Scientist and astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt stands next to a huge, split lunar boulder during the … [+] Apollo 17 mission at the Taurus-Littrow landing site in this photograph from Dec. 13, 1972. Rock samples collected during the Apollo missions provided evidence that the Moon resulted from an object crashing into Earth in the early …
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover poses for a selfie in early 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Mars is a dusty and windy place. Put those two factors together and you get some spectacular whirlwinds. NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a lucky sequence of images showing a dust devil out for a stroll in the Jezero Crater. Most of our views …
This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, which will explore a metal-rich asteroid of … [+] the same name that lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Peter Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU The first-ever mission to explore a metal-rich asteroid, NASA’s Psyche mission—due to launch on October 5 from Florida—is catching the imagination. Is it …
A composite image, annotated at JPL using visualization software, showing Perseverance’s path through a dense section of boulders. The pale blue line indicates the course of the center of the front wheel hubs, while darker blue lines show the paths of the rover’s six wheels. NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Mars rover, Perseverance, has used its self-driving smarts …
Artistic impression of as astronaut discovering bacteria on a rock on Mars. Could AI now help … [+] astrobioligists discover ancient life on the red planet? getty Sensors could soon be fitted to Mars rovers to help them search for signs of life after scientists successfully used a form of artificial intelligence to check for …
NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, has set a new flight record on the red planet. On its 59th flight just a few days ago, the drone-like machine reached an altitude of 20 meters, beating its previous record, set in December last year, by 6 meters. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is overseeing the mission that …
The Perseverance rover caught sight of this avocado-shaped rock on September 8, 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Humanity has its sights set on visiting Mars in person someday. Future explorers might want to pack some lime juice, cilantro and tomatoes to go along with a delightful avocado-shaped rock spotted by NASA’s Perseverance rover in the Jezero Crater. The …
Perseverance takes a selfie as it looks at “Rochette” – the first rock successfully sampled by the … [+] rover on Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS More than 6,000 different minerals are known to exist on Earth, but after more than 50 years of investigations, only 161 minerals have been found on Mars—a dramatically lower number for a …
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter throws a shadow on the dusty surface on Aug. 2, 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Amanda Kooser A lot has happened in the air on Mars since April 19, 2021. That was the day when NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter first lifted off from the dusty ground and proved that powered, controlled flight was possible on another …
Two distinctive rocks seen by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on August 18. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU It’s shark week on Mars. NASA’s Perseverance rover is rolling across the Jezero Crater on the red planet while conducting serious science work. It’s also doing some sightseeing along the way. A photo snapped by the rover on August 18 has attracted …