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InSight’s seismometer now has a cozy haven on Mars

In recent weeks, NASA’s InSight lander has made changes to the seismometer laid down on the Martian surface on Dec. 19. It has now reached another milestone by placing a domed shield on the seismometer to help the instrument collect accurate data. The seismometer will give scientists their first look inside the Red Planet, helping them understand how Mars and other rocky planets formed. The… Read More »InSight’s seismometer now has a cozy haven on Mars

Insight Sol 66, February 2, 2019

Yesterday, the protective dome was laid down on the seismometer.In this picture taken by the Instrument Context Camera (ICC) at 10:19:19 LMST, we can see the robotic arm of InSight shortly after taking the protective dome from the back of the lander itself and laid on the seismometer to protect it from the weather and wind.Now the seismometer is ready to do its job!!!To show… Read More »Insight Sol 66, February 2, 2019

Insight Sol 63, January 30, 2019

Yesterday, after the completion of the stationing operations of the seismometer and its connecting cable, the operations to pick up and place the protection dome on the seismometer have started.In this photo taken by the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) at 17:13:24 LMST, we can see the robotic arm of InSight while it is about to take the protection dome from the back of the lander… Read More »Insight Sol 63, January 30, 2019

Mars: 24 water lakes discovered, 5 hospitable to ancient life forms

Traces of ancient river deltas have also been found. These ancient lakes, disappeared due to the variation of the orbital axis, could represent ideal places for the proliferation of life. Complete research in PDF downloadable for free:“Geological evidence of planet-wide groundwater system on Mars”. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2018JE005802 This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

The Opportunity rover for 15 years on Mars

On January 24, 2004, Opportunity began its glorious activity on Mars by landing at Meridiani Planum.Unfortunately, as of June 10, 2018, contact has been lost due to an intense global storm that prevented Opportunity from recharging its batteries for months.The team at JPL is currently continuing to try to reestablish contact with Opportunity, although objectively it will be very unlikely by now that such old… Read More »The Opportunity rover for 15 years on Mars

Salt, space, acid and heat

A beautiful journey into the world of extremophilic bacteria, in search of the true limits to the survival of life. This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Do “slope streaks” indicate the current presence of global hydrological processes on Mars?

In contrast to recurring slope lineae (RSL) and dark dune spots (DDS) that appear and disappear annually following the seasonal cycle, slope streaks can form in any season and take tens of years to dissolve.In this research we analyze all the possible explanations proposed, crossing all the available information to analyze both slope streaks and RSL and DDS.Temperature, pressure, relative air humidity, soil moisture and… Read More »Do “slope streaks” indicate the current presence of global hydrological processes on Mars?

Martian areas favorable to ice melting in liquid water

It is time to stop saying that on Mars the formation of liquid water is not possible!In this map are highlighted in gray the areas where seasonally occur the conditions necessary to melt the ice into liquid water, while in the black area this is possible throughout the Martian year (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/videos/395322594631582/). Then I added the position of the various landers and / or rovers… Read More »Martian areas favorable to ice melting in liquid water

Where can liquid water form on Mars?

Your browser does not support HTML video. Search performed from data extracted from “Mars Climate Database v5.3: The Web Interface”. http://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr/mcd_python/ In order for the ice to melt forming liquid water it is necessary a temperature greater than 273 K (0° C) and an atmospheric pressure greater than 611 Pa.Thanks to the Mars Climate Database it was possible to identify individually the two areas and… Read More »Where can liquid water form on Mars?