Tag Archives: JPL

Mantle plumes still active under Tharsis, Elysium?

Posted on November 21, 2018 by rburnham

[Editor’s note: From a paper by A.-C. Plesa and eight co-authors recently published in Geophysical Research Letters.] The thermal state and interior structure of Mars We constrain the thermal state and interior structure of Mars by combining a large number … Continue reading →

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InSight: On course toward landing

Posted on November 21, 2018 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft is on track for a soft touchdown on the surface of the Red Planet on Nov. 26, the Monday after Thanksgiving. But it’s not going to be … Continue reading →

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What two planetary siblings can teach us about life

Posted on November 21, 2018 by rburnham

Mars and Earth are like two siblings who have grown apart. There was a time when their resemblance was uncanny: Both were warm, wet and shrouded in thick atmospheres. But 3 or 4 billion years ago, these two worlds took … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020: Media telecon on landing site, Nov. 19

Posted on November 16, 2018 by rburnham

NASA will host a media teleconference at 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) Monday, Nov. 19, to provide details about the Mars 2020 rover’s landing site on the Red Planet. The rover, currently under construction at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), … Continue reading →

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InSight: What’s the sound of a Mars touchdown?

Posted on November 16, 2018 by rburnham

What’s the sound of a touchdown on Mars? If you’re at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it sounds like winning the Super Bowl: cheers, laughter and lots of hollering. But in the minutes before that, NASA’s InSight team will be monitoring … Continue reading →

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InSight: Broadcast schedule for landing events

Posted on November 14, 2018 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet at approximately noon PST (3 p.m. EST) on Nov. 26, and viewers everywhere can watch coverage of the … Continue reading →

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InSight: Landing site bland as ‘vanilla ice cream’

Posted on November 5, 2018 by rburnham

No doubt about it, NASA explores some of the most awe-inspiring locations in our solar system and beyond. Once seen, who can forget the majesty of astronaut Jim Irwin standing before the stark beauty of the Moon’s Hadley Apennine mountain … Continue reading →

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InSight: Five things to know about its landing

Posted on October 31, 2018 by rburnham

Every Mars landing is a knuckle-whitening feat of engineering. But each attempt has its own quirks based on where a spacecraft is going and what kind of science the mission intends to gather.  On Nov. 26, NASA will try to … Continue reading →

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InSight: NASA Launches a new podcast to Mars

Posted on October 29, 2018 by rburnham

NASA has a new mission to Mars, and it’s taking podcast listeners along for the ride. Launching today, the eight-episode series “On a Mission” follows the InSight lander as it travels hundreds of millions of miles and attempts to land … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020: Parachute design is a ‘Go’

Posted on October 29, 2018 by rburnham

In the early hours of Sept. 7, NASA broke a world record. Less than 2 minutes after the launch of a 58-foot-tall (17.7-meter) Black Brant IX sounding rocket, a payload separated and began its dive back through Earth’s atmosphere. When … Continue reading →

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