itsfullofstars:

First Image of Mars

Taken by the Viking 1 lander shortly after it touched down on Mars, this image is the first photograph ever taken from the surface of Mars. It was taken on July 20, 1976. The primary objectives of the Viking mission, which was composed of two spacecraft, were to obtain high-resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface and search for evidence of life on Mars.

(Source: crookedindifference)

Mount Sharp Panorama

This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity shows Mount Sharp in raw color  as recorded by the camera. Raw color shows the scene’s colors as they would look in a typical smart-phone camera photo, before any adjustment. [White-balancing version can be found here.]

Mount Sharp, also called Aeolis Mons, is a layered mound in the center of Mars’ Gale Crater, rising more than 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor, where Curiosity has been working since the rover’s landing in August 2012. Lower slopes of Mount Sharp are the major destination for the mission, though the rover will first spend many more weeks around a location called “Yellowknife Bay,” where it has found evidence of a past environment favorable for microbial life.

This mosaic was assembled from dozens of images from the 100-millimeter-focal-length telephoto lens camera mounted on the right side of the Mastcam instrument. The component images were taken during the 45th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s mission on Mars (Sept. 20, 2012). The sky has been filled out by extrapolating color and brightness information from the portions of the sky that were captured in images of the terrain.

discoverynews:

Mars Was a Suitable Environment for Life

The first analysis of powder drilled out from the inside of water-soaked rock shows Mars was a suitable place for microbial life to evolve, scientists with NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity mission said Tuesday.

The ingredients may be there… but was life? Read more

itsfullofstars:

Very brief Curiosity update, sol 205: Memory anomaly and a swap to the “B-side”

Curiosity Self-Portrait Panorama 
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS - Panorama by Andrew Bodrov

Explanation: This remarkable self-portrait of NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover includes a sweeping panoramic view of its current location in the Yellowknife Bay region of the Red Planet’s Gale Crater. The rover’s flat, rocky perch, known as “John Klein”, served as the site for Curiosity’s first rock drilling activity. At the foot of the proud looking rover, a shallow drill test hole and a sample collection hole are 1.6 centimeters in diameter. The impressive mosaic was constructed using frames from the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Mastcam. Used to take in the panoramic landscape frames, the Mastcam is standing high above the rover’s deck. But MAHLI, intended for close-up work, is mounted at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. The MAHLI frames used to create Curiosity’s self-portrait exclude sections that show the arm itself and so MAHLI and the robotic arm are not seen. Check out this spectacular interactive version of Curiosity’s self-portrait panorama.

First Curiosity Drilling Sample in the Scoop

This image from NASA’s Curiosity rover shows the first sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover’s drill. The image was taken after the sample was transferred from the drill to the rover’s scoop. In planned subsequent steps, the sample will be sieved, and portions of it delivered to the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.

The scoop is 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) wide.

The image was obtained by Curiosity’s Mast Camera on Feb. 20, or Sol 193, Curiosity’s 193rd Martian day of operations.

[This is a raw-color image. There is also a white-balanced version “to show what the sample would look like if it were on Earth.”]

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates MAHLI. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission’s Curiosity rover for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.

Image Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Ready, Set, Drill

An animated set of three images from NASA’s Curiosity rover shows the rover’s drill in action on Feb. 8, 2013, or Sol 182, Curiosity’s 182nd Martian day of operations. This was the first use of the drill for rock sample collection. The target was a rock called “John Klein,” in the Yellowknife Bay region of Gale Crater on Mars.

This set of images was obtained by Curiosity’s right front Hazard-Avoidance camera on Feb. 8, 2013, or Sol 182.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Rover’s Self Portrait at ‘John Klein’ Drilling Site

This self-portrait of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity combines 66 exposures taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013).

The rover is positioned at a patch of flat outcrop called “John Klein,” which was selected as the site for the first rock-drilling activities by Curiosity. The self-portrait was acquired to document the drilling site.

The rover’s robotic arm is not visible in the mosaic. MAHLI, which took the component images for this mosaic, is mounted on a turret at the end of the arm. Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed MAHLI to acquire the mosaic’s component images. The arm was positioned out of the shot in the images or portions of images used in the mosaic.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Preparatory Test for First Rock Drilling by Mars Rover Curiosity

The bit in the rotary-percussion drill of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity left its mark in a target patch of rock called “John Klein” during a test on the rover’s 176th Martian day, or sol (Feb. 2, 2013), in preparation for the first drilling of a rock by the rover.

The Sol 176 test, called the “drill on rock checkout,” used only the hammering or percussive action of the drill, not rotary action.

Another preparatory test, called “mini drill,” will precede the full drilling. The mini drill test will use both the rotary and percussive actions of the drill to generate a ring of rock powder around a hole. This will allow evaluating the appearance of these drill tailings, to see if they are behaving as dry powder suitable for processing by the rover’s sample handling mechanisms.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

theatlantic:

Columbia’s Astronauts, Remembered on Mars

When it comes to commemorating the crew of the space shuttle Columbia, NASA found a way to pay both kinds of tribute, and at the same time. On February 2, 2004 — a year and a day after seven astronauts perished as their shuttle broke apart in the Texas sky — the agency announced the names of a series of seven hills. There was Anderson Hill, named for Columbia mission specialist Michael Anderson; Brown Hill, for mission specialist David Brown; Chawla Hill (mission specialist Kalpana Chawla); Clark Hill (mission specialist Laurel Clark); Husband Hill (mission commander Rick Husband); McCool Hill (pilot Willie McCool); and Ramon Hill (mission specialist Ilan Ramon).

Read more. [Image: NASA/JPL/Cornell]

Curiosity’s Drill in Place for Load Testing Before Drilling

The percussion drill in the turret of tools at the end of the robotic arm of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has been positioned in contact with the rock surface in this image from the rover’s front Hazard-Avoidance Camera (Hazcam).

The drill was positioned for pre-load testing, and the Hazcam recorded this image during the 170th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Jan. 27, 2013). Other tests with the drill are planned before the first drilling into a rock on Mars to collect a sample of rock material for analysis.

In this view, the drill is positioned on a target on a patch of flat, veined rock called “John Klein.” The site is within the “Yellowknife Bay” area of Gale Crater.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project’s Curiosity rover.

For more about NASA’s Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, andhttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.

Image Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Rover brush tool, sol 169

n-a-s-a:

Matijevic Hill Panorama

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State U.

On January 25 (UT) 2004, the Opportunity rover fell to Mars, making today the 9th anniversary of its landing. After more than 3,200 sols (Mars solar days) the golf cart-sized robot from Earth is still actively exploring the Red Planet, though its original mission plan was for three months. Having driven some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from its landing site, Opportunity’s panoramic camera recorded the segments of this scene, in November and December of last year. The digitally stitched panorama spans more than 210 degrees across the Matijevic Hill area along the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Features dubbed Copper Cliff, a dark outcrop, appear at the left, and Whitewater Lake, a bright outcrop, at the far right. The image is presented here in a natural color approximation of what the scene would look like to human eyes.

crookedindifference:

A replica of NASA’s Curiosity Rover and members of the Mars Science Laboratory science team pass the Presidential viewing stand and President Barack Obama during the Inaugural Parade on Monday Jan. 21, 2013, in Washington.

(via itsfullofstars)

nationalpost:

Mars scientists find ‘strongest evidence yet’ that planet may have supported life
Scientists believe they may have found the ‘strongest evidence yet’ that Mars may have supported life, but it’s unlikely in the form most people would recognize.

New research published today in the journal Nature Geoscience suggests a team of scientists could have discovered the ingredients of life in a huge crater up to 5km below the planet’s surface.

The McLaughlin crater, which was made by a meteorite which smashed into Mars, is described as an area of interest for the team, led by London’s Natural History Museum and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

The impact of the meteorite forced up rocks from kilometres below the surface around the crater - one of the deepest on Mars - which scientists believe are made of clays and minerals that have been altered by water - a key ingredient for life. (European Space Agency; NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona; AP Photo/NASA)