Mars – Astronomy Now

Perseverance surveys the magnificent desolation of Jezero Crater

27 July 2021 Astronomy Now

The Perseverance Mars rover’s cameras capture the stark, desert-like beauty of Jezero Crater where a now-vanished lake once sparkled and where traces of ancient microbial life may preserved in lakebed sediments.

InSight finds frigid Mars has molten core

27 July 2021 Astronomy Now

An ultra-sensitive seismometer aboard NASA’s InSight Mars lander finds a huge molten core at the heart of the red planet.

Perseverance Mars rover poised to collect first rock samples

23 July 2021 Astronomy Now

Five months after landing in Jezero Crater, the Perseverance Mars rover is finally ready to begin collecting samples for eventual return to Earth.

Engineers ‘sandblast’ InSight lander to clear dust from solar arrays

7 June 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers come up with a novel way to clear light-obscuring dust from the InSight Mars lander’s solar panels: sandblasting.

Rocky layer cakes on the red planet

25 May 2021 Astronomy Now

These layered hills, seen in this false-colour image of a portion of Arabia Terra on Mars, may possibly have a watery origin. Arabia Terra is a highland region in Mars’ northern hemisphere, dating back to the red planet’s Noachian geological era, around four billion years ago.

China’s Zhurong Mars rover sends back first pictures

19 May 2021 Astronomy Now

The first images from China’s Zhurong Mars rover show the spacecraft is in good shape after landing on the red planet.

Ingenuity Mars ‘copter makes historic first flight on red planet

19 April 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter completes a successful test flight, becoming the first aircraft to fly in the atmosphere of another world. Four more flights are planned.

Mars helicopter software update sets stage for Monday test flight

11 April 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA reschedules Mars helicopter flight for Monday, 19 April, after developing software fix for a computer timing issue.

Like a proud parent, Perseverance Mars rover snaps a selfie with Ingenuity drone

7 April 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover snapped a selfie showing the robot geologist and the diminutive Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of the red planet as engineers ready the drone for an initial 90 second test flight.

Ingenuity drone released from Perseverance Mars rover in preparation for test flight

2 April 2021 Astronomy Now

The Ingenuity Mars drone has been released from the belly of the Perseverance rover and is now standing alone on the surface in preparation for a long-awaited “Wright brothers moment” in the red planet’s ultra-thin atmosphere.