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Yesterday HP3 was laid down on the Martian surface, a few tens of centimeters behind the previous position after the lifting started on Sol 203 (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2267822206634293/). In this photo taken by the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) at 14:26:40 LMST, we can see the top of MOLE peeking out of the hole it produced, in the upper right corner.You can also easily see how the… Read More »Insight Sol 209, June 29, 2019

At 01:55:05 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) has taken this beautiful picture of a Martian rock from a distance of only 7.81 cm and with a definition of 0.0351 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 5.54 cm X 4.14 cm.Even this rock, though so eroded, retains very complex details and is therefore worthy of great interest.This area of Mars, which Curiosity is exploring… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2451, June 29, 2019

At 02:11:45 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) took this amazing photo of a Martian rock from a distance of only 7.59 cm and with a definition of 0.0343 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 5.39 cm X 4.04 cm.When such an eroded rock retains such intricate details, it can only attract attention.Spectacular interweaving of limestone seeps with intrusions of various shapes and sizes;… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2451, June 29, 2019

At 13:36:57 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) has taken this interesting photo of a Martian rock from a distance of only 8.07 cm and with a definition of 0.036 mm/pixel, covering an area of 5.68 cm X 4.25 cm.The photo shows us yet another example of rock very blunted by erosion but with decidedly curious cavities, sometimes self-similar.It’s too bad no one wants… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2449, June 27, 2019

By studying zircons found in some Martian meteorites, it has been discovered that on Mars liquid water remained on the surface until the late Amazonian, that is, until 227 – 56 million years ago!If confirmed, this discovery will radically upset our beliefs about the history of liquid water on Mars by greatly expanding the period in which climatic conditions remained favorable for the development of… Read More »Zircons altered by low-temperature aqueous environments during the late Amazonian period

As the Mars InSight lander begins to listen to the interior of Mars, some scientists are already speculating that some earthquakes may be signs of the presence of groundwater beneath the Red Planet’s icy surface. The idea, proposed by Michael Manga, a planetary scientist at the University of California at Berkeley, and his colleagues, is that Mars could experience earthquakes very similar to those that… Read More »Ice-crushed aquifers could create earthquakes (by Larry O’Hanlon, American Geophysical Union)

Between 13:54:53 LMST and 13:56:40 LMST operations started to lift HP3 and thus expose the “MOLE” penetrator in an attempt to remedy the jamming of the penetrator itself.In fact MOLE stopped almost immediately at a depth of only 30cm instead of the expected 5m.From the first photos, MOLE appears to be quite inclined, something that was already expected, a sign that it has probably reached… Read More »InSight Sol 203, June 23, 2019

NASA makes official the news already given yesterday (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2265500936866420/) about the unusual high levels of methane detected by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) tunable laser spectrometer of Curiosity.Unfortunately Curiosity is not able to determine whether this methane originates from the interaction of water with the rocks or if it is of bacterial origin, but the ESA TGO is able to determine the exact… Read More »Curiosity detects unusual high levels of methane

On Wednesday, Curiosity detected a sudden increase in methane in the Martian atmosphere. The spike was three times higher than those previously recorded, as in the 2013 event.The measurements taken last Wednesday gave values around 21 ppb, a quantity higher than a few orders of magnitude above the threshold of detectability and therefore very reliable!At NASA, however, caution reigns and before launching important announcements have… Read More »Mars rover detects a puff of gas that would indicate the possible presence of life

At 11:02:25 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) took this picture of a Martian rock from a distance of only 3.8 cm and with a definition of 0.0206 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 3.3 cm X 2.46 cm.Close-up detail of the rock already shown a couple of days ago (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2260220040727843/). The white vein is almost certainly made of gypsum, clear evidence of… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2443, June 21, 2019