Tag Archives: mars

Pictures

Drilling on Mars

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Mars Drilling - NASA
Mars Curiosity rover drills a test hole near the Windjana rock.

The advanced capabilities of Curiosity Mars rover have allowed us to do more in the (unmanned) exploration of this planet than has ever been possible. This picture by the Mars Hand Lens Imager  shows the shallow drill hole (and the residue piled up around it) completed by the  Curiosity Mars rover. This experiment is part of the Mars Science Laboratory initiative and will be evaluating a rock target called “Windjana“. Curiosity is expected to drill deeper (up to 2.5 inches) and evaluate both the drilling and the martian samples it collects.

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Pictures

Earth and Moon as seen from Mars

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Earth and Moon - NASA
Earth and Moon as seen from Mars

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) looked back and took this picture of the Earth and Moon from Mars, using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. Taken from approximately 142 million miles (88 million km) away, one can barely make out the west coast of South America in the lower right hand portion of the partial Earth image.

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Videos

NASA revs up manned space program to Mars

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NASA conducted an exploration forum this week where several administrators, scientists and other NASA personnel outlined how this US space agency plans to land human astronauts first on an asteroid and then Mars. They hope accomplish the manned Mars mission by 2030. One can speculate whether unofficial work has already been done for such initiatives but this does mark an important point in NASA’s public push to take humans to outer space – the first one since the mission to put man on the moon.

The full presentation is long (2.5 hours) but worth watching for  space enthusiasts and budding, future astronauts 🙂

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Pictures

Martian dust and pebbles photographed by Curiosity

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Martian Dust - NASA
Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) took this picture of red Martian dust

This highly detailed image was taken by Curiosity rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on September 8, 2012. On that day, which happened to be Curiosity’s 33rd day on Mars, its MAHLI dust cover was finally retracted and picture of the surface was taken. This patch of dusty Maritan ground is only about 34 inches across and the one large pebble,  near the bottom of the image, is about 3 inches in size. That area seems more pebbly than dusty leaving scientists to ponder the composition of the Martian surface, its wind patterns, etc.

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Pictures

Strange light captured by Curiosity camera on Mars

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NASA’s curiosity rover recently reached a spot on Mars referred to as “the Kimberley” to continue its study of the multiple rock formations in that area. But what caught the eye of many space observers/enthusiasts also brought in special interest from UFO and alien followers – a strange light.

Mars Light - NASA
Strange light caught by Curiosity camera on Mars

What was that strange (white) light captured by one of Curiosity’s dual NAVCAM cameras? An artificial light from a UFO or alien beings that inhabit Mars? Or is it more likely that this light was the camera capturing cosmic rays or sunlight reflecting off the rocks in that area; a malfunction with the camera; or some other artifact? You can bet that there are plenty of theories and analysis trying to establish both these trains of thought. For now, its time to go back to review all the older Mars pictures and wait for the next set of pictures beamed by Curiosity from Mars.

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