In this picture taken by the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) at 16:02:00 LMST, we can see the robotic arm of InSight raised to allow a better analysis of the situation.A couple of days ago it was tried to lift the robotic arm only a few millimeters to verify the stability of MOLE, in order to avoid that it could exit the hole and fall inexorably… Read More »Insight Sol 332, November 3, 2019
At 18:06:57 UTC the Mastcam Right has captured this suggestive hill of stratified rocks with a beautiful blue sky for background.Curiosity is heading to this hill to perform in-depth investigations; do you recognize it?Look at the image archive on this page and let’s see how many of you will be able to recognize this detail that in the coming days we can admire more and… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2568, Oct. 27, 2019
Your browser does not support HTML video. First official article about the strange accident that brought MOLE out of the hole so laboriously dug and that had brought MOLE now completely underground.The first official explanation talks about “unusual conditions of the Martian soil”, as to say that they don’t know yet to give a satisfactory explanation… Full article: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8529/mars-insights-mole-has-partially-backed-out-of-its-hole/ Original animation: https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/24673/insights-heat-probe-partially-backs-out-of-hole/ https://mars.nasa.gov/system/news_items/main_images/8529_PIA23213.gif Image Credit:… Read More »InSight’s MOLE returns partially out of the hole
Yesterday MOLE exited the ground for no apparent reason!In this picture taken by the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) at 17:00:49 LMST, we can see the robotic arm of InSight in the same position of the last days but with most of MOLE out of the ground. From the analysis of the previous photos it seems that the “ejection” happened shortly after local noon without any… Read More »************************ Breaking news ************************ Insight Sol 325, October 26, 2019
At 01:13:16 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) imaged this very strange Martian rock with strikingly contrasting features.The photo was taken from a distance of 11.35 cm with a definition of 0.048 mm/pixel, covering an area of 7.47 cm X 5.57 cm.At first glance it would seem to be a volcanic rock with the typical porosity produced by gas escaping from molten magma. Looking… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2564, Oct. 24, 2019
At 13:00:05 LMST, InSight local mean solar time, the Instrument Context Camera (ICC) took this panoramic picture in which you can see that MOLE has now completely sunk into the ground.Now begins the hard part of MOLE’s work, because from now on InSight’s robotic arm will not be able to help MOLE pushing it as it did in the last days.Fingers crossed that MOLE can… Read More »InSight Sol 321, Oct. 22, 2019
At 10:41:04 UTC the Mastcam Left shot for the fourth time this suggestive hillock of stratified rocks with a beautiful blue sky for background.The previous time the sky was slightly cloudy (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2334143903335456/). I also recommend the comparison with the previous images, that of Sol 2458 (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2291028767646970/) and that of Sol 2464 (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2300905249992655/). Compared to the previous images there are further differences in… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2560, Oct. 19, 2019
At 11:27:09 UTC Mastcam Left took this nice photo of the inner rim of Gale crater.The horizon appears less hazy than in other previous photos (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2330609020355611/). The visibility of the crater rim itself is definitely one of the best in the last two years (one Martian year).The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2559, Oct. 18, 2019
As I had already shown a week ago, MOLE has resumed digging and at the moment has already penetrated a few inches more in the Martian soil.The InSight team is optimistic but cautious in proceeding, that’s why the advancement is proceeding slowly and at the moment the probe is not yet completely penetrated into the ground…Let’s hope that no other hiccups will occur. This post… Read More »InSight’s MOLE moves again
At 14:22:08 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) took this close-up detail of the top of the track “dug” with one of the wheels of the rover that I showed you a few days ago (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2466149086801603/). The photo was taken from a distance of only 5.91 cm with a definition of 0.028 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 4.5 cm X 3.34 cm.Despite… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2558, Oct. 17, 2019