Despite being years past their warranty date, NASA’s twin Mars rovers have been pressed into duty for another year. Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey orbiters have also been given 2-year mission extensions. Spirit and Opportunity are doing surprisingly well, despite roaming the Martian landscape for more than 31 months. During this fourth mission extension, the rovers will return to the Martian spring and summer, when they get increased sunlight to power their solar panels.
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Opportunity Sees the Rim of Victoria Crater
NASA’s Opportunity rover is close enough to spot the edge of the massive Victoria crater; its destination for almost 2 years. The crater is roughly 750 metres (.5 mile) across and up to 70 metres (230 feet) deep. Once the rover gets inside, it’ll be able to examine exposed rock on the crater walls. Scientists are still gathering evidence of past water conditions on the surface of Mars, and this view will be one of the best “opportunities” they’ve had so far.
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New Image of the Face on Mars
When NASA’s Viking 1 Orbiter sent its first pictures back from Mars in 1976, one feature caught the eye – the famous “Face on Mars” in the Cydonia region. Other NASA orbiters have returned higher resolution images showing that it’s just a naturally forming rock structure. And now ESA’s Mars Express has revealed even higher resolution images, showing a new perspective view of the face.
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Aerobraking Mars Orbiter Surprised Scientists
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has completed the intricate job of aerobraking and its primary science phase will soon begin in earnest. MRO’s Project Scientist and members of the Navigation Team discussed the intricacies and challenges of aerobraking in Mars’ ever-changing atmosphere.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Reaches Final Orbit
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its main thrusters for 12.5 minutes on Monday, adjusting the spacecraft into its final orbit around the Red Planet. Its altitude now ranges between 250 kilometers (155 miles) to 316 kilometers (196 miles) above the Martian surface – its final science orbit. The spacecraft will still need to deploy the large antenna for the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument, and remove the lens cap from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer, which will map the surface of Mars for minerals.
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Opportunity Nears Victoria Crater
After traveling for more than 930 days on the surface of Mars, NASA’s Opportunity rover is nearly at the rim of Victoria crater. This crater is larger than anything the rover has explored before, spanning 750 metres (half a mile) across, and 70 metres (230 feet) deep. Once Opportunity does reach the rim and look inside, it will be like looking back in time, analyzing stacks of rock layers. The rover will first search the crater rim looking for a potential path down that it can safely maneuver.
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High Altitude Clouds on Mars
ESA scientists have discovered some extremely high altitude clouds on Mars – between 80 and 100 km (50 to 62 miles) high. These newly found clouds were uncovered by ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, while it was watching distant stars as they passed behind Mars. The light from the stars was distorted as it passed through the Martian atmosphere, allowing scientists to measure the intervening cloud layers. The atmosphere at that altitude is so cold that scientists think the clouds must be made of carbon dioxide.
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Did Mariner IV Pass Through a Comet’s Tail?
On July 14, 1965, NASA’s Mariner 4 made the first successful flyby of Mars; after six spacecraft had already failed to reach the Red Planet. It passed only 10,000 km (6,200 miles) above the surface of the planet, and sent back 22 pictures. Two years later it passed through an intense shower of meteoroids, more ferocious than anything we’ve seen here on Earth. Meteor expert Paul Weigert thinks the spacecraft might have passed close to comet D/Swift, and the meteoroids came from the comet’s tail.
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Seasonal Jets Darken the Surface of Mars
Scientists now have an answer for the strange dark spots near the south polar ice caps on Mars. As the ice cap warms in spring, jets of carbon dioxide erupt, spraying dark material onto the surface. The discovery was made using the cameras on board NASA’s Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. They provided detailed images of the fan-shaped dark markings, which are typically 15 to 46 metres (50 to 100 feet) across, and can appear within a week.
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Electrical Dust Storms Could Make Life on Mars Impossible
New research is suggesting that planet-wide dust storms on Mars could create a snow of corrosive chemicals toxic to life. These Martian storms generate a significant amount of static electricity, and could be capable of splitting carbon dioxide and water molecules apart. The elements could then reform into hydrogen peroxide molecules, and fall to the ground as a snow that would destroy organic molecules associated with life. This toxic chemical might be concentrated in the top layers of Martian soil, preventing life from surviving.
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