Pacific Spaceflight is field testing ideas for Mars suits.
“We bet a lot of early Mars climbing will be like nineteenth-century mountaineering—scrambling/third class/5.0 stuff where robots can’t go, or aid climbing with some crazy rack of tools.”
Curiosity’s path
Unexplained oxygen fluctuations
Oxygen levels above Gale Crater appear to fluctuate seasonally and scientists don’t yet know why.
Where on Mars?
For some time now, I’ve been puzzling over where to place Dawn Colony on the surface of Mars. Here is the description of the landscape around the colony from Scratching the Surface: Continue reading “Where on Mars?”
Generation Mars is going to Mars in 2020!
You can send your name too by registering with NASA at https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/
Marsquake
Insight picks up the first quake on a celestial body other than Earth or the Moon.
Where is Dawn Colony?
A while back I posted about how the writing of science fiction is a race with the progress of science. Here’s a perfect example: where is Dawn Colony? I’ve been hesitant to place it at a specific location on Mars because the more specific I get, the more likely it is I’ll be wrong. Perhaps they live near the southern end of one of the study areas mentioned in this article.
I’m open to other suggestions.
Planetary Science Institute Insight finds a mystery
Twice each day, something strange happens to the atmospheric pressure on Mars.
Opportunity rests
So many odes to Oppy are popping up today. It’s heartening to see the influence this tough little robot had on so many.
Ars Technica Image: Opportunity at its final resting place in Perseverance Valley, courtesy of NASA
Video clip 16: Step outside
The kids take their first steps on the Martian surface.
background: illustration by Luis Peres for Scratching the Surface