Mars Planet Technology
NASA is Recruiting for Yearlong Simulated Mars Mission
NASA is seeking applicants for participation as a crew member during the first one-year analog mission in a habitat to simulate life on a distant world, set to begin in Fall 2022. As NASA ventures farther into the cosmos, the astronaut experience will change. In preparation for the real-life... Read more
Marsquakes reveal Red Planet has surprisingly large core, thin crust
Quakes on Mars have unveiled its interior to an unprecedented degree, revealing surprising details about the Red Planet’s crust, mantle and core. Measurements taken by NASA’s InSight lander have uncovered details, including a crustal layer that varies dramatically from previous understanding, a mantle less dense than the surface and... Read more
NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity could keep flying the Martian skies for months
The future of aerial Mars exploration looks bright. NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity, which landed inside Mars’ Jezero Crater with the agency’s Perseverance rover in February,  has now completed eight Red Planet flights. That’s three more than the maximum targeted for the 4-lb. (1.8 kilograms) chopper’s original technology-demonstration mission — and Ingenuity isn’t... Read more
First picture of Ganymede by Juno
Nasa’s Juno spacecraft sent the first picture of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede. Read more
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Video, Audio of Fourth Ingenuity Flight
For the first time, a spacecraft on another planet has recorded the sounds of a separate spacecraft. A new video combines footage of the solar-powered helicopter taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z imager with audio from a microphone belonging to the rover’s SuperCam laser instrument.The instrument’s microphone records the sounds of those laser... Read more
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Just Turned Martian CO2 Into Oxygen
A toaster-sized scientific instrument attached to NASA’s Perseverance rover just sucked up a bit of carbon dioxide from the surrounding Martian atmosphere and converted it into oxygen. It’s a groundbreaking first that could lead to a future in which space travelers are not only able to generate air to... Read more
NASA’s InSight Mars lander is going into emergency hibernation. If it can’t save its batteries, it could die.
NASA’s $800 million Mars lander is in an energy crisis. InSight, which landed in a Martian plain called Elysium Planitia in 2018, has detected more than 500 Mars quakes, felt more than 10,000 dust devils pass by, and started to measure the planet’s core. But over the past few... Read more
The Golden Box That Could Create Oxygen on Mars
Humanity’s future on Mars may depend on a golden box about the size of a car battery. On February 18, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars with this box, called MOXIE, nestled in its belly. MOXIE was designed to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars, and NASA plans... Read more
We introduce you to two members of our mission SMOPS (www.smops.space) at MDRS: Paolo Guardabasso and Benjamin Pothier. Read more
China’s Tianwen-1 enters orbit around Mars
China’s first interplanetary mission, Tianwen-1, successfully entered today Mars orbit. Tianwen-1 will gradually lower its orbit to allow for observations of Mars. It will also begin preparations for the entry, descent and landing attempt of a 240-kilogram solar powered rover, an event expected to take place around May or... Read more