … Continue reading →

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Trace Gas Orbiter: Juventae Chasma’s layered mound

Posted on October 26, 2018 by rburnham

This striking view of layered sediments on Mars was captured by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter’s Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS, on 2 October 2018. The image, which covers an area 25 x 7 km wide, focuses on a … Continue reading →

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Mars Express: Greeley Crater in Noachis Terra

Posted on October 26, 2018 by rburnham

The surface of Mars may appear to be perpetually still, but its many features are ever-changing – as represented in this Mars Express view of the severely eroded Greeley impact crater. Greeley crater, named for the renowned planetary scientist Ronald … Continue reading →

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