Mars | News Ledge

Curiosity Rover Stays Busy as Dust Storm Rages on Mars, Snaps Selfie

Posted on June 19, 2018
byAlex Chavers

A Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator means NASA’s Curiosity rover always stays busy, dust or shine. Not even an intense dust storm can keep the rover down. While the Opportunity rover had…

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NASA’s Hardy Opportunity Rover Has Made It Through a Martian Dust Storm Before

Posted on June 15, 2018
byAlex Chavers

NASA’s Opportunity Rover wasn’t even designed to make it through a dust storm. Why would it have been? The team designed the rover to last for its 90-day mission. A…

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A Tiny Satellite Headed to Mars Looks Back at Earth

Posted on May 17, 2018
byAlex Chavers

A few days after launching from the California coast, a satellite about the size of a briefcase looked back towards Earth and our lunar neighbor and snapped a picture. It’s…

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NASA’s Curiosity Rover is On Its Way Back to Drilling on Mars

Posted on March 1, 2018
byAlex Chavers

In December 2016, a critical part of Curiosity’s drill stopped working. Two stabilizers flanking the drill bit steady the drill against its target rock. You can see how the setup…

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Mars’ Moon Phobos is Moving in a Hurry in Fresh Hubble Images

Posted on July 21, 2017
byAlex Chavers

The tiny moon Phobos wasn’t the target for the Hubble Space Telescope. Mars was. Last May, the famous space telescope was tasked with observing Mars near opposition. That is when…

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Mars’ Soil is Another Strike Against Life as We Know It

Posted on July 7, 2017
byAlex Chavers

Mars is a barren, cold wasteland. But, it’s also the closest planet to home. And the easiest place to hunt for answers to the ultimate science question. Are we alone…

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A Spectacular Look at the Curiosity Rover From Space

Posted on June 21, 2017
byAlex Chavers

You see that tiny blue dot sticking out amidst sand and rock bathed in shades of red and brown? That’s NASA’s Curiosity rover trucking up the lower part of Mount…

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Wind-Swept Sands on Mars Give a Splash of Darkness Across the Red Landscape

Posted on April 28, 2017
byAlex Chavers

Mars isn’t just red. Some parts are much darker. NASA highlights one of these areas in an image captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Have a look at dark…

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What if NASA’s Opportunity Rover Had An Army of Rovers – Meet PUFFER

Posted on Last Updated on March 15, 2017
byAlex Chavers

A controller operating the Opportunity rover sees an intriguing rock formation. But the rover isn’t slated to stop yet. What if the controller could deploy a small robot to explore…

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Mars Dust Storms Still Surprise

Posted on Last Updated on March 14, 2017
byAlex Chavers

From small dust devils to regional dust storms to massive global storms covering the entire world. Mars sees it all. And scientists have a handle on many of the patterns…

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Could Mark Watney Really Grow Potatoes on Mars?

Posted on Last Updated on March 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

He science’d the shit out of it in The Martian, and it turns out, real science is starting to back him up. The International Potato Center (CIP) conducted a series…

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Roaming Mars – Where the Mars 2020 Rover Might Work

Posted on Last Updated on February 13, 2017
byAlex Chavers

Where should NASA land the Mars 2020 rover? That was a question scientists tackled during a third landing site workshop for the mission last week. The list of potential landing…

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A Meteorite in Algeria Suggests a 2 Billion Year Long Eruption on Mars

Posted on Last Updated on February 7, 2017
byAlex Chavers

You don’t need boots on the ground on Mars to learn about its geology. All you need is a rock from the Red Planet’s surface. And researchers can find them…

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Donald Trump’s Mars Mission Would Be Big League And Draw a Crowd

Posted on Last Updated on January 22, 2017
byMarcus Chavers

Between the dystopian landscape he painted of America during his inaugural address, he specifically vowed to unlock the ‘mysteries of space.’ During his transition period, Elon Musk – founder of…

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The Habitat in Hawaii Preparing Us for a Trip to Mars

Posted on Last Updated on January 13, 2017
byAlex Chavers

Getting a person on Mars will be one of the hardest feats ever attempted. Space agencies continue to develop the technology needed to even get us there. While engineers from…

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Curiosity Rover Finds Purple Splashes on Red Planet

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

The fourth rock from the Sun is often nicknamed the Red Planet, but Mars isn’t just red. One of Curiosity’s latest images shows us that. Below you’re going to see…

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Curiosity Rover Spots More Clues for Past Mars Habitability

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

“We are well into the layers that were the main reason Gale Crater was chosen as the landing site,” says Curiosity Deputy Project Scientist Joy Crisp. Four years after touching…

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Looking For Life on Mars In a Place We Already Looked

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

That’s what a new discovery from a pair of geoscientists at Arizona State University (ASU) could lead to. To find evidence of life on Mars, scientists often look for similar…

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ESA’s Mars Lander Left A Mark On Mars

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

And it’s not the one the European Space Agency (ESA) was hoping for. On Wednesday, the ESA attempted to land a probe on Mars and end NASA’s monopoly on Mars’…

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President Obama and Mars. The United States of Space is Here

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byMarcus Chavers

President Obama is kicking off his last 100 days in office by laying out a vision for the next two decades in space. He wants manned expeditions to Mars by…

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NASA Scientists Become Martian Meteorologists

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

One aspect of putting humans on Mars is often overlooked. Weather. It’s what got Mark Watney stuck planting potatoes in his own crap in The Martian. Now, dust storms aren’t…

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Always Forward. NASA’s Curiosity Rover Continues Up Mount Sharp

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

Sorry, been binging Luke Cage on Netflix. The hardy Martian rover continues to push forward. At least, for two more years. NASA’s Curiosity rover began its mission extension on October…

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SpaceX Raptor Engine Test Fires With Mars As The Prize

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

SpaceX is still a month or so from returning to space after its last rocket exploded (technically, it burned up in a hurry) while being fueled in the lead up…

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Meet MOXIE, Mars 2020 Rover’s Oxygen Producing Instrument

Posted on Last Updated on January 9, 2017
byAlex Chavers

It’s about the size of a car battery, but its mission could pave the way for human exploration of Mars. Donald Rapp, a co-investigator for the MOXIE instrument, tells Astrowatch…