Nasa

If we ever want to send humans to Mars, we’ll need to find resources there which can help sustain a mission. One of the most essential resources for crewed missions is water, and now international space agencies want to find a way to locate it on the red planet. NASA has partnered with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to announce they plan to investigate building a robotic orbiter called the Mars Ice Mapper, which would search for and map the location and depth of sub-surface water ice on Mars. Scientists know that there is plenty of ice at Mars’s poles and in large craters, but they also want to know where ice is located on the rest of the planet. There is thought to be plentiful ice just below the surface in many areas, which would potentially be a very useful resource for future crewed missions there. Instead of having to trek all the way to the poles for ice, future astronauts could dig it … [Read more...] about NASA wants to send a robotic mission to search for ice on Mars

Aiming for a 2024 launch, NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission is an astrophysics survey that will be performed from an orbital observatory. It aims to take a survey of the sky in the near-infrared wavelength, in order to uncover clues about the beginning of the universe and how galaxies developed over time. Now, NASA has announced that it selected SpaceX to launch the SPHEREx mission, as part of a total cost of $99.8 million for the launch and other related costs. The plan for the launch is to use a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s reusable workhorse rocket which has been used to launch everything from resupply missions to the International Space Station to the first crewed test flight and subsequent first operational flight of the Crew Dragon capsule for carrying astronauts. The plan is to launch SPHEREx from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in June 2024. NASA … [Read more...] about SpaceX will launch NASA’s SPHEREx astrophysics survey mission

With two separate missions having made it safely to Mars orbit in the last couple of days, excitement is building to see if NASA can make it three in a row for international space efforts aimed at uncovering some of the mysteries of the faraway planet, as well as our own solar system. The United Arab Emirates became the first Arab nation to reach Mars when its Hope orbiter arrived on Tuesday, February 9. China followed up a day later when its Tianwen-1 spacecraft entered Mars orbit ahead of an attempt to land its rover in a few months’ time. NASA’s Perseverance rover, meanwhile, is expected to arrive at the red planet on Thursday, February 18. And it won’t be hanging around, as on the very same day the spacecraft will attempt the challenging procedure of landing the rover safely on the Martian surface. The movie-like trailer below features an animation showing the planned autonomous landing, which NASA says will be a “harrowing” seven minutes for Perseverance (as well as for … [Read more...] about Enjoy NASA’s dramatic Mars video a week ahead of rover’s arrival

This Thursday, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will attempt a feat that is terrifying and impressive in equal measures: Landing a rover on Mars. The Perseverance rover, along with its helicopter sidekick Ingenuity , has been traveling to Mars since summer last year. Now, it’s set to arrive at the red planet on Thursday, February 18, and to execute the extremely challenging landing maneuver to touch down safely and begin its search for signs of ancient life . What to expect from the landing Perseverance is approaching its seven minutes of terror , in which the rover’s spacecraft will need to slow from 12,000 mph down to a comfortable landing speed, using a combination of a parachute, a descent stage with engines pointed downward, and the rover being lowered to the surface on cables. One of the (many) challenges of this maneuver is the communication delay of up to 20 minutes on Mars, meaning that engineers can’t control the landing directly — they have … [Read more...] about How to watch NASA’s Perseverance rover land on Mars on Thursday

If you’re feeling an urge to curl up in bed and sleep until the cold months have passed and spring arrives, then you’re not the only one. NASA’s InSight lander on Mars will soon be powering down some of its instruments to slumber through the Martian winter before reawakening to continue its scientific investigations once the sun returns this summer. Unlike NASA’s rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, the batteries of which are recharged using nuclear power, InSight relies on solar power. It has two 7-foot-long solar panels that soak up the sun’s rays and generate its power. But the area where InSight is located, Elysium Planitia, is currently in its winter season. In addition, Mars will soon reach the point in its orbit when it is furthest away from the sun, called its aphelion. These two factors in combination mean that limited sunlight is reaching InSight right now. Although engineers think that InSight would have enough power to last the winter, they want to be cautious. Mars can … [Read more...] about NASA’s InSight lander is going into hibernation for the Martian winter