Mars – Astronomy Now

Mars rover captures sharp view of Jezero Crater in stunning mosaic

21 October 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Perseverance rover provides a razor-sharp mosaic showing its view across the floor of Jezero Crater, including remnants of a delta where water once flowed into a broad lake that may have provided a habitable environment for microbial life.

Study suggests Mars too small for long-term habitability

22 September 2021 Astronomy Now

Researchers find a correlation between a rocky planet’s size and its ability to retain enough water for habitability.

After an initial failure, Perseverance collects Martian rock sample

6 September 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover successfully captured its first rock sample from the floor of Jezero Crater after an initial failure.

Engineers troubleshoot Mars rover sample collection failure

7 August 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers are assessing an initial, unsuccessful attempt by the Perseverance Mars rover to collect its first rock sample from the floor of Jezero Crater.

Erosion in a Martian crater carves buttes and stair-like layers

4 August 2021 Astronomy Now

The powerful HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures an intriguing view of eroded rock formations on a crater floor carved billions of years ago.

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.