By Paul Scott Anderson, on April 19th, 2021
Success! The Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, took this photo looking down at its own shadow on the surface after liftoff. This is the first time that powered, controlled flight has been accomplished on another planet. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
After much anticipation, NASA’s first-ever Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, has successfully completed its first test flight, which took […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 11th, 2021
The zodiacal light is seen as a faint glow that extends upwards just before dawn or just after dusk. Scientists thought the dust that causes it came from asteroids or comets, but now new data from the Juno mission suggests the dust originated on Mars. Photo Credit: A. Fitzsimmons/ESO/Wikipedia
A team of scientists with […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 22nd, 2021
Perseverance’s touchdown on Mars. Photos: NASA/JPL
Since its successful landing on February 18 in Jezero Crater, mission scientists for the Perseverance rover have been providing updates on the status of the rover, and so far everything seems to continue to go well. Today, NASA held a media briefing to show the amazing video footage […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 18th, 2021
The first low-rez raw image sent back by Perseverance from the ancient lakebed in Jezero Crater, showing many small rocks. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
After a journey of 292.5 million miles (470.8 million kilometers), NASA’s Perseverance rover has finally reached its destination – an ancient lakebed in Jezero Crater on Mars. The rover, the most […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on February 14th, 2021
On Feb. 18, 2021, the Perseverance rover will land in Jezero Crater using the same sky crane technique that the Curiosity rover used in 2012. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s new Mars rover, Perseverance is in the final hours of its voyage to Mars, aiming for a landing in Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on January 31st, 2021
Artist’s illustration of OSIRIS-REx leaving the asteroid Bennu on May 10, 2021. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission has been a huge success. The spacecraft has been studying the asteroid Bennu in great detail, and last October, it collected samples of rock, sand and […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 9th, 2020
Illustration depicting the flow of the solar wind from the Sun. Both GLIDE and Solar Cruiser will help scientists study the solar wind and its effects on communications is space and on Earth. Image Credit: NASA
NASA has announced the selection of two new SmallSat missions – the Global Lyman-alpha Imagers of the Dynamic […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on November 18th, 2020
Artist’s illustration of the Perseverance rover on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s latest Mars rover, Perseverance, is now less than 100 days away from its landing in Jezero Crater on Mars (94 days at the time of this writing). The rover is currently just over 177 million miles (285 million kilometers) from its destination, […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on October 26th, 2020
Illustration depicting water molecules trapped in lunar soil, along with SOFIA onboard a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner. Image Credit: NASA/Daniel Rutterit
The Moon is generally thought of as a very dry place, with no surface water or even water vapor clouds. Nothing but arid, dusty regolith and rocks. That’s true for the most part, […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on October 25th, 2020
Series of three images showing that the sample collector head on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is full of rocks and dust collected from the surface of the asteroid Bennu. They also reveal that some particles are escaping into space since the sampler’s mylar flap lid (the black bulge on the left inside the ring) is […]
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