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Yet it flies!!!

Your browser does not support HTML video. Ingenuity has successfully completed its first flight to Mars, a truly historic moment!On Earth, helicopters fly at a maximum altitude of 6 km, while Ingenuity flew in rarefied conditions that on Earth are only found above 36 km altitude!A “miracle”!!! This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Ingenuity’s flight to Mars has been delayed until April 14 at the earliest

Based on data from the Ingenuity helicopter that arrived late Friday night, NASA chose to reschedule the first experimental flight to no earlier than April 14. On Friday, during a high-speed rotor rotation test, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to the “watchdog” timer. This occurred during an attempt to transition the flight computer from “Pre-Flight” mode to “Flight” mode. The helicopter… Read More »Ingenuity’s flight to Mars has been delayed until April 14 at the earliest

Curiosity Sol 3082, April 8, 2021

At 02:30:30 UTC Mastcam Left captured a nice cloud formation crowding the Martian sky!Also for this Sol, this is not the only photo depicting a dense cloud formation (see https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/? order=sol+desc%2Cinstrument_sort+asc%2Csample_type_sort+asc%2C+date_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=msl&begin_sol=3082&end_sol=3082&af=MAST_LEFT%7CMAST_RIGHT%2C%2C), confirming that the atmosphere contains an amount of water vapor far from the normally accepted values.Mars is approaching its maximum distance from the Sun (aphelion), period in which the planet has a temperature on… Read More »Curiosity Sol 3082, April 8, 2021

Perseverance Sol 43, April 4, 2021

At 15:14:09 LMST the Rear Left Hazcam captured an incredible Martian rainbow.I have never seen anything like it on Mars and I wonder if it could be a strange reflection between the lens or a real rainbow!Certainly it is the first time I see something like this and I am therefore more inclined to consider it “real”!If it was really a rainbow, this will become… Read More »Perseverance Sol 43, April 4, 2021

Curiosity Sol 3074, March 30, 2021

At 21:25:23 UTC the Mastcam Left took again a nice formation of white clouds standing out in a clear blue Martian sky, this time also with a lot of gravity waves (see https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onda_di_gravit%C3%A0). Also for this Sol, this is not the only photo that depicts a cloud formation (see https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc%2Cinstrument_sort+asc%2Csample_type_sort+asc%2C+date_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=msl&begin_sol=3074&end_sol=3074&af=MAST_LEFT%7CMAST_RIGHT%2C%2C), a phenomenon that seems to occur frequently these days.The original image is a black and… Read More »Curiosity Sol 3074, March 30, 2021

InSight detects two more important earthquakes on Mars

Two earthquakes, respectively of magnitude 3.3 and 3.1, have been recently recorded by the InSight lander as coming from the Cerberus Fossae region (see https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_Fossae), already known for its geological peculiarities; note that InSight had already previously recorded another pair of earthquakes coming from Cerberus Fossae, then respectively of magnitude 3.6 and 3.5.As my personal curiosity, I add that Cerberus Fossae is also coincidentally located… Read More »InSight detects two more important earthquakes on Mars

Perseverance Sol 39, March 30, 2021

At 14:16:49 LMST the SHERLOC WATSON camera captured the last phase of the deposition of the Ingenuity helicopter on Martian soil.Perseverance will have to move away from Ingenuity before it can charge its batteries and attempt its first flight, a flight that should take place in about a week.I remind you that flying a helicopter in such a nominally low atmospheric density is equivalent to… Read More »Perseverance Sol 39, March 30, 2021

Curiosity Sol 3063, March 19, 2021

At 14:00:07 UTC Mastcam Left captured a beautiful white cloud formation silhouetted against a clear Martian blue sky!Also for this Sol, this is not the only photo depicting a dense cloud formation (see https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/? order=sol+desc%2Cinstrument_sort+asc%2Csample_type_sort+asc%2C+date_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=1&mission=msl&begin_sol=3063&end_sol=3063&af=MAST_LEFT%7CMAST_RIGHT%2C%2C), proving that the humidity contained in the atmosphere is anything but negligible!In the lower left corner you will also notice the same rock imaged on Sol 3057 (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/posts/3751059274977238). The… Read More »Curiosity Sol 3063, March 19, 2021

The core of Mars has been measured and is surprisingly wide

Mars has a molten core whose radius has been estimated at between 1810 and 1860 kilometers, about half that of Earth!NASA’s InSight probe has already recorded more than 500 earthquakes, of which more than fifty between magnitude 2 and magnitude 4.Thanks to these earthquakes it was possible to study for the first time the interior of the planet and thus reach the incredible discovery of… Read More »The core of Mars has been measured and is surprisingly wide