Mars
Moon, Mars and beyond: Space exploration highlights coming up in 2020
Posted in Science on 23rd Jan, 2020
by Alex Muller
Science stands still for no one, and with a new year comes a new calendar of exciting events in spaceflight and exploration. New Atlas rounds up some of the most important milestones to look forward to in 2020.
NASA releases Martian water map for future astronauts
Posted in Science on 13th Dec, 2019
by Alex Muller
The single most valuable resource for manned deep space missions is water. The most obvious reason is that it's literally vital for keeping astronauts alive by providing drinking water and oxygen, but it's also important because water can be converted into rocket fuel.
Dust towers may have helped dry out ancient Mars
Posted in Science on 28th Nov, 2019
by Alex Muller
One of the most dramatic of Martian phenomena is the tendency to roughly once a decade be suddenly subject to gigantic dust storms that completely engulf the planet, blotting out the Sun.
Mars 2020 landing site could be a fossil hotspot
Posted in Science on 13th Nov, 2019
by Alex Muller
“We know from Earth that this mineral phase is exceptional at preserving microfossils and other biosignatures, so that makes these outcrops exciting targets for the rover to explore.”
NASA tests Mars 2020 rover descent stage separation
Posted in Hardware, Science on 7th Oct, 2019
by Alex Muller
NASA engineers have completed a successful separation test of the Mars 2020 rover and its descent stage that will deliver it to the surface of the Red Planet.