Helicopters – or rotorcrafts – are being included in current and future missions to explore other worlds in our Solar System with more frequency as of late. There are many benefits to these types of craft, as they are more mobile than rovers, but these kinds of craft may cause problems of their own. Ingenuity is a rotorcraft that has been exploring Mars since it landed on the planet in February 2021 with NASA’s Perseverance rover. A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets presents the first real-world study of Martian dust dynamics based on flight data obtained by the Perseverance rover. Mars is an extremely dusty planet; it has small dust devils and can also have extreme storms that encompass the entire planet. This dust can cause huge problems for research missions, causing constant challenges. In fact, the InSight mission ended recently because of dust. InSight’s solar panels were continuously showered in dust, which decreased their efficiency and the amount of power they produced. In the end, the solar-powered batteries that provided energy to operate the lander ran out of power. Researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology, the Space Science Institute, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory studied how the dust on Mars was affected by Ingenuity. They based their work on videos of Ingenuity’s historic first flights on the red planet. On Earth, helicopter pilots always prefer to land on helipads because the downdraft that occurs when landing can stir up a lot of debris. Now, imagine trying to land a helicopter in a desert. That would stir up a lot of dust and cause a zero-visibility ‘brownout.’ At this point in time, Mars is essentially one giant desert, so you can imagine how much dust might be blown up in this situation. To study how dust was affected by Ingenuity, the team had to be creative. They used advanced image-processing techniques to extract information from low-resolution videos of six separate flights captured by a video camera mounted on the Perseverance rover. The team identified small variations between video frames and identified the light intensity of individual pixels. This allowed the team to calculate both the size and the total mass of the dust clouds kicked up as Ingenuity took off, hovered, maneuvered, and landed. The research shows that dust is a significant consideration when trying to fly a helicopter on Mars. The team estimated that Ingenuity kicked up about a thousandth of its mass in dust each time it flew (Ingenuity weighs four pounds). This is a much larger amount of dust than would be kicked up for a similar helicopter on Earth, but it is not trivial to draw direct comparisons. For one, Mars has a much lower gravity than Earth. In addition, air pressure, temperature, and air density on Mars are much different than on Earth. Dust dynamics caused by helicopters on Mars could help scientists extend the lives of future robotic missions by keeping their solar panels clean. This information could also help scientists understand how to land delicate equipment on Mars in the future. In addition, Ingenuity and the information scientists can glean from its flights will help pave the way for future rotorcraft missions to other planets, like NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program and the Dragonfly mission, which will explore Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Source: Stevens Institute of Technology

Mars has two natural satellites: Deimos and Phobos; the latter orbits Mars closer than any other moon orbiting the other planets in the solar system, and it’s currently undergoing a process known as orbital decay. In short, this means that Phobos is slowly drifting closer to Mars over time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has an impact on the gravitational pull between Mars and Phobos. As this tug strengthens, the tidal forces exerted on Phobos are increased, and this quite literally tears the moon apart. Phobos’ surface is covered in strange lines, and according to planetary scientists, these are ‘stretch marks’ that result from the tidal forces that are being exerted on the moon as it orbits Mars. If the moon’s orbital decay continues at its current rate, then the moon could be destroyed in the next several million years, resulting in a planetary ring around Mars. This raises the question: could we save Phobos from a seemingly inevitable demise? Theoretically, we could, but it wouldn’t be easy or practical. At just 22 kilometers across, Phobos would be a lot easier to manipulate with thrust than some other moons in the solar system. The science indicates that a thruster nearly as large as the Empire State Building filled with rocket fuel would be required to achieve this feat, and as you might come to expect, this would be incredibly expensive and wasteful of limited resources. Perhaps the best thing to do is just to let nature take its course and allow Phobos to break apart.

Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida has been working tirelessly over the past several works in an effort to add finishing touches to the Perseverance Rover (formerly Mars 2020) before it launches on a one-way trip to Mars later this year. From adding the rover’s critical sampling equipment package to attaching its autonomous helicopter, it would be an understatement to say that NASA’s Engineers are making strides to prepare Perseverance in time for launch. Fortunately, yet more progress was made this past week after those same engineers performed a plethora of convoluted balancing acts on the Perseverance rover’s 2,260-pound chassis. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In a public statement, NASA describes the process of balancing the Perseverance rover as being akin to an automobile mechanic placing small weights on a vehicle’s rim to ensure proper tire balance; this effectively mitigates any unwanted tire wobbles as you drive down the road at highway speeds. While balancing Perseverance’s chassis was substantially more complex, the chief reason for doing it is surprisingly similar. To make this happen, the engineers had to rotate the Perseverance rover along its X-axis to discover its center of gravity relative to its z-axis. In doing so, they recognized an imbalance in the rover’s mass distribution that called for approximately 13.8 pounds’ worth of weights to be added to the chassis. Upon adding the artificial weight, Perseverance’s center of gravity is now believed to be within just 0.001 inch of the intended target. Related: NASA installs the Perseverance rover’s wheels and parachute system As tedious of a detail as balance may seem for such a complex project, it turns out to be rather critical to the success of the rover’s primary mission. It’s imperative that Perseverance sports a near-perfect balance as it enters the Martian atmosphere, as settling for anything different would mean risking the spacecraft’s integrity and spelling out potential disaster upon landing. Assuming Perseverance wasn’t in perfect balance upon landing, there’s a possibility that it would impact the rover’s calculated trajectory as it lands. The numbers assume that Perseverance is in perfect balance, so an imbalance could mean that Perseverance lands somewhere it isn’t supposed to, or that it lands crooked, and so on. Now that Perseverance is in near-perfect balance, it’s closer than ever to being ready for its launch later this year. The window of opportunity opens up on July 17th and closes on August 5th. If it can launch on time, then it will reach Mars by February 18th, 2021. Source: NASA

A $615,000 research grant has been awarded to the University of Texas at El Paso to examine the potential of using 3D-printing technology to develop rechargeable batteries from Moon and Martian regolith, which is the top layer covering the surfaces of these worlds. “UTEP is a national leader in additive manufacturing for space applications,” said Dr. Kenith Meissner, who is dean of the UTEP College of Engineering. “I congratulate the team of UTEP researchers involved in this important work. I am confident their work will add significant value to this project, getting us closer to a return to the moon and our first forays beyond.” Credit: The University of Texas at El Paso Credit: The University of Texas at El Paso This grant is a piece of a $2.5 million grant from NASA to try and leverage off-world resources that future astronauts could use without the need for constant resupply from Earth. This will not only help develop the necessary infrastructure for such crewed missions, but also reduce both the cost and payload of sending supplies from Earth, as well. “UTEP is a seminal partner in this NASA-led project with our long and deep heritage in additive manufacturing,” said Dr. Eric MacDonald, who is a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and associate dean in the UTEP College of Engineering. “UTEP’s reputation in 3D printing, material science and our state-of-the-art facilities were important factors in convincing our NASA partners to pursue this potentially transformative research – for space exploration but for terrestrial applications of batteries as well.” For the study, researchers plan to utilize two 3D-printing techniques: material extrusion (ME) and vat photopolymerization (VPP) to develop what are known as shape-comfortable batteries, or batteries that can fill an object’s dimensions while also outperforming current commercial batteries. Most existing batteries are made of lithium-ion, but these batteries will not be able to be produced on the Moon and Mars simply due to the lack of lithium available on either world. In the beginning phases of the project, the researchers will examine how to extract the necessary materials from the regolith while continuing to develop the methods to construct the batteries. “This project with NASA is an opportunity to demonstrate UTEP’s expertise in both energy storage and 3D printing,” said Dr. Alexis Maurel, who is a French Fulbright Scholar in the UTEP Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. “Additive manufacturing appears as a unique approach to manufacture shape-conformable batteries to support human operations in space and on the surface of the moon or Mars, where cargo resupply is not as readily available.” Will future astronauts on the Moon and Mars be able to 3D-print their own batteries? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! Sources: UTEP News Feed As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

New research conducted by scientists from Rice University aims to investigate places on Mars that harbor similar geologic formations as were once on Earth. The research, published in JGR Planets, compares data from Iceland and Idaho, amongst other locations on Earth, with that collected by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater on Mount Sharp on Mars. The team, composed of Michael Thorpe and Martian geologist Kirsten Siebach of Rice and geoscientist Joel Hurowitz of State University of New York at Stony Brook, wanted to understand how Martian geology formed billions of years ago. In particular, they were interested in figuring out what forces impacted sediments in the primeval lakebed. It turns out, that of all the places on Earth, Iceland's basaltic terrain and cool weather, is the best correlation to what conditions were like on ancient Mars. While data collected Curiosity has provided key information about the chemical processes that occurred in the ancient lake, the conditions that allowed that lake to form are still unknown. The scientists hoped to be able to look at sediments of comparable conditions on Earth in order to deduce information about the climactic state of Mars during the formation of the ancient Martian lake 3 billion years ago. The theories about the ancient Martian climate are contradicting: some think early Mars was warm and wet with an abundance of water bodies while others think it was cold and dry, populated instead by glaciers and snow. Analyzing the sediments in rocks and soils could help decipher the truth. "Sedimentary rocks in Gale Crater instead detail a climate that likely falls in between these two scenarios," said Thorpe. "The ancient climate was likely frigid but also appears to have supported liquid water in lakes for extended periods of time." Because of the absence of significant weathering of rocks, Martian sediment corresponds to modern sediments found on Iceland, explain the scientists. "On Earth, the sedimentary rock record does a fantastic job of maturing over time with the help of chemical weathering," Thorpe commented. "However, on Mars we see very young minerals in the mudstones that are older than any sedimentary rocks on Earth, suggesting weathering was limited." "Earth provided an excellent laboratory for us in this study, where we could use a range of locations to see the effects of different climate variables on weathering, and average annual temperature had the strongest effect for the types of rocks in Gale Crater," noted Siebach. "The range of climates on Earth allowed us to calibrate our thermometer for measuring the temperature on ancient Mars." This technique of comparing climates and environments on Earth to those on other planets in order to understand the histories of both holds great potential, explain the researchers. They intend to continue such investigations in order to guide future Martian site studies, including the upcoming landing of the Perseverance rover at Jezero Crater. Sources: JGR Planets, Science Daily

While there are over 200 moons in our solar system, only three exist around the inner terrestrial planets, and two belong to the planet Mars. These two are Phobos and Deimos, and they are small, potato-shaped moons that were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877. Spacecraft images show their appearance as being similar to asteroids, which has led scientists to hypothesize that they were both captured objects, rather than having been formed from a collision like the Earth’s moon. However, their origin is still up for debate. Phobos, the larger moon, orbits Mars with an average distance of 5,826 miles (9,377 km) and has dimensions of 17 x 14 x 11 miles (27 x 22 x 18 kilometers) and takes about one-third of a day to complete one orbit. Its orbit is so close to Mars that there are certain locations on the planet where Phobos can’t be observed. Its orbit is currently decaying (getting smaller) at a rate of six feet (1.8 meters) every century, meaning it will eventually crash into Mars or break up in orbit and form a ring around the Red Planet, much like how Saturn got its rings. Scientists believe this won't happen for another 50 million years from now. Deimos orbits Mars with an average distance of 14,562 miles (23,436 kilometers) and has dimensions of 9 x 7 x 6.8 miles (15 x 12 x 11 kilometers) and takes just approximately one and a quarter day to complete one orbit around the Red Planet. Deimos is much darker than Phobos, possibly owing to its C-type surface materials. No spacecraft have landed on either moon, but the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is currently scheduled to launch the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission in 2024 with the hopes of sampling Phobos and returning these samples to Earth a few years later while also learning more about the possible origin of both moons, as well. Sources: NASA, NASA (1), IFLScience, NASA (2), The Nine Planets, JAXA, As always, keep doing science & keep looking up! Featured Image: Composite image of Phobos (left) and Deimos (right). (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Humans will be back on the Moon (Luna) within the next few years, and then on to Mars within the decade afterwards. We are destined to leave the confines of Earth and live among the stars, but the farther we venture out into the cosmos, there is increased risk in terms of astronaut health and safety. This inherent risk pertains not only to the physical health and safety, but mental health, as well. Astronauts currently make enormous sacrifices being away from their families for trips to the International Space Station (ISS), which undoubtedly impacts their mental health. As humanity continues to venture farther away from Earth to Mars and beyond, this mental strain of being away from family and loved ones will undoubtedly increase. While future astronauts on Luna are a mere three days away from Earth, astronauts going to Mars will endure a far riskier mission. With our current technology, the orbital positions of Earth and Mars need to be just right to reach either body in six months. However, this alignment only happens once every two years, which means future astronauts going to Mars might only need six months to get there, but they must wait another two years before they can make the return trip home. That’s a total of three years in space and away from your family and loved ones, which is enormous burden on anyone’s mental health. This makes the mental health of astronauts extremely important if they are to successfully vary out their mission and allow future missions to succeed, as well. Zoom and video chat might be sufficient on the ISS and Luna, and while this might work in the short-term for future astronauts on Mars, those astronauts will undoubtedly experience a sort of cabin fever that previous astronauts have not experienced due to the three-year mission length. One solution to this might be with the use of virtual reality (VR) and holograms to help ease the burden of being away from Earth while giving the astronauts motivation to keep going. Astronauts such as Apollo 14 astronaut, Edgar Mitchell, have reported life-changing experiences when seeing Earth from space: “You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you s*n of a b*tch.’” Attempts have been made by the European Space Agency to recreate this feeling back on Earth by using VR headsets to visualize seeing Earth from space, but what if we used such technology to help future astronauts on Mars cope with being away from the Earth? Along with visualizing the Earth from space, Mars astronauts could also use VR to visit various locales on the Earth, such as their family homes, museums, sporting events, and even religious services. While this is a far cry from the holodecks of the Enterprise-D, visiting these locations using VR will undoubtedly improve the astronauts’ mental health and allow them to stay focused on the mission. Another way we can improve the astronauts’ mental health is through holograms, as recently demonstrated on the ISS using “holoportation” technology, which can possibly give future astronauts the ability to talk with families using special goggles. While also a far cry from Star Wars, holograms offer a unique opportunity to see family and loved ones in 3-D, as opposed to on a flat video screen. What steps can we take to increase the mental health of astronauts on long-term space missions? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! As always, keep doing science & keep looking up! Sources: Science ABC, Space.com

Those paying any attention to NASA’s periodic updates during these past several weeks should have perceived what seems like an unusually rapid progression of evolvement for the upcoming Martian Perseverance rover (formerly called the Mars 2020 rover before getting renamed last month). Just a couple of weeks ago, NASA installed the mission’s Adaptive Caching Assembly and Bit Carousel, which will work in unison to help Perseverance drill into the Martian surface and analyze the samples it collects. A few weeks later, NASA fitted Perseverance with its wheels and parachute system that will fly to Mars with the mission to ensure safe travels. But even that wasn’t the end of the assembly line… Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Just this past week, Perseverance received preparations for yet another vital mission component: the autonomous helicopter. For those that don’t already know, this fully autonomous helicopter will regularly scout the rover’s surroundings on the red planet to help mission scientists ascertain where the rover should go next after completing primary objectives at the locations it visits. Related: It’s finally the year of the Mars 2020 mission While it was initially installed back in September, the installation was mostly temporary as NASA still needed to prepare electrical connections and the likes. This past week saw this achievement come into focus… Weighing just around four pounds, the autonomous helicopter is solar-powered and sports lightweight carbon fiber rotors that measure almost four feet in diameter. The installation into Perseverance’s belly encompassed the process of ensuring that all the electrical contacts between the helicopter and the rover worked and that the delivery system would launch the helicopter into the Martian air successfully. In addition to implementing the autonomous helicopter, NASA engineers also prepared the Perseverance rover’s decent stage by filling each of its four fuel tanks with 884 pounds’ worth of propellant. The descent stage is intended to slow the rover’s fall as it enters Mars’ atmosphere, and to divert its landing if necessary if the landing site isn’t quite as ideal as initially thought. "The last hundred days before any Mars launch is chock-full of significant milestones," said David Gruel, the man at NASA responsible for overseeing the Mars 2020 project. "Fueling the descent stage is a big step. While we will continue to test and evaluate its performance as we move forward with launch preparations, it is now ready to fulfill its mission of placing Perseverance on the surface on Mars." Related: NASA’s Perseverance rover will have the best camera system of any Martian rover to date NASA currently targets a launch sometime this Summer in order to take full advantage of the time and fuel-saving Hohmann Transfer Orbit – an event only made possible when both the Earth and Mars reside closest to one another in their respective orbits around the Sun. With the launch window rapidly approaching, it may come as no surprise that the American space agency is working overtime to complete the project on time. Hopefully all this time and effort yields some important science. But only time will tell for certain. Source: NASA

Biosignature probability maps from convolutional neural network models and statistical ecology data. The colors for a) indicate the statistical probability of biosignature detections, and for b) an image of a gypsum dome geologic feature (left) with biosignature probability maps for various microhabitats (e.g., sand versus alabaster) within the dome. (Credit: M. Phillips, F. Kalaitzis, K. Warren- Rhodes) Are we alone in the universe? If not, then how will we find life? Will we dig for it, or detect it with an instrument? What about using artificial intelligence-machine learning (AI/ML), which is already being used to detect exoplanets? This last method is what an international team of researchers led by the SETI Institute Carl Sagan Center and the NASA Ames Research Center are examining to search for life on Mars other planetary bodies throughout the Solar System. For the study, the researchers collected more than 7.765 images and 1,154 samples and tested instruments to detect photosynthetic microbes that hide within the crystals, rocks, and salt domes located within Salar de Pajonales, which is located at the boundary between the Atacama Desert and Altiplano in Chile. They also used drones to link simulated data from NASA’s HiRISE camera to ground sampling, along with producing 3D topographical mapping to determine spatial pattern data. These specific microbes give off pigments that represent a single biosignature on NASA’s Ladder of Life Detection. The researchers chose the location due to its high-altitude location, meaning the ultraviolet radiation is higher, along with the very dry and almost inhospitable environment, meaning it’s an excellent Mars analog. The researchers then used this data to train an ML algorithm known as convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to identify the distribution rules and patterns so it could locate similar patterns in untrained data. Their results indicated a successful biosignature detection rate as high as 87.5% compared to less than 10% conducted by random searches, along with reducing the area required for conducting such a search by as high as 97%. Their findings indicate nonrandom distribution of microbial life at Pajonales that possessed a strong connection to available water supplies. Orbit-to-Ground investigation of biosignatures in Salar de Pajonales, Chile, which is the terrestrial Mars analog study site. (b) drone view of the site with macroscale geologic features (domes, aeolian cover, ridge networks and patterned ground) in false color. (c) 3-D rendering of dome macrohabitats from drone imagery. (d) Orange and green bands of pigments of the photosynthetic microbial communities living in Ca-sulfate micro-habitats. (Credit: N. Cabrol, M. Phillips, K. Warren-Rhodes, J. Bishop and D. Wettergreen) “Our framework allows us to combine the power of statistical ecology with machine learning to discover and predict the patterns and rules by which nature survives and distributes itself in the harshest landscapes on Earth,” said Dr. Kim Warren-Rhodes, who is a Senior Research Scientist at the SETI Institute, and lead author of the study. “We hope other astrobiology teams adapt our approach to mapping other habitable environments and biosignatures. With these models, we can design tailor-made roadmaps and algorithms to guide rovers to places with the highest probability of harboring past or present life—no matter how hidden or rare.” Going forward, the researchers plan to conduct further tests with the CNNs to help predict distribution patterns for halite microbiomes and ancient stromatolite fossils with the same ML algorithms to better understand if other natural systems exhibit the same findings from this study. After that, the team will focus on hot springs, rocks in Dry valleys, and hot springs. As their database grows, hypotheses regarding life in extreme environments will be examined, along with inventorying important analog ecosystems on Earth. “While the high rate of biosignature detection is a central result of this study, no less important is that it successfully integrated datasets at vastly different resolutions from orbit to the ground, and finally tied regional orbital data with microbial habitats,” said Dr. Nathalie A. Cabrol, who is the Director of the SETI Institute, and a co-author on the study. “With it, our team demonstrated a pathway that enables the transition from the scales and resolutions required to characterize habitability to those that can help us find life. In that strategy, drones were essential, but so was the implementation of microbial ecology field investigations that require extended periods (up to weeks) of in situ (and in place) mapping in small areas, a strategy that was critical to characterize local environmental patterns favorable to life niches.” This study was conducted over a five-year period and collaboration with more than 50 team members from 17 organizations and opens doors for using AI/ML to help scientists search for biosignatures throughout the cosmos, and is already being used to study exoplanets. How will AI/ML be used to search for life beyond Earth in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! Sources: Innovation News Network, Nature Astronomy, SETI Institute As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

In May, an Atlas V rocket blasted off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base and lofted NASA’s InSight mission into space so that it could travel to Mars and analyze the planet’s internal activity for science. The InSight spacecraft reached the halfway mark in August, and it’s now closing in on its target; it’s expected to land on Mars by November 26th. InSight isn’t a rover like Curiosity, so it will be stuck wherever its three legs touch down. With that in mind, NASA has been somewhat particular about where InSight will land because the space agency wants to mitigate potential landing flukes and maximize scientific data collection. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech "Picking a good landing site on Mars is a lot like picking a good home: It's all about location, location, location," explained Tom Hoffman, NASA’s InSight project manager. "And for the first time ever, the evaluation for a Mars landing site had to consider what lay below the surface of Mars. We needed not just a safe place to land, but also a workspace that's penetrable by our 16-foot-long (5-meter) heat-flow probe." Related: Initial tests in space show that InSight's onboard equipment is functioning properly Given InSight’s lander-esque configuration and the line of work that it would be pursuing, the spacecraft required a flat landing site that would receive plenty of heat and sunlight to power the probe’s solar array year-round. Furthermore, it had to be free of obstructions so InSight could stretch out its instruments without hindrance. Three locations, including Elysium Planitia, Isidis Planitia, and Valles Marineris met these requirements, but surface images snapped by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) made the choice blatantly clear. Mission scientists ultimately decided that Elysium Planitia, an area 81 miles long by 17 miles wide, would make the best landing site. This plain region on Mars’ surface is right near the equator, which offers plenty of sunlight for solar arrays; but it’s also incredibly flat, which provides the ideal operating environment for InSight to do its thing. "If Elysium Planitia were a salad, it would consist of romaine lettuce and kale – no dressing," said InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt of NASA while describing the plainness of the spacecraft’s landing site. "If it were an ice cream, it would be vanilla." Related: Watch the footage from the InSight launch in May Image Credit: NASA Elysium Planitia wasn’t riddled with rocks and boulders like Isidis Planitia and Valles Marineris were, and it’s not quite as windy either; this means InSight can land, deploy its solar arrays, and extend its scientific instruments without enduring as many risks as in other locations. When InSight lands, it will study three primary characteristics of Mars to help scientists better understand how rocky planets formed in our solar system. Among those, an advanced onboard seismometer will measure seismic waves, a deep-burrowing drill will probe the sub-surface to measure internal temperature, and built-in radios will analyze orbital wobble. It should be interesting to see how the InSight mission will change our view of Mars and whether it will help scientists unfurl the mystery surrounding the formation of rocky planets. Source: NASA

The upcoming launch date for one of NASA’s next major interplanetary missions is quickly approaching. The space agency’s InSight mission will blast off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 5th, sending it along on a one-way trip to Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In a statement, NASA says that the InSight mission will hitch a ride atop an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance. The space vehicle’s engines will generate more than 860,200 pounds of thrust as they ignite and lift the spacecraft well above Earth’s atmosphere. Depending on where you live, you might even have a chance to watch the rocket take off. “After lift-off from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 3, the Atlas V begins a southerly trajectory and climbs out over the Channel Islands of Oxnard,” said Tim Dunn, the launch director for the Launch Services Program at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “If you live on the California Central Coast or south to L.A. and San Diego, be sure to get up early on May 5th, because Atlas V is the gold standard in launch vehicles and it can put on a great show.” Related: Potential hotspot for past life found on Mars Anyone that isn’t close enough to view the launch in person can always tune in to NASA’s live stream instead. InSight’s launch is somewhat significant; it’s slated to become the first interplanetary mission ever launched from the United States’ West coast. That said, NASA’s rather excited about the whole thing, and understandably so. If the May 5th launch gets delayed for any reason, then NASA has already planned various alternative launch dates up until June 8th to serve as backups. After the InSight mission arrives at Mars, it will deploy various scientific instruments to study the red planet’s tectonic activity, internal temperature, and orbital wobble, among other things. These planetary characteristics could tell us a lot about Mars, including how the planet formed. Related: Does Mars experience Marsquakes? It should be interesting to see how the launch goes and whether the InSight mission provides any useful clues about Mars. Source: NASA

This upcoming Saturday isn’t just Cinco de Mayo; it’s also the day that NASA plans to launch its highly-anticipated InSight mission so that it can make its way to Mars. Image Credit: NASA While SpaceX usually gets a lot of attention for sending probes into space, that won’t be the case this time around. Instead, NASA will take advantage of a United Launch Alliance-made Atlas-V rocket to lift the mission high above Earth’s atmosphere. Citing one of NASA’s most recent public statements, InSight will become the first interplanetary mission to launch from the West coast of the United States – at Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket’s powerful engines will ignite at roughly 4:05 A.M. Pacific time on May 5th. InSight is an acronym that stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. As you might have already guessed from the rather lengthy and descriptive name, the InSight mission will study Mars’ interior so that planetary scientists can gather more information about the red planet’s unique characteristics. InSight could tell us whether Martian earthquakes (Marsquakes) occur, and what causes them. Furthermore, it may also reveal Mars’ internal temperature and illuminate details about the planet’s orbital wobble, among other things. As it does all of this, the probe will also attempt to map out the red planet’s interior so that we can obtain a better understanding of the world that humans could one day visit. Related: Does Mars experience Marsquakes? The InSight probe itself won’t be alone when it takes off. NASA says two cubesats (collectively known as MarCO) will accompany it inside of the rocket’s cargo hold. MarCO will deploy near Mars, allowing the space agency to test new communication techniques with the potential to push Mars-based planetary science forward. As always, NASA will live-stream the launch from its NASA TV web page. Source: NASA

If you were to observe the South pole of Mars, you would see lots of dark spider-shaped landforms known as araneiforms. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona These araneiforms appear on the ground there because of naturally-occurring dry ice thawing below the surface as the season changes. When carbon dioxide gas escapes from the ground, it erodes the surrounding landmass, leaving behind the eerie and dark spider leg-like cracks you see above. While we’ve studied araneiforms for several years and observed their continuous growth for the very first time earlier this year, astronomers have now found that it’s possible for araneiforms to exist in Martian regions never thought possible. Published in the journal Icarus, University of Oxford researchers credit four volunteers from Zooniverse’s Planet Four: Terrains project for making the discovery possible. Related: New hotspot for potential past life found on Mars Typically, araneiforms only appear on what’s known as the South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD), but thanks to the latest data, we now understand that they can pop up on other polar regions of the Martian surface. They were initially spotted much further north than expected, and astronomers validated the findings with high-resolution images snapped by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)’s High-Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera. “This was a totally unexpected find,” explained study lead author Dr Meg Schwamb. “By having so many eyes scouring the images, we know now that the SPLD is not the only place where spiders form. This will help us better understand the carbon dioxide jet formation process.” Related: Will Mars eventually have planetary rings just like Saturn's? Despite being a monumental eureka moment, the findings raise additional questions regarding araneiforms. For example, experts are now want to know just how far north they can form before the conditions are no longer suitable. 'We have added new CTX images of Mars' South Polar region to the Planet Four: Terrains website in need of review to see how far north these features may extend,' Dr Schwamb continued. Future observations with the MRO may help answer the latest batch of questions, but having a bevy of eyes scanning the Martian surface for these features is proving very useful. Learning how and why these spider-like formations occur is a fundamental part of understanding Mars and its alien environment. These processes can’t happen on Earth because of the chemical differences between the two planets, so it's difficult to compare to our unique world. Source: University of Oxford

Researchers from Roma Tre University in Italy have confirmed the existence of four large lakes under the ice at Mar’s south pole. The findings come after a study in 2018 that detected a similar lake in the same region. Having only been based upon 29 observations between 2012 and 2015, however, many were skeptical of its existence. Now, the latest study, published on 28 September in Nature Astronomy, has confirmed not only its existance but also that of three other similar lakes in the same area, from a larger data set of 134 observations between 2012 and 2019. For the study, the researchers used a radar instrument on the European Space Agency’s Mars-orbiting spacecraft known as ‘Mars Express’. The instrument, known as the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS), was used to send radiation waves that bounced off layers of material on the planet’s surface and subsurface to indicate its makeup. From these readings, the researchers were able to detect some areas of high reflectivity that indicated the presence of bodies of liquid water trapped under over a kilometer of ice. All in all, they say that the lakes are spread out of around 75,000 square kilometers. The largest is around 30 kilometers in diameter and is surrounded by three smaller ones, each at a few kilometers in width. While some see the latest evidence of these lakes as substantial, others are more skeptical. Mike Sori, for example, a planetary geophysicist at Purdue University in Indiana, said that the ‘lakes’ are more likely to be made of slush or sludge than water. Meanwhile, Jack Holt, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, says that although the data seems fine, there is sufficient heat flow to support brine to form, even under an ice cap. Sources: Nature, BBC

For the first time in 2015, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has spotted its roving buddy Curiosity on the Martian landscape, but the rover seems to be missing its tell-tale tracks in the red planet's dirt.The MRO periodically checks in on Curiosity with its ultra-powerful High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera when the satellite orbits overhead. This Mars robot "buddy system" has also been done for NASA's veteran Opportunity rover and, in both cases, the orbital perspective has helped mission controllers identify points of scientific interest "over the horizon." It's also a reassuring perspective, allowing rover drivers to plan the safest driving routes.But as this HiRISE observation shows, there's an interesting lack of rover tracks that have been clearly visible during previous orbital passes by the MRO. Curiosity's last orbital portrait was snapped over 4 months ago."Unlike other regions of for which Curiosity has traversed, here the rover tracks are not apparent, likely because the disturbed, underlying, dark sand is similar in tone to that on the surface," writes Nathan Bridges, HiRISE Investigation Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.Imaged on April 8, Curiosity can be seen working at the "Pahrump Hills" location at the base of Aeolis Mons (known as Mount Sharp, a 5.5 kilometer-high mountain in the center of Gale Crater). The region has proven itself to be a goldmine of geological features, rich in sandstone, siltstone and calcium sulfate veins, revealing Mars' ancient wet past.Apart from the dark sand being a similar color to the bedrock, there's also the possibility that the Martian wind may have erased Curiosity's tracks, something mission scientists will be keen to understand as these high-resolution images can track the motion of sand around the rover's place of continuing work.See video below for more images of Mars from HiRise(Source: High Rise Imaging Science Experiment)

An experiment from Purdue University scheduled to be launched on Northrop Grumman’s 19th commercial resupply services mission (NG-19) to the International Space Station (ISS) on August 1 will evaluate new heating and cooling technologies that can withstand the harsh conditions of outer space, specifically pertaining to reduced gravity and extreme temperatures. This will be the second experiment being conducted as part of the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE), which has been onboard the ISS since August 2021, and holds the potential to help establish a long-term human presence on both the Moon, and eventually Mars. Engineers recently loading experiments into the NG-19 capsule prior to its August 1 launch, including the second experiment for the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE) from Purdue University. (Credit: NASA/Danielle Johnson) “We have developed over a hundred years’ worth of understanding of how heat and cooling systems work in Earth’s gravity, but we haven’t known how they work in weightlessness,” said Dr. Issam Mudawar, who is a Betty Ruth and Milton B. Hollander Family Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. While the first experiment conducted by the FBCE analyzed how reduced gravity affects boiling, which was completed in July 2022, this second experiment will analyze how reduced gravity affects condensation. Both module experiments are slated to stay on the ISS through 2025, which will allow the entire fluid physics science community to use and learn from this data during that time. Video discussing the arrival of the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE) to the ISS in August 2021 “We are ready to literally close the book on the whole science of flow and boiling in reduced gravity,” said Dr. Mudawar. This works comes after 11 years of collaborating with engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center to design and develop the FBCE hardware so it could fit on the Fluids Integrated Rack onboard the ISS. In addition to helping future astronauts on the Moon and Mars, this technology could also be used to design better spacecraft for long-term, deep space missions, specifically with nuclear or electric propulsion systems since they will require more innovative designs given their long distances from Earth. In terms of fluid physics research, FBCE is one of NASA’s biggest and most complicated experiments, and Dr. Mudawar’s team is currently about to publish a plethora of studies discussing all the data that FBCE has collected during its time onboard the ISS. This will add to the more than dozens of papers the team has already published regarding fluid flow in reduced gravity since the start of the project. “The papers we have published over the duration of this project are really almost like a textbook for how to use boiling and condensation in space,” said Dr. Mudawar. In the end, the goal is to design the most efficient equipment capable of operating in the one-sixth gravity of the Moon and the one-third gravity of Mars. What new discoveries will researchers make about heating and cooling in reduced gravity in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! As always, keep doing science & keep looking up! Sources: EurekAlert!, Northrop Grumman, NASA, Purdue University News, Purdue University News (1), Purdue University News (2), NASA (1), Purdue University

SpaceX's successful Falcon Heavy rocket launch in February marked a significant milestone for space travel. It's potentially the most capable rocket for sending astronauts to Mars. But one of the most significant questions concerning a Mars visitation isn't how we'll get there, but instead where the first visitors will land and settle themselves and how they'll survive there. Planetary scientists have a lot to consider when making this decision, such as picking a place that's rich in water and has plenty of fertile soil. Most of Mars is just like a desolate desert, but scientists think there's frozen water ice just beneath the Martian surface that visitors could take advantage of. Obviously, the first Martian settlers would need to land somewhere near an area with a lot of water ice to utilize it for their needs. Martian visitors will also need to learn to grow their own food to survive. Water ice is vital for this, but so is fertile soil, and Earthworms may be able to help. As it seems, Earthworms survive and reproduce quite well in replicated Martian soil, so they could help make for great soil maintainers. There are several potential landing sites for the first Martian explorers in mind, and the video touches on these briefly. Fortunately, we're quite familiar with some of them thanks to the rovers we've sent to the red planet. Perhaps the data we've obtained from our rovers over the years will help humankind choose the right landing zone.

Elon Musk hyped February’s Falcon Heavy launch up with a unique payload: his cherry-red Tesla Roadster electric car. While just about everything went as planned at the time, researchers now express concern about the microbial hitchhikers that are likely present on and inside of the car. Image Credit: SpaceX Unlike traditional spacecraft and the devices/vehicles used in extra-planetary missions, Musk’s Tesla Roadster wasn’t sterilized before entering space. There’s also been talk lately about where the car could end up in the future, and scientists agree that it will probably collide with Earth or Mars within millions of years. So why the concern? We know from International Space Station-based studies that bacteria thrive in outer space, and Earth-based bacteria could continue festering on the car until it eventually slams into something. The big worry is what might happen whenever such biological cross-contamination occurs. If Earth-based bacteria landed on the red planet, then it could potentially infect and contaminate extraterrestrial life (if there is any). Related: Astrophotographer captures footage of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster as it flies across the night sky “If there is an indigenous Mars biota, it’s at risk of being contaminated by terrestrial life,” expressed Jay Melosh, a planetary science professor at Purdue University. “Would Earth’s organisms be better adapted, take over Mars and contaminate it, so we don’t know what indigenous Mars was like, or would they be not as well adapted as the Martian organisms? We don’t know.” “The load of bacteria on the Tesla could be considered a biothreat, or a backup copy of life on Earth,” added Purdue University’s Alina Alexeenko. Given the trajectory of the space-bound Tesla Roadster, the vehicle is unlikely to collide with Mars at all. There’s only a slight chance that it could, and it wouldn’t be for a very, very long time. That said, is it really a significant concern? It probably depends who you ask… Source: Purdue University

Recent discoveries made at this week’s American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting 2023 in San Francisco reveal new details from NASA’s Perseverance rover regarding the samples it has been collecting while exploring Jezero Crater on Mars. In these samples, researchers have identified phosphate and fine-grained silica, which are known for being linked with life as we know it and preserving ancient fossils on Earth, respectively. These findings hold the potential to help researchers better understand the conditions on early Mars and whether life could have formed on the Red Planet billions of years ago. Satellite image of Jezero Crater on Mars overlaid with mineral data, with the green color indicating carbonates – minerals that form in aqueous environments with conditions that might be suitable for preserving ancient life. NASA’s Perseverance is currently exploring Jezero Crater (red dot, center right in image). (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/JHU-APL) “We picked Jezero Crater as a landing site because orbital imagery showed a delta – clear evidence that a large lake once filled the crater,” said Dr. Ken Farley, who is a W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry at Caltech and a project scientist on the Perseverance rover. “A lake is a potentially habitable environment, and delta rocks are a great environment for entombing signs of ancient life as fossils in the geologic record. After thorough exploration, we’ve pieced together the crater’s geologic history, charting its lake and river phase from beginning to end.” Artist illustration showing Jezero Crater as it may have appeared billions of years go on Mars, when it was filled with flowing liquid water. The proposed inlet is located at the upper left portion of Jezero and the outlet is visible on the right center portion of Jezero. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Approximately 4 billion years ago, a large impact created Jezero Crater, which was later filled with flowing liquid water, which existed on Mars since the planet was much more hospitable than it is today due to a thicker atmosphere from active volcanism and a magnetic field that shielded the surface from harmful cosmic radiation. Unfortunately, this was not meant to last, as the interior of Mars slowly cooled due to it being half the size of Earth, which resulted in the volcanism ceasing and the magnetic field slowly dissipating. Once this happened, the liquid water was lost to space, leaving the cold and dry planet we see today. Despite the dreary conditions today, these new findings of phosphates and silica are key in better understanding the early conditions on Mars and whether it could have supported life. “We have ideal conditions for finding signs of ancient life where we find carbonates and phosphates, which point to a watery, habitable environment, as well as silica, which is great at preservation,” said Dr. Morgan Cable, who is a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and principal investigator of the software responsible for analyzing the samples. What new discoveries will researchers make about Jezero Crater and its potential for ancient life in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! As always, keep doing science & keep looking up! Sources: NASA, NASA (1), Popular Science

A new report in Nature has shown that water had a pivotal role in shaping the surface of Mars, just as the Perseverance rover has begun to analyze the surface of Jezero crater. Perseverance has been collecting samples that will be studied for evidence of life that may have once lived on Mars. Igneous rocks gathered from Jezero crater, which was once the site of a lake, are thought to be made of lava that flowed from a Martian volcano. “The idea that this could be a volcanic rock was really appealing to us from a sample return perspective because igneous rocks are great for getting accurate age dates. Jezero was one of the few ancient crater lake sites on Mars that seemed to have both incredible sedimentary deposits as well as volcanic deposits that could help us construct the geologic time scale of Mars,” said Katie Stack Morgan, the Mars 2020 Deputy Project Scientist and a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It's been estimated that a system of rivers and lakes that fed Jezero crater probably still held water about 3.7 billion years ago. Once samples are returned to Earth and analyzed with powerful instruments, they can be dated more accurately, and could tell us when Mars still had a habitable atmosphere. Perseverance has a whole suite of tools of its own. The abrasion tool can scratch the surface of rocks to assess their textures and learn more about its composition. This work has already indicated that igneous rocks make up the floor of the crater, along with various salts and coarse igneous minerals. The crater's appearance suggests that it was weathered and changed significantly by water, which is now thought to have occurred over a long period of time. Another onboard tool is a sample-collecting drill. The first attempts were challenging; it seems that the sample was destroyed by the drill during collection. The researchers thought that the rock was too delicate from sustained interactions with water. After using its on-board tools to analyze characteristics of the crater floor, the next phase was for Perseverance to collect a rock sample using its drill feature. However, after Perseverance completed its first attempt at drilling, the core sample tube came up empty. The team looked for another area where they could drill a samples from a tougher rock. Perseverance was then able to obtain two core samples from the rock, which will eventually be part of a multi-step passage onto a craft that can return the sample to Earth. That could happen sometime in the 2030s. These rocks could potentially harbor signs of ancient microbial life. “The rocks of the crater floor were not originally envisioned as the prime astrobiology target of the mission, but Mars always surprises us when we look up close. We are excited to find that even these rocks have experienced sustained interaction with water and could have been habitable for ancient martian microbes,” said Stack Morgan. Sources: Nature, Geological Society of America

On November 26, 2018, NASA’s InSight Mars Lander touched down on the Red Planet with the purpose of studying the interior of Mars to learn more about its evolution. One goal of the InSight mission was to place a seismometer called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) to measure seismic activity and provide accurate 3D models of the planet’s interior. Other primary instruments include the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) and the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE). The SEIS instrument has arguably had the greatest impact on this incredible mission. Since its deployment onto the Martian surface on December 18, 2018, SEIS has acted much like a stethoscope as it listens to the heartbeat of Mars. A recent study published in The Seismic Record discusses how SEIS has recorded its two largest seismic events to date: a magnitude 4.2 (called S0976a) and a magnitude 4.1 (called S1000a) Mars-quake. The pair are the first recorded events to occur on the planet's far side from the lander and are five times stronger than the previous largest event recorded. S0967a was identified by reflected PP and SS waves and its origin being Valles Marineris, which is one of the most distinguishing geological features on Mars and one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. S1000a was recorded 24 days later, characterized by reflected PP and SS waves as well as what are known as Pdiff waves, which are small amplitude waves that have traversed the core-mantle boundary. Both quakes occurred on the far side of the Red Planet, and the seismic energy from S1000a also holds the distinction of being the longest recorded on Mars, lasting 94 minutes. The two marsquakes differ in some important ways. S0976a is characterized by only low frequency energy, like many of the quakes identified so far on the planet, while S1000a has a very broad frequency spectrum. "[S1000a] is a clear outlier in our catalog and will be key to our further understanding of Martian seismology," said Dr. Anna Horleston of the University of Bristol and lead author of the study. "Not only are they the largest and most distant events by a considerable margin, S1000a has a spectrum and duration unlike any other event previously observed. They truly are remarkable events in the Martian seismic catalog.” Understanding Quakes As noted above, these quakes were identified using certain types of waves known as PP, SS, and Pdiff waves. An SS wave is also known as a shear wave (waves that travel through solids but not liquids or gases), which has traveled through the mantle (first “S”), undergone one reflection from the underside of a planet’s surface and traveled again through the mantle (second “S”). PP waves, on the other hand, are known as compressional waves (waves that travel through all types of materials including solids, liquids, and gases) that follow similar paths to SS waves. What secrets will InSight continue to unlock about the interior of Mars? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! As always, keep doing science & keep looking up! Sources: NASA (1), NASA (2), NASA (3), NASA (4), The Seismic Record, Columbia University

Yesterday’s Part I of this article explained how, according to NASA scientists, Martian dust storms don’t present the kinds of dangers depicted in sci-fi movies where they fling vehicles, habitats, and astronauts into the air. Rather that the threat from Martian dust storms is a bit more subtle, in terms of the dust itself coming in contact with equipment from Earth. First because when it gets on solar panels, it limits or in some cases prevents them altogether from generating electricity. Second, that the electrically charged Martian dust can cause havoc with gears and electronics when it gets into any vehicles devices, or equipment. There is another threat that Martian dust storms present for exploratory missions from Earth. When a dust storm goes global on Mars, enough dust can get thrown into the atmosphere that it blocks the sunlight from reaching solar panels in the first place. This can reduce, or in some cases, eliminate solar powered devices from being able to generate electricity. According to NASA planetary scientist Michael Smith, this is one thing that the soon to be released movie “The Martian”, a fictional account of an astronaut who is caught in a Martian dust storm, is left for dead by his fellow astronauts, and then, using only the remnants of his mission, has to survive on Mars, got right. When global storms occur on Mars, anything that is solar powered, basically has to wait until the dust has settled out of the atmosphere, both to conserve battery power and to protect more delicate hardware. This is the case with the real-life rovers we have sent to Mars so far. "We really worry about power with the rovers,” says Smith. “It's a big deal. …The Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed in 2004, so they've only had one global dust storm to go through (in 2007) and they basically shut down operations and went into survival mode for a few weeks." Surprisingly, when these global dust storms on Mars cause enough dust to be suspended in the air to completely cover the planet and block out the sun, this process also spells the end for the storm itself. These storms are caused by the heat from sunlight reaching the surface of the planet and then heating the air that is close to the surface. The air in the upper atmosphere remains cool. Just like thunderstorms here on Earth, when the warm air and the cool air meet, they form an area of instability. The warm air rises up, bringing dust with it, and voila: a Martian dust storm. Smaller dust storms happen fairly regularly on Mars. Global storms seem to go years between occurrences. Scientists have been studying these storms since the early 1900’s using telescopes, but they’re still not quite sure what causes them. "It could be that it just takes a while for the sources to replenish themselves," Smith says. "Maybe there's some kind of cycle that the dust has to go through to get back into the right places to trigger a new one, or maybe it's just kind of luck.” Source: phys.org

Looking for water in our solar system is a good way to begin our search for extraterrestrial life, but it's not exactly easy to find on other planets. Although none of Earth's neighboring planets have nearly as much water as the Earth does, Mars is a pretty good candidate for being the most Earth-like of any planet in the solar system and we know from previous data that Mars probably had vast amounts of flowing water on its surface at one time or another. Now, scientists believe they've found a significantly-sized ice deposit below the Martian surface that holds as much water as Lake Superior, the largest of the Earth’s Great Lakes. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona Published in the Geophysical Research Letters, scientists analyzed special radar data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and found that one of the giant New Mexico-sized plains on the planet may contain ice water as far as 33 feet below the surface. The giant deposit of ice could be anywhere from 260-560 feet thick, which would be a significant amount of water if true. The researchers note that it’s probably a good thing it’s underground, because if the water were on the planet’s surface instead, it would evaporate into vapor and find its way into the atmosphere, which would make the region and its possible water ice remnants more difficult to study. "This deposit probably formed as snowfall accumulating into an ice sheet mixed with dust during a period in Mars history when the planet's axis was more tilted than it is today," said Cassie Stuurman of the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas, Austin and lead researcher of the study. Because of Mars' somewhat chaotic axial tilt conditions, water doesn't accumulate at the poles. Instead, it drives itself to the equatorial regions of the planet. There, it must either find a way to burrow into the ground to remain a solid or liquid form, or it evaporates into the atmopshere and becomes lost over time. Much of Mars' previous evaporated water has already been lost to outer space, as it escaped the atmosphere. Although this giant plain may only contain less than 1% of the planet’s total water supply, there is still a lot of excitement regarding learning more about its formation and existence. Fortunately, it may not be so hard to reach for future exploration missions: "This deposit is probably more accessible than most water ice on Mars, because it is at a relatively low latitude and it lies in a flat, smooth area where landing a spacecraft would be easier than at some of the other areas with buried ice," said Jack Holt, a co-author of the paper. Scientists especially want to know if this water could be the driving force behind any types of microbial life forms. With the upcoming Mars 2020 rover mission still ahead, this zone, as well as a recently-discovered hot spring-like zone might be good places to make the first searches. Source: NASA

NASA's Perseverance Rover will be reaching Mars soon, and it will have to go through a seven-minute descent before we know if it lands safely. On February 18, 2021, it will land in Jezero Crater on the surface of the planet to complete its 292.5 million-mile (470.8 million-kilometer) journey. Once there it will begin to search for evidence of ancient microbial life. Learn more about the landing sequence here. "NASA has been exploring Mars since Mariner 4 performed a flyby in July of 1965, with two more flybys, seven successful orbiters, and eight landers since then," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Perseverance, which was built from the collective knowledge gleaned from such trailblazers, has the opportunity to not only expand our knowledge of the Red Planet, but to investigate one of the most important and exciting questions of humanity about the origin of life both on Earth and also on other planets." It's thought that billions of years ago, the 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater was filled with water. Now completely dry, the Sample Caching System on Perseverance will collect samples of rocks and dust and act as a massive, clean, robotic geologist. The aim is to learn more about the existence of extraterrestrial life (without contaminating it with terrestrial microbes). NASA and the European Space Agency are now collaborating on future missions to retrieve those samples and take them back to Earth. Once they're back here, they'll undergo a series of tests with instruments that cannot be taken to Mars on a rover. "Perseverance's sophisticated science instruments will not only help in the hunt for fossilized microbial life, but also expand our knowledge of Martian geology and its past, present, and future," said Ken Farley, project scientist for Mars 2020, from Caltech. "Our science team has been busy planning how best to work with what we anticipate will be a firehose of cutting-edge data. That's the kind of 'problem' we are looking forward to." Most of Perseverance's instruments are focused on geology and astrobiology. But the mission will also attempt to collect data for use on future exploratory missions. One of those instruments, MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), is a device the size of a car battery that will show conclusively whether it's possible to convert Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen. That type of conversion would be needed on a large scale to provide astronauts with stuff to breathe as well as a crucial component of rocket fuel for their return journey. The rover also has the technology to help it avoid obstacles, and gather data about the atmosphere that may aid in the design of safe, efficient missions in the future. "Don't let anybody tell you different; landing on Mars is hard to do," said John McNamee, project manager for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "But the women and men on this team are the best in the world at what they do. When our spacecraft hits the top of the Mars atmosphere at about three-and-a-half miles per second, we'll be ready." Live coverage of the event from JPL starts February 18, 2021 at 11:15 a.m. PST (2:15 p.m. EST). Check NASA's website for coverage. Sources: Phys.org via NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s Opportunity rover was the interplanetary version of the little engine that could; unfortunately, it couldn’t. The American space agency announced on Wednesday the end of its record-setting Opportunity mission after more than one-thousand unsuccessful attempts to reestablish a communication line with the rover since it was struck by a Mars-wide dust storm more than eight months ago. Image Credit: NASA NASA engineers tried contacting the Opportunity rover again on Tuesday with the 70-meter Mars Station antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Complex, but to no avail. Engineers haven’t heard from Opportunity since June 10th, 2018, and if there were any hope that the rover would have awakened from its slumber and responded, then it surely would have done so by now. “We have made every reasonable engineering effort to try to recover Opportunity and have determined that the likelihood of receiving a signal is far too low to continue recovery efforts," explained John Callas, the manager of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project. Related: Meet Jezero Crater, the future landing site of the Mars 2020 rover Opportunity’s final resting place is none other than Mars’ Perseverance Valley – a fitting location with a suitable name considering the rover’s many achievements over the years. Throughout its travels, the Opportunity rover snapped several images of the Martian landscape and taught us much about the geology of our planetary neighbor. One of the primary highlights of the Opportunity mission was the discovery that Mars may have been a wet and habitable place at one point in its past. More recent operations, including that of the Curiosity rover, have corroborated these findings. The Opportunity rover has also set driving distance records, unearthed the fresh mineral surfaces of dozens of Martian rocks for analysis, captured more than a dozen color panoramas of its surroundings, and discovered the mineral hematite. Despite what looks like a considerable loss at first glance, it’s important to remember that Opportunity well-outlived its initial expectations. Engineers originally designed the rover to survive only 90 sol (Martian days) on the red planet’s surface, trekking only 1,100 yards in that time. Instead, Opportunity surprised us all by lasting more than 15 years and accumulating more than 45 miles on its odometer along the way. "It is because of trailblazing missions such as Opportunity that there will come a day when our brave astronauts walk on the surface of Mars," added NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. "And when that day arrives, some portion of that first footprint will be owned by the men and women of Opportunity, and a little rover that defied the odds and did so much in the name of exploration." Related: The Curiosity rover's wheels are breaking down It’d be an understatement to say Opportunity was an asset to science, but we can only hope that existing missions like Curiosity and upcoming missions like Mars 2020 will pick up where Opportunity left off. Source: NASA

Mars has a thin atmosphere without much humidity, making cloudy days rare. But clouds can be found sometimes near the Martian equator during the coldest period of the year when the Red Planet is furthest from the Sun. But one Martian year ago, two Earth years, NASA's Curiosity Rover captured images of clouds earlier than was expected. This year, researchers started looking for the clouds again by late January. That effort has revealed images of wispy puffs that can be seen in the gifs below, some of which look iridescent. This research might also help scientists learn how clouds form on Mars. Usually, Martian clouds are about 37 miles (60 kilometers) high and are not normally found at higher altitudes. They are typically made of frozen water droplets. But these clouds are higher than usual, where it's even colder. As such, they may be made of frozen carbon dioxide. It will take more analysis to confirm that hypothesis. Curiosity can use black and white cameras to see fine structures in these rippling clouds, but the color images produced by the Mastcam (Mast camera) on the rover show how much the clouds shine. The clouds can be seen just after sunset, with ice crystals in the clouds catching the light and giving them a glowing shimmer against a darker sky. The tonal differences in these clouds as the Sun's position changes can give researchers clues about their altitude. "If you see a cloud with a shimmery pastel set of colors in it, that's because the cloud particles are all nearly identical in size," said Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "That's usually happening just after the clouds have formed and have all grown at the same rate." Some of the most colorful things on Mars are these clouds, noted Lemmon, adding that you'd be able to see these colors with the naked eye if you were standing next to Curiosity. "I always marvel at the colors that show up: reds and greens and blues and purples," Lemmon said. "It's really cool to see something shining with lots of color on Mars." Sources: Phys.org via NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s Perseverance (Percy) rover has been exploring Jezero Crater on Mars since it landed there in February 2021. During that time, it has made some truly remarkable discoveries and helped us better understand the history of the Red Planet and whether it could have once supported life long ago. It has long been hypothesized that Jezero Crater was once home to a massive lake of liquid water billions of years ago, and a recent study published in Science Advances by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Oslo might have confirmed the most precise data to date regarding this hypothesis. For the study, the researchers used the RIMFAX ground penetrating radar, which can take radar images up to 20 meters (65 feet) below Percy’s location, to analyze the geologic layers underneath the rover. These images gave researchers a first-time glimpse into the former crater floor that has been slowly buried over vast periods of geologic time. What they found were geologic layers that are consistent with a former lake being present within Jezero Crater at some point deep in the Red Planet’s history. This included layers that indicated sediments from the flow of water having been deposited along with layers indicating erosion took place, with the latter occurring both before and after the deposits. 3D image of NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover RIMFAX ground penetrating radar measurements (foreground, gray) of Jezero Crater’s Hawksbill Gap region. (Credit: Svein-Erik Hamran, Tor Berger, David Paige, University of Oslo, UCLA, California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA) “The changes we see preserved in the rock record are driven by large-scale changes in the Martian environment,” said Dr. David Paige, who is a professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences at UCLA and lead author of the study. “It’s cool that we can see so much evidence of change in such a small geographic area, which allows us extend our findings to the scale of the entire crater.” This research highlights vital evidence that Mars was once much wetter and warmer than it is today, and possibly even contained the necessary components for life to exist on its surface long ago. What new discoveries will scientists make about Mars and whether it once supported life in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science! As always, keep doing science & keep looking up! Sources: NASA, Science Advances, EurekAlert!, NASA (1), UCLA Newsroom

The Curiosity Rover on Mars is always searching for interesting things that might help researchers answer the long-lasting question of whether or not the red planet ever supported life. One of the things Curiosity is always looking for are traces of liquid water, and while there Is evidence that there was once flowing water on Mars, a more recent discovery might be even more exciting: the possibility that we’ve just discovered Boron on the planet for the first time. Image Credit: Healthline The Curiosity Rover’s built-in ChemCam instrument fires powerful lasers at rocks and then analyses the vaporized material that gets kicked up as a result. Its most recent probe into Mount Sharp, a notably region of the Gale Crater, as revealed a bevy of intriguing chemicals. Boron was one of them, and this element is famously known to exist in places on Earth were water once stood, but does no longer after evaporating away. Similar conditions can be observed in person at the Death Valley in California. This discovery suggests that sitting liquid water may have once existed at the bottom of this crater, billions of years ago, before evaporating away. "No prior mission to Mars has found boron," said Patrick Gasda, a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "If the boron that we found in calcium sulfate mineral veins on Mars is similar to what we see on Earth, it would indicate that the groundwater of ancient Mars that formed these veins would have been 0-60 degrees Celsius [32-140 degrees Fahrenheit] and neutral-to-alkaline pH." At this temperature range, microbial life would have been right at home, assuming they existed at one point on Mars. On the other hand, scientists aren’t 100% sure the Boron was caused by water yet, because there are other possible scenarios. For example, the chemistry of the area’s clay deposits may have shifted, meaning that perhaps water didn’t actually exist in this particular location as expected. "A sedimentary basin such as this is a chemical reactor. Elements get rearranged. New minerals form and old ones dissolve. Electrons get redistributed. On Earth, these reactions support life,” said John Grotzinger of Caltech. "We are seeing chemical complexity indicating a long, interactive history with the water. The more complicated the chemistry is, the better it is for habitability. The boron and clay underline the mobility of elements and electrons, and that is good for life." Although no evidence of microbes has yet been discovered, the existence of Boron on Mars is quite intriguing and further investigations into where it came from might yield some pleasant results. Source: Science Daily, NASA