Here on Earth (in Toronto, specifically), it’s a very typical April which can’t quite make up its mind about whether or not it wants to be spring. On Mars (in Gale Crater), we’re well into spring, and Curiosity is enjoying the (relatively) warmer weather. As the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, I … Read more
2 min read Sols 4164-4165: What’s Around the Ridge-bend? This image was taken by the Left Navigation Camera and looks towards the deposits that make up the bend in Gediz Vallis ridge between “Pinnacle Ridge” and “Fascination Turret”. In the background is the layered stratigraphy that makes up the butte “Texoli”. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Monday, … Read more
2 min read Sols 4161-4163: Double Contact Science This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4159 (2024-04-18 13:24:29 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Earth planning date: Friday, April 19, 2024 Curiosity has a three-sol weekend plan coming up as it makes progress along the edge of upper Gediz Vallis ridge. … Read more
Living creatures produce most of the methane on Earth. But scientists haven’t found convincing signs of current or ancient life on Mars, and thus didn’t expect to find methane there. Yet, the portable chemistry lab aboard Curiosity, known as SAM, or Sample Analysis at Mars, has continually sniffed out traces of the gas near the … Read more
3 min read Sols 4159-4160: A Fully Loaded First Sol This image was taken by Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4158 (2024-04-17 07:52:27 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL Earth planning date: Wednesday, April 17, 2024 Curiosity continues to make progress along the margin of upper Gediz Vallis ridge, investigating the broken bedrock … Read more
The final downlink shift by the Ingenuity team was a time to reflect on a highly successful mission — and to prepare the first aircraft on another world for its new role. Engineers working on NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter assembled for one last time in a control room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in … Read more
The 24th sample taken by the six-wheeled scientist offers new clues about Jezero Crater and the lake it may have once held. Analysis by instruments aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover indicate that the latest rock core taken by the rover was awash in water for an extended period of time in the distant past, perhaps … Read more
MEGANE was developed under NASA’s Discovery Program, which provides low-cost access to space. The Discovery Program is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The instrument science team includes investigators from APL, LLNL, Marietta College, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon … Read more
On Jan. 16, 2020, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this image of two types of sand dunes on Mars: barchan and linear dunes. The small dots are called barchan dunes, and from their shape we can tell that they are upwind. The downwind dunes are long and linear. These two types of dune each … Read more
Sedimentary and planetary geologist Michael Thorpe finds the stories rocks have to tell, those on Earth and those from Mars. Name: Michael Thorpe Title: Sedimentary and Planetary Geologist Organization: Planetary Environments Laboratory, Science Directorate (Code 699) What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help … Read more