MetaFilter posts tagged with NASA and mars

Get Your Ass To Mars

him — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:50:55 -0800

NASA invites you to Be A Martian Faced with the mountain of data gathered by Mars missions over the last 30 years, NASA has decided to go down the crowdsourcing route in their attempt to construct a complete map of the planet's surface, presenting it as an online game in which players earn points for counting craters and aligning map pieces. (requires Silverlight)

Please Prepare For Landing

msalt — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:33:36 -0800

1,512 high-resolution images of Mars from the viewpoint of an airplane passenger. Previous photos: 1 2 3

One Way Ticket

william_boot — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:22:52 -0800

In the next few weeks, NASA will present President Obama with options for the near-term future of human spaceflight. A manned flight to Mars is one possibility. But if we do send astronauts to Mars, do we really need to bring them home again?

Has life on Mars been confirmed?

Joe in Australia — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:41:26 -0800

A British tabloid claims that NASA will today announce the probable presence of life on Mars. Planetary and atmospheric scientists from NASA's Mars program will address a press conference at 2PM EST, apparently about concentrated methane plumes that bloom and dissipate [pdf]. There was a false alarm about a similar briefing a few months ago; is this the real deal?

Phoenix Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended

finite — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:22:12 -0800

"We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. "We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted."

Evidence of water ice on mars.

elpapacito — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:40:31 -0800

NASA Phoenix probe finds evidence of frozen water on Mars

Phoenix to land on Mars.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:13:29 -0800

Phoenix is set to land on Mars at 2353 UTC. Video coverage: NASA | CNN

How to land at the Martian north pole.

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:22:55 -0800

Seven minutes of terror. A short video on describing how the Phoenix probe will land at the North Pole of Mars on May 25th. Follow updates to the mission via Twitter and the blog. Previously

Mars in Pictures

Chinese Jet Pilot — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:03:35 -0800

The evolution of Mars imaging from orbit: Mariner 4 (1964), Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 (both 1969), Mariner 9 (1971) (all NASA), Mars 5 (1973) (USSR), Viking 1 (1975), Viking 2 (1976), Mars Global Surveyor (1996), Mars Odyssey (2001) (NASA), Mars Express (2003) (ESA), up to this spy-quality shot of an active avalanche taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005).

Spirit's Swan Song?

Chinese Jet Pilot — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:08:18 -0800

Real robot drama is happening on Mars today. Spirit, racing for her life to find shelter before winter, injured and underpowered after four years of hard labor, may have made her most significant find yet. The broken foot she's dragged behind her for the past two years unexpectedly uncovered evidence of a once-wet Mars with conditions theoretically hospitable for primitive life.

Shedding a little light on the subject.

cyclopz — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 05:04:18 -0800

Shedding a little light on the subject The HiRise camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provides a less mysterious look at pretty spooky place on the surface of Mars. Previously discussed in a May 25 post.

Race To Mars

richlach — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:35:01 -0800

"Somewhere on the planet are ten-year-olds who, someday, will be the first people to set foot on Mars" 300 scientists and space-experts contributed to what's billed as "a realistic vision of the first Human Mission to Mars" -- Race to Mars. Discovery Channel Canada used Hollywood special effects, but for added realism rather than ray-guns and aliens. On the website, you can argue about whether they got it right. www.racetomars.ca

The Phoenix rises.

backseatpilot — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:45:12 -0800

NASA's Phoenix probe launched Saturday from Cape Canaveral, destination Mars. Its mission is to investigate polar ice. This probe is unique for a couple of reasons: first, it will face a traditional parachute-and-retro-rockets landing, unlike previous endeavors. Second, it will be landing far north of any previous mission. Previous Mars missions have had mixed success, with only about half successfully making it to their destination. It is scheduled to land in May, 2008.

Black hole of Mars

mattoxic — Thu, 24 May 2007 21:39:40 -0800

Black hole mystery on Mars If a future earth ever needs a place to send convicts, the high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter may have found it a few nights back. (via crikey.com.au)

HiRISE High-Res Images From Mars - Find the filing cabinet!

carsonb — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 11:09:22 -0800

The HiRISE camera is one of eleven instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Yesterday the first few images were downloaded from the MRO.

30 years, where did they go...

Heywood Mogroot — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 09:45:51 -0800

On July 20, 1976 something really cool was accomplished.

To orbit or bust

Atreides — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:12:12 -0800

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is due to arrive today. The Orbiter, launched back last August, is set to begin its slow down for Mars orbit at 3:50 pm EST. Its mission will be to study the planet's atmosphere, surface, and underground. Courtesy of NASA, you can track its relative position to mars every ten minutes, download a podcast, and pass your time waiting with a series of informative videos. The orbiter also has the most powerful camera ever to leave Earth orbit.

Spirit photographs Phobos and Deimos

brownpau — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:33:01 -0800

Two Moons Passing in the Night. Mars rover Spirit took these sequential photos of Martian moons Phobos and Deimos passing overhead in the night sky. Those rovers are still going strong!

Free at last, free at last, thank Mars almighty, Opportunity is free at last

mk1gti — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 23:11:37 -0800

Free at last, free at last, thank Mars almighty Opportunity is free at last. After a several week long struggle, the Mars Opportunity Rover is free from the sand trap many across the world had predicted would bring it to an end.

Mars Polar Lander found?

flug — Fri, 06 May 2005 11:11:07 -0800

Mars Polar Lander found? The Mars Polar Lander was lost while attempting to land on Mars in December 1999. An initial search for the lander was fruitless. But now Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems thinks he may have found the lander's parachute and crashed remains. Meanwhile, some scientists are worried about landers and crashed vehicles contaminating Mars; others think it's not a problem. [via Slashdot]

Beam me up and away

C17H19NO3 — Mon, 02 May 2005 08:13:58 -0800

NASA is funding a research project that looks into a new and much faster way of getting astronauts to Mars.

NewsFilter - More evidence of life on mars

sourbrew — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:03:26 -0800

Life - a strong case for life on mars was presented sunday

90 Sols in 90 Seconds

fatbobsmith — Tue, 18 May 2004 12:59:07 -0800

With all this talk of wars in distant countries, it's easy to forget that there's exciting things going on just 300 million km from your back porch. NASA has provided 90 second videos of the first 90 sols of the Spirit [5MB .mov] and Opportunity rovers [5MB .mov].

Life On Mars's Meethane Traces Thought To Be Detected

y2karl — Sun, 28 Mar 2004 22:38:34 -0800

Life on Mars? Methane has been found in the Martian atmosphere which scientists say could be a sign of present-day life on Mars. It was detected by telescopes on Earth and has recently been confirmed by instruments onboard the European Space Agency's orbiting Mars Express craft. Methane lives for a short time in the Martian atmosphere so it must be being constantly replenished. There are two possible ways to do this. Either active volcanoes, but none have yet been found on Mars, or microbes. The Independent has it as Methane find on Mars may be sign of life. The second group to detect signals of methane in the Martian atmosphere is led by Michael Mumma of Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, who used powerful spectroscopic telescopes based on Earth. This team is even believed to have detected variations in the concentrations of methane, with a peak coming from the ancient Martian seabed of Meridiani Planum, which is being explored by a Nasa rover. This could indicate a subterranean source of methane which is pumping out the gas, either due to some residual geological activity or because of the presence of living organisms producing it as a waste gas. Asked whether the continual production of methane is strong evidence of a biological origin of the gas, Dr Mumma said: "I think it is, myself personally." As to how...

Martian Sea

brownpau — Tue, 23 Mar 2004 11:19:13 -0800

Old Mars and the Sea. A salty sea may once have covered the Opportunity rover's landing site on Mars, boosting the possibility that the planet may once have evolved life. (Of course, there are those who believe NASA has been conspiring to cover it all up, but the Bad Astronomer has words on that. Bunnies and faces, my foot.)