Latest news with #MarsExploration
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Why does Mars look purple, yellow and orange in ESA's stunning new satellite image?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Despite being known as the Red Planet, Mars shows off its swirling yellows, oranges and browns in a new satellite photo from the European Space Agency (ESA). The Earth-toned surface also reveals an impact crater and four sneaky dust devils making their way across the region. The Rothko-like image was taken by a high-resolution camera on ESA's Mars Express orbiter and captures Arcadia Planitia, an area of Mars critical to research about the planet's past and its potential to house humans in the future. Northwest of the tallest volcanoes in the solar system, Arcadia Planitia is a region of intrigue. It's laden with solidified lava flows that are, at most, 3 billion years old. The area is also thought to host water ice close to the planet's surface, making it an area of interest when planning future missions to Mars, according to a statement from ESA. Arcadia Planitia is home to visiting "dust devils," short-lived columns of wind akin to small tornadoes. Dust devils form when the Martian surface warms the air just above it, leading the air to rise and pulling dust with it. The new image shows four dust devils as they snake their way across the plains of the region. Easy to overlook, you can spot them as whitish puffs of dust near the center of the image, straddling the boundary between the darker brown and lighter red parts of the plain. A large impact crater sits in the bottom right corner of the photo and measures 9 miles (15 kilometers) across, according to ESA. The formation of layered material around the crater is evidence that the ground encompassed notable amounts of water ice during impact, and lack of clear erosion of the crater dates it to relatively recently on the geological timeline. Related: Perseverance rover spots peculiar 'spider egg' rock on Mars — and scientists have no idea how it got there If you noticed that the image is blurry, you're discerning an effect of the wind on Mars. Gusts of air pick up and carry tiny particles of debris from the planet's surface, which creates a minor visual haze. RELATED STORIES —Mars rover captures first close-up photos of giant 'spiderwebs' on the Red Planet —Long, dark 'streaks' spotted on Mars aren't what scientists thought —NASA Mars satellite uncovers markings 'like paint dripping down a wall' on Martian surface The wind that causes the haze is also responsible for the reddish area at the top of the photo. The red region is covered in ridges called "yardangs," which are formed when wind erodes vulnerable rock and leaves the most resistant rock still standing. Below the red section is purplish-brown terrain, which has a high concentration of silicates and a low concentration of iron, the statement notes. The difference in colors also stems from properties of the sand, like density and size, which affect how the grains accumulate and travel across Mars.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Volcano Found Hiding 'In Plain Sight' Right Next to NASA Mars Rover
Sometimes, it's really hard to see the volcanoes for the rocks, especially if you're just a one-ton rover all alone in a remote crater on Mars. Nevertheless, a bump on the rim of Jezero Crater is indeed a volcano, scientists have ruled – and the finding, thanks to NASA's Perseverance rover, has really exciting implications. "Volcanism on Mars is intriguing for a number of reasons – from the implications it has on habitability, to better constraining the geologic history," says planetary scientist James Wray from the Georgia Institute of Technology. "Jezero Crater is one of the best studied sites on Mars. If we are just now identifying a volcano here, imagine how many more could be on Mars. Volcanoes may be even more widespread across Mars than we thought." Wray noticed the mountain, called Jezero Mons, back in 2007, but there wasn't enough evidence to support the interpretation that it was a volcano. Then Perseverance started finding volcanic rocks on the crater floor. Suspicions grew that Jezero Mons may have burst upward from Mars' molten interior. To confirm speculations, a team led by planetary scientist Sara Cuevas-Quiñones of Georgia Tech decided to conduct a thorough investigation, looking for known characteristics of volcanoes here on Earth. "We used data from the Mars Odyssey Orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, and Perseverance Rover, all in combination to puzzle this out," Wray explains. Their verdict? Jezero Mons is volcanic. It even has a volcanic crater. It's not active now, and likely hasn't been for a very long time, but this identification will make Perseverance's findings easier to interpret. There's another interesting takeaway: Jezero Crater was once a lake. If it was sitting right next to a steaming pile of active volcano, the conditions may have been warm enough in the lake for life. "The coalescence of these two types of systems makes Jezero more interesting than ever," Wray says. "We have samples of incredible sedimentary rocks that could be from a habitable region alongside igneous rocks with important scientific value." The findings are published in Communications Earth & Environment. NASA Satellite Glimpses Giant Volcano Peeking Above The Clouds of Mars The Universe's Missing Black Holes May Have Been Located Mysteriously Magnetic Moon Rocks Might Have an Explosive Origin Story
Bloomberg
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Trump Wants $1 Billion for Private-Sector-Led Mars Exploration
US President Donald Trump wants to tap the private sector to pave the way for human missions to Mars in a proposal that closely aligns with the goals of Elon Musk. The White House's 2026 budget proposal, released late on Friday, calls for allocating more than $1 billion for Mars exploration, including a new NASA initiative called the Commercial Mars Payload Services Program (CMPS). Under the proposal, NASA would award contracts to companies developing spacesuits, communications systems and a human-rated landing vehicle to foster exploration of the Red Planet.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- Science
- The Independent
NASA's Mars Perseverance snaps a selfie as a Martian dust devil blows by
The latest selfie by NASA's Perseverance rover at Mars has captured an unexpected guest: a Martian dust devil. Resembling a small pale puff, the twirling dust devil popped up 3 miles (5 kilometers) behind the rover during this month's photo shoot. Released Wednesday, the selfie is a composite of 59 images taken by the camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm, according to NASA. It took an hour to perform all the arm movements necessary to gather the images, 'but it's worth it,' said Megan Wu, an imaging scientist from Malin Space Science Systems, which built the camera. 'Having the dust devil in the background makes it a classic," Wu said in a statement. The picture — which also shows the rover's latest sample borehole on the surface — marks 1,500 sols or Martian days for Perseverance. That's equivalent to 1,541 days on Earth. Perseverance is covered with red dust, the result of drilling into dozens of rocks. Launched in 2020, it's collecting samples for eventual return to Earth from Jezero Crater, an ancient lakebed and river delta that could hold clues of any past microbial life. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Digital Trends
16-05-2025
- Science
- Digital Trends
NASA rover shares moody image of Mars moon Deimos
Once in a while, you might look up and marvel at magnificent views of our moon, its surface dramatically lit by our sun's light. But have you ever paused to wonder what other moons might look like from the surfaces of other planets in our solar system? NASA's Perseverance rover, which has been exploring Mars since arriving there in dramatic fashion in 2021, has just shared an exquisite image of Deimos, one of the red planet's two moons. Recommended Videos 'Wishing upon a … moon?' NASA's Perseverance team, based in California, wrote in a post on the rover's X account on Thursday, adding: 'That bright 'star' is actually Mars' moon Deimos.' Wishing upon a… moon? That bright 'star' is actually Mars' moon Deimos. In the hours before dawn, I snapped this long-exposure image with my left Navcam and caught Deimos as well as two stars from the constellation Leo in the sky. It's definitely a mood, as they say. — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) May 15, 2025 Perseverance captured the image in March 'in the hours before dawn' via a long-exposure using its left Navcam. The picture also includes two stars — Regulus and Algieba — from the constellation Leo, which NASA has helpfully pointed out: With a diameter of 7.7 miles (12.4 kilometers), Deimos, which scientists believe is likely to be a captured asteroid, is much smaller than Earth's moon, which has a diameter of 2,159 miles (3,474 kilometers). And while Deimos orbits Mars at a distance of 14,577 miles (23,460 kilometers), Earth's next door neighbor orbits at a far greater distance of about 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers). Also, our moon has a spherical shape, whereas Deimos has an irregular form that NASA has rather unflatteringly described as 'potato-shaped.' The rover's image offers a refreshing departure from its usual focus on the martian terrain where it's searching for signs of ancient microbial life, allowing us to appreciate for a moment the broader cosmic context of Perseverance's mission. In many ways, the striking photo is more than just a technical achievement as it also offers a moment of reflection during the rover's epic mission to seek knowledge beyond our home planet.
