330 posts tagged with mars.
Displaying 1 through 50 of 330. Subscribe:
Moon landings, a wooden satellite, Tolkien on Mars, fiery descents
The Martian helicopter completed its final flight on Valinor Hills. "yeah it really could be an ocean moon" - Let's check in on humanity's exploration of space in early 2024. [more inside]
The Brave Little Flying Toaster
The Ingenuity helicopter will fly no more. After three years and more than 2 hours of cumulative flying time, the first human craft to fly on Mars is grounded. [more inside]
Asteroid bits, fast spaceships, JuMBOs, a space battle, space cat video
December 2023 solstice from space. Let's check in on humanity's solar system exploration before 2024 kicks in. [more inside]
I've Made a Huge Mistake
Chris Lewicki recounts a story about how he almost killed a half-billion-dollar Mars rover. Turns out cables are hard.
It's not just space camp
"Inside the small world of simulating other worlds" by Sarah Scoles examines the challenges for analog astronauts of emulating space habitats as well as the difficulty of re-entering society after their artificial isolation.
Fully Manual Austere Martian Communes
Space settlement advocates frequently argue that we will soon be able to settle humans in space. Surviving on Mars is clearly a pre-requisite to settlement, and much work has been done examining the engineering aspects of this endeavor. Much less work has been done, however, on questions related to how to arrange a society in space. Early settlements will be dangerous, isolated, and cramped, and picking a social arrangement that is likely to result in a vibrant and productive society will be critical. To Each According to Their Space-Need: Communes in Outer Space [more inside]
Launches, landings, elements, and the fiery golden apples of the sun
NASA started work on this day in 1958. So let's mark the occasion by checking on the past month of humanity's exploration of space. [more inside]
Feeling lunar gravity
Had ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface. Let's check in on humanity's exploration of space as autumn 2023 draws nigh, starting with the Sun and working outwards from there. [more inside]
To the other side of the Sun, to resurrect the last Great Observatory
Launches, satellites, deep space missions, images, and more. Let's check in on humanity's exploration of space for July 2023. [more inside]
Life On Mars?
Davie Bowie's ”Life on Mars?” was released as a single 50 years ago. Did you know it was written as revenge on Frank Sinatra? [more inside]
Volcano on Venus
A Martian glacier, rockets, asteroid samples, moons, and more rockets. From the fiery Sun to the search for alien civilizations, here's an update on humanity's exploration of space.
Sol
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured video of an immense solar flare followed by a solar tornado. [more inside]
Sol
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured video of an immense solar flare followed by a solar tornado. [more inside]
Life Imitates Art
Mars Wrigley factory fined after two workers fall into chocolate vat
US workplace safety regulators have fined a Pennsylvania factory after two workers fell into a vat of chocolate and had to be rescued. [more inside]
An unusually close glimpse of black hole snacking on star.
The Moon doesn’t currently have an independent time. It's time for another look at humanity's exploration of space, from 2022's end to the start of 2023. There's a lot going on, especially between the Earth's surface and orbit. [more inside]
From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon
Helga, Zohar and Commander Moonikin Campos take a trip. It's time for another look at humanity's exploration of space, starting with the Sun.
The European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter glimpsed a "solar snake" racing across the face of the Sun. [more inside]
The European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter glimpsed a "solar snake" racing across the face of the Sun. [more inside]
The face of the sun, a dying robot, meteor strikes, lovely moons
October 2022 in humanity's exploration of space. Let's start from the sun. The European Space Agency (ESA) Solar Orbiter zoomed very close to our star and captured great images of its corona. [more inside]
Moon to Mars activities and asteroid crashing
NASA published its new strategic objectives. And a lot more is going on. Just past the fall equinox, we catch up with humanity's exploration of space. [more inside]
From the Earth to the Moon, to Venus, Mars, and more
A roundup of July and August 2022 in humanity's exploration of space. Humans and robots explored, rockets ascended and descended, various preparations are under way, and many plans were aired. [more inside]
Looking into the universe in June 2022
Today NASA published the first image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. That makes this a fine day to catch up on all of the other ways people and our machines are exploring space. [more inside]
From Ukraine to deep space
April-June 2022 in humanity's exploration of space. Stand by for rocky passengers, glitches, amazing images, a very French rocket name, Earthly politics, and lots of asteroids.
On the Earth In the Himalayas, a liquid mirror telescope came online. France joined the Artemis accords for sustainable space exploration. BRICS nations announced a new space agreement: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. [more inside]
On the Earth In the Himalayas, a liquid mirror telescope came online. France joined the Artemis accords for sustainable space exploration. BRICS nations announced a new space agreement: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. [more inside]
Rockets, photos, the sun, a space station, and a very distant star
Late March 2022 in humanity's exploration of space. The past couple of weeks saw a lot of activity in the solar system, especially with launches and images. [more inside]
The option of dropping a 500-ton structure on India and China
Updates from February 2022 in space. The human effort to explore space continued this month, intersecting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [more inside]
to strengthen its space presence in an all-round manner
The past fortnight in space. Updates from humanity's exploration of the solar system.
On Earth's surface: using data from three satellites, scientists published a visualization of an unusually violent star. A "hard start" delayed an ABL Space Systems rocket test launch. An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon module safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. [more inside]
On Earth's surface: using data from three satellites, scientists published a visualization of an unusually violent star. A "hard start" delayed an ABL Space Systems rocket test launch. An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon module safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. [more inside]
From L2 to the Moon and points elsewhere
The last two weeks of 2021 in space. Starting with the Earth area: Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu, two taikonauts of the Shenzhou-13 mission on board the Tianhe space station, completed a second EVA lasting six hours. [more inside]
"What’s your name, and what’s your age, and what’s your trade, good man?"
Three speculative tales of suspense and escape. “The Passing Bell” by Amy Griswold (also available in audio): “It’s kind of you to put me up,” I said, jingling pennies in my pocket to encourage such generosity. In a town so small it had neither pub nor inn, I considered myself fortunate to be offered the chance to sleep in the blacksmith’s loft. "Authenticity Soup" by by Alison Wilgus (previously): She had not put the tent together outside the pressurized dome of the city. And she had not been wearing a surface suit. Or gloves. "I Am Tasting the Stars" by Jennifer R. Donohue (published this year) features a list, champagne, a boat, and a mutiny: "We’re good at finding what we need, having enough. It’s why they still humor me, and my list; I’ve brought them years of plenty, no matter how ridiculous the ask."
"Sixteen Earth years. Not quite nine, Martian."
Wanna read action-y scifi about girls solving problems by hacking electronics? (Previously.) "Power to the People" by Kiera Lesley is shorter: “Sorry, print took longer than I expected.” Sarah said, fishing in her pockets for her offerings, all in white because that was the only colour filament she had. But "A Thousand Ways" by Beth McCabe takes place on Mars: Riley began moving the rows of panels from angled to vertical, a kluge Liam's team had fixed up to keep the sticky dust from accumulating during a storm. While she worked, her gaze travelled over the landscape of her childhood, littered with the debris of the Consortium's failures.
New space walks
A space exploration update for November 2021. In Earth orbit news, one crew returned from the International Space Station, while a new crew rode a SpaceX flight to board the ISS. The ISS altered its orbit by a mile to avoid incoming debris from an old Chinese launch. Members of the Shenzhou 13 team aboard China's Tiangong space station conducted a spacewalk to build out the station; colonel Wang Yaping became China's first female spacewalker. [more inside]
I woke up like this.
The China National Space Administration's Zhurong Mars rover has taken a selfie [image heavy link in Chinese]; and it is cute as hell. [more inside]
Surviving an In-Flight Anomaly: What Happened on Ingenuity’s Sixth Flight
"Telemetry from Flight Six shows that the first 150-meter leg of the flight went off without a hitch. But toward the end of that leg, something happened: Ingenuity began adjusting its velocity and tilting back and forth in an oscillating pattern. This behavior persisted throughout the rest of the flight." Written by Håvard Grip, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot [more inside]
a faint plasma "hum" scientists compared to gentle rain
Another week in humanity's exploration of the solar system. Starting from the sun: the NASA and ESA Solar Orbiter hurtled around the far side of the star from the Earth and tracked a coronal mass ejection. [more inside]
The silver apples of the moon, the golden apples of the sun.
This week in humanity's exploration of the solar system. Let's start at the center. The Parker Solar Probe set two new records as the fastest object ever made by humanity (330,000 miles per hour, 532,000 km/h) and the closest any spacecraft has gotten to the sun (6.5 million miles, 10.4 million km). Back on Earth, scholars published research into Venusian data Parker caught when it last hurtled past that planet (previously). [more inside]
Ingenious
"We can say human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet." On April 19th the Ingenuity copter, part of the Perseverance rover mission, took off from the Martian surface, hovered, took a photo of its shadow, then safely landed. It is the first time a human-built craft has flown on another world. [more inside]
NASA/JPL drop first-ever video of landing on Mars
On-board cameras catch Perseverance during entry, descent, and landing. Matt Wallace, Perseverance deputy project manager, credited having watched his daughter's GoPro-style footage of doing a backflip for the plan to put ruggedized commercial sports-POV cameras on the Perserverance rover for EDL. [more inside]
Another robot buddy will be landing on Mars!
A new "Seven Minutes Of Terror" video from NASA outlining Perserverence's complicated landing on the Red Planet on Feb 18. [3m43s] We did this once already with Opportunity, let's see if we can do it again for Perserverence! [more inside]
this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences
Three expeditions from three nations are scheduled to land on Mars this month. First, the United Arab Emirates Space Agency's Hope probe (مسبار الأمل) is due to enter Martian orbit tomorrow.
Next, the China National Space Administration's Tianwen-1 (simplified Chinese: 天问; traditional Chinese: 天問) is scheduled to orbit the red plan on the next day after Hope.
Then NASA's Perseverance mission should reach orbit on February 18th. [more inside]
a gentler time
Before it was a movie, Mars Attacks was a set of 55 narrative trading cards, depicting the brutal invasion of Earth by aliens and the equally vicious Earthman reprisal. Here's all of them. (cw: graphic violence, sexual assault, racism, a dog gets fucking melted, seriously be warned)
All these worlds are ours
The robotic conquest of Mars continues with 3 new missions officially on the way! The United Arab Emirates launched the first Arab interplanetary probe, called Hope, on July 19, China sent Tianwen-1 off on Jul 23, which includes an orbiter and lander, and NASA has followed up with the Perseverance rover, carrying the Ingenuity helicopter. All of this is paving the way for eventual crewed exploration of the red planet!
Mars in 4K
Get your ass to the Mars choppah
The next Mars rover, named Perseverance, is approaching its launch window of July 30 - Aug. 15, 2020; in addition to having a full dance ticket of its own, will be carrying a passenger: Ingenuity, a helicopter, the first extraterrestrial powered aircraft (that we know of, or of human origin), set to make its first flight on the Red Planet in the spring of 2021. [more inside]
Life Imitates the Onion
Nukes in Spaceeeeeee
After 60 years of stagnation, it’s possible a nuclear-powered rocket will be heading to space within a decade. This exciting achievement will usher in a new era of space exploration. People will go to Mars and science experiments will make new discoveries all across our solar system and beyond.
"Mars is awful."
So your local techno-libertarian wants to build a new home off-world. What are the challenges (YT) to supporting human life on Mars? What's most likely to kill you? And even if we can keep people healthy for more than a short period, what would it look like to work on Mars?
Recently in space
Robots, scary galaxies, new outfits, and a lack of spots. Asteroid 1998 HL1 flew pretty close by the Earth.
The sun is spotless, and has been so for a while. (Previously) [more inside]
A scientist who worked on the Viking mission says
I’m Convinced We Found Evidence of Life on Mars in the 1970s The Labeled Release experiment on the Viking mission reported positive results, although most have dismissed them as inorganic chemical reactions.
Constellations from Around the World
Eleanor Lutz (July 29, 2019): "To make this map I used data from Stellarium, an open-source planetarium software ... Some of my favorite constellations were the Stars of Water, Rabbit Tracks, and the Hippopotamus, and I also really liked the star names The Oath Star, Lady of Life, and The Hand of the Mouse." Image. Source code. See also Lutz's ongoing series of maps covering Mercury, Martian topography, Martian geology, the Solar System, and more. Lutz previously. Stellarium previously.
You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's
Where we are in 2019 - a view of the current set of spacecraft in our solar system and beyond, courtesy of The Planetary Report.
One Last Opportunity
Opportunity's Parting Shot Was a Beautiful Panorama Over 29 days last spring, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity documented this 360-degree panorama from multiple images taken at what would become its final resting spot in Perseverance Valley. [Ed. note: top image is a small part of the interactive, zoomable full 360 panorama just slightly further down the article.]
Rest well, rover. Your mission is complete.
"To the robot who turned 90 days into 15 years of exploration:
You were, and are, the Opportunity of a lifetime.
Rest well, rover. Your mission is complete. (2004-2019)"
Sarah Kaplan, WaPo: Opportunity, NASA’s record-setting Mars rover, is declared dead after 15 years. Opportunity’s mission was planned to last just 90 days, but it worked for 5,000 Martian “sols” and traversed more than 28 treacherous miles — two records for NASA. (Previously, and more at NASA's Mars page.)
Sarah Kaplan, WaPo: Opportunity, NASA’s record-setting Mars rover, is declared dead after 15 years. Opportunity’s mission was planned to last just 90 days, but it worked for 5,000 Martian “sols” and traversed more than 28 treacherous miles — two records for NASA. (Previously, and more at NASA's Mars page.)
Surveyors Wanted
Oumuamua, empyreal muumuu
Is our tendency to project attributes of intelligence on cosmic phenomenon a reflection (ha) of our desire for telescopes to function as mirrors? Carl Sagan pondered this, and history is littered with examples.
Pereidolia, explained. [more inside]
Seven Minutes of Terror
NASA is live-streaming the landing of the InSight probe on Mars The InSight probe is landing on Mars at 2PM EST today. You can watch the landing live on NASA TV. Only 40% of Mars landings have succeeded. Mission operators refer to the landing as "seven minutes of terror".