Mars – Astronomy Now

Curiosity closing in on Mars’ transition from wet to dry

9 October 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is closing in on finding out when the martian environment transitioned from a habitable era to the inhospitable desert seen today.

NASA, DLR continue work to salvage martian “mole”

4 October 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA and the German Aerospace Center continue exhaustive efforts to help a stalled heat probe hammer its way below the martian surface.

Mars 2020 rover on track for launch next July

31 July 2019 Stephen Clark

The launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is less than a year away, and the steady pace of work inside the craft’s pristine assembly hall in California is keeping the mission on schedule for liftoff from Cape Canaveral next July, despite growing costs, according to mission managers.

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover looking more and more like a rover

28 July 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, scheduled for launch on 17 July 2020, is rapidly maturing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where engineers recently tested the spacecraft’s multi-joint robot arm as critical instruments and other systems are installed and tested.

SuperCam and robot arm installed on 2020 Mars rover

30 June 2019 Astronomy Now

The Mars 2020 rover continues to take shape at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with attachment of its robot arm and SuperCam instrument.

Methane detected on Mars; origin not yet known

24 June 2019 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover detects methane; while a possible indicator of biological activity, the source is not yet known.

A heavenly host of robotic space missions announced

21 June 2019 Astronomy Now

ESA and NASA announce new missions to study a pristine comet, the solar corona and how the solar wind interacts with Earth’s atmosphere.

Japanese spacecraft to carry European rover to martian moon

20 June 2019 Astronomy Now

A Japanese spacecraft designed to explore Mars’ moons will carry a European rover that will land on Phobos or Deimos.

NASA helicopter passes key tests on road to Mars flight

10 June 2019 Astronomy Now

Engineers are making preparations to attach a small drone-like helicopter to the Mars 2020 rover; a webcam is now available to monitor the rover’s assembly.

See Mercury and Mars get close at dusk on 18 June

5 June 2019 Ade Ashford

On 18 June at the end of civil twilight in the UK, planets Mars and Mercury lie slightly less than one-quarter of a degree apart in the constellation of Gemini. Observing this conjunction will be a challenge from the UK as the pair will be just 5 degrees high in the west-northwest at civil dusk in bright twilight, which is about 50 minutes after sunset for London.