NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Talks with Media Post-Mission

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Talks with Media Post-Mission

NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission, answered questions about their recent mission aboard the International Space Station during a post-splashdown news conference on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. They returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance on Friday, May 6, off the coast of Florida after a 177-day space mission. During their science expedition aboard the International Space Station, the Crew-3 astronauts conducted experiments, including a study on concrete hardening in microgravity, research on cotton varieties that could help develop drought-resistant plants, and executed a space archaeology study that could provide information that contributes to the design of future space habitats. 

NASA Astronaut Kayla Barron Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kayla-barron/biography

NASA Astronaut Raja Chari Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-raja-chari/

NASA Astronaut Tom Marshburn Offical NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/thomas-h-marshburn/biography

ESA Astronaut Matthias Maurer Official Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Matthias_Maurer

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA Video

Duration: 25 minutes

Release Date: May 11, 2022

#NASA #ESA #ISS #SpaceX #Endurance #Crew3 #Spacecraft #Earth #Astronauts #KaylaBarron #RajaChari #TomMarshburn #MattheusMaurer #Germany #Deutschland #FlightEngineers #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Research #Europe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SWOT: NASA-CNES Satellite to Survey the World's Water—Mission Overview

SWOT: NASA-CNES Satellite to Survey the World's Water—Mission Overview

NASA and CNES (French Space Agency) are collaborating to make the first global survey of Earth's surface fresh water and study fine-scale ocean currents with a new mission called SWOT, or Surface Water and Ocean Topography. SWOT will collect data on the height of Earth’s salt and fresh water—including oceans, lakes, and rivers—enabling researchers to track the location of water over time, which will help measure the effects of climate change.

 SWOT is expected to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California in November 2022.

SWOT is a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatial (CNES), with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and United Kingdom Space Agency (UK Space Agency). 

To learn more about the mission, visit: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/

Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/Thales Alenia Space

Duration: 2 minutes, 38 seconds

Release Date: May 11, 2022

#NASA #CNES #Space #Earth #Planet #Satellite #EarthObservation #Oceans #Rivers #SaltWater #FreshWater #SWOT #Topography #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #International #CSA #UKSpaceAgency #Canada #UK #France #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Earth from Orbit: First Imagery from New GOES-18 Weather Satellite | NOAA

Earth from Orbit: First Imagery from New GOES-18 Weather Satellite | NOAA

On May 11, 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shared the first images of the Western Hemisphere from its new GOES-18 satellite. The satellite’s Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument recently captured stunning views of Earth.

GOES-18, NOAA’s newest geostationary satellite, launched on March 1, 2022. The ABI views Earth with sixteen different channels, each measuring energy at different wavelengths along the electromagnetic spectrum to obtain information about Earth’s atmosphere, land, and ocean.

GOES-18 orbits 22,236 miles above the equator at the same speed the Earth rotates. This allows the satellite to constantly view the same area of the planet and track weather conditions and hazards as they happen. 

The ABI provides high-resolution imagery and atmospheric measurements for short-term forecasts and severe weather warnings. ABI data is also used for detecting and monitoring environmental hazards such as wildfires, dust storms, volcanic eruptions, turbulence, and fog.

Data from multiple ABI channels can be combined to create imagery that approximates what the human eye would see from space—a result known as GeoColor. Combining data from different channels in different ways also allows meteorologists to highlight features of interest.

Recently, GOES-18 observed a number of weather events, environmental phenomena, and striking views of our planet. Storms across east Texas produced large hail, strong wind gusts, and tornadoes. Farther west in New Mexico, strong winds resulted in large areas of blowing dust and expansion of large wildfires. Fog blanketed parts of Chile in South America, and clouds and some thunderstorms formed along sea breezes in the Yucatan and south Florida. 

GOES-18 is currently undergoing post-launch testing, validation and calibration of its instruments and systems to prepare it for operations. The ABI cooling system is performing well, with no signs of the issue that affects its sister satellite, GOES-17. The ABI was redesigned for GOES-18 to reduce the likelihood of future cooling system anomalies. The new design uses a simpler hardware configuration that eliminates the filters that are susceptible to debris. 

GOES-18 will assist GOES-17 with GOES West operations in late summer 2022 and again in early fall. NOAA plans for GOES-18 to replace GOES-17 as GOES West in early 2023. Imagery from GOES-18 during the post-launch testing phase should be considered preliminary and non-operational.

Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: May 11, 2022

#NASA #NOAA #Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #Geostationary #Weather #Meteorology #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GOES #GOEST #GOES18 #ABI #Geocolor #Goddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Pacific #Ocean #Mexico #CentralAmerica #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Undocking | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Undocking | International Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship carrying four Crew 3 astronauts back to Earth is pictured from a window on the International Space Station following its undocking from the Harmony module's forward port. Crew 3 Commander Raja Chari led Pilot Tom Marshburn and Mission Specialists Kayla Barron and Matthias Maurer inside Endurance as they reentered Earth's atmosphere and parachuted to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, United States, the following day.

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: May 5, 2022 

#NASA #ESA #ISS #SpaceX #Endurance #Crew3 #Spacecraft #Earth #Astronauts #KaylaBarron #RajaChari #TomMarshburn #MattheusMaurer #Germany #Deutschland #FlightEngineers #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Research #Europe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Experience Boeing Starliner's Rocket Rollout | NASA Kennedy

Experience Boeing Starliner's Rocket Rollout | NASA Kennedy

Experience rollout from the Starliner spacecraft's perspective with this time lapse video of Starliner making the journey from our Commercial Crew & Cargo Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to United Launch Alliance's Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Starliner was secured atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for Boeing’s second Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2) to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP).

Stay tuned for all dynamic phases of Starliner's Orbital Flight Test-2, beginning with launch on May 19. 

For more info on OFT-2 and Starliner, visit: boeing.com/starliner

Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft have been developed and tested to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station from U.S. soil.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

Credit: Boeing

Duration: 9 minutes, 18 seconds

Release Date: May 10, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Boeing #Spacecraft #Starliner #CST100 #ULA #Rocket #Atlas5 #CommercialCrew #CCP #Test #OFT2 #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #CapeCanaveral #SpaceForce #Spaceport #Florida #LaunchAmerica #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

Samantha & Jessica Talk with AP & ABC News | International Space Station

Samantha & Jessica Talk with AP & ABC News | International Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti discussed living and working in space during an in-flight interview May 10, 2022, with the Associated Press (AP) and ABC News. Watkins and Cristoforetti are in the midst of a six-month long mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program. 

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Samantha Cristoforetti's Biography (ESA)

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Samantha_Cristoforetti

Jessica Watkins' Biography (NASA)

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jessica-watkins/biography

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 19 minutes

Release Date: May 10, 2022

#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Artemis #Moon #Mars #JourneyToMars #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #FlightEngineers #JessicaWatkins #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #UnitedStates #Europe #AssociatedPress #ABCNews #STEM #Education #HD #Video

European Space Agency Astronaut Matthias Maurer Returns to Germany

European Space Agency Astronaut Matthias Maurer Returns to Germany

European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer is back in Cologne, Germany, after 177 days in space and 175 days aboard the International Space Station for his first mission ‘Cosmic Kiss’.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying Matthias and his Crew-3 crewmates, NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, USA on Friday, May 6, 2022. The journey from the International Space Station to splashdown took just over 23 hours.

After its water landing, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft was hoisted aboard a recovery boat where the hatch was opened, and the astronauts were welcomed home.

Matthias underwent initial medical checks aboard the boat before being flown by helicopter to shore and boarding a plane to Cologne. He will spend the next weeks participating in debriefings, providing samples for scientific evaluation and readapting to Earth’s gravity at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre (EAC) and the German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) ‘Envihab’ facility.

Learn more about Matthias' Cosmic Kiss Mission:

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Cosmic_kiss   

Astronaut Matthia Maurer Offical ESA Biography:

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Matthias_Maurer

Credit: ESA - P. Sebirot

Image Date: May 7, 2022

#NASA #ESA #ISS #SpaceX #Endurance #Crew3 #Spacecraft #Earth #Florida #GulfofMexico #Astronaut #MattheusMaurer #DLR #Germany #Deutschland #CosmicKiss #FlightEngineer #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Research #Europe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Hubble's Field Guide to Galaxies | NASA Goddard

Hubble's Field Guide to Galaxies | NASA Goddard

Galaxies are the visible foundation of the universe; each one a collection of stars, planets, gas, dust, and dark matter held together by gravity. Hubble’s observations give us insight into how galaxies form, grow, and evolve through time. 

Hubble’s namesake, astronomer Edwin Hubble, pioneered the study of galaxies based simply on their appearance. He divided galaxies into three basic forms.

This “Field Guide” will quickly teach you those three basic forms, and some new ones that astronomers have added over the years!

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble. 

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Miranda Chabot: Lead Producer

Andrea Gianopoulos: Lead Writer

Additional Credits:

Images of Edwin Hubble via Edwin P. Hubble Papers of the Huntington Library, San Mario, California.

Music Credits: 

“Gravity Cruise - Underscore” by Jon Buster Cottam [PRS], and Samuel William John Walker [PRS] via Ninja Tune Production Music, and Universal Production Music

Duration: 3 minutes, 52 seconds

Release Date: May 9, 2022

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #EdwinHubble #Science #Stars #Galaxies #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Europe #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkin's View of Earth | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkin's View of Earth | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins floats in the International Space Station’s cupola, a direct nadir viewing window from which Earth and celestial objects are visible.

Watkins reported for duty in August 2017 and completed two years of training as an astronaut candidate.  Her astronaut candidate training included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in space station's systems, spacewalks, robotics, physiological training, T-38 flight training, water and wilderness survival training, geology training, and expeditionary skills training.

Watkins also served as an aquanaut crew member in the Aquarius underwater habitat for the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, 23 mission in 2019.

Watkins is currently serving as a mission specialist on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station, which launched on April 27, 2022.

Jessica Watkins Official NASA Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jessica-watkins/biography/

Image Credit: NASA

Release Date: May 9, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #Cupola #Astronaut #JessicaWatkins #Geologist #Geology #Human #Spaceflight #AfricanAmerican #Woman #Leader #Pioneer #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #STEM #Education

NASA's Psyche Asteroid Mission Spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center

 NASA's Psyche Asteroid Mission Spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center

Mission Launch Expected: August 2022

Since its arrival on April 29, 2022, on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III large military transport aircraft, the Psyche spacecraft has moved into the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where technicians removed it from its protective shipping container, rotated it to vertical, and have begun the final steps to prepare the spacecraft for launch. In the coming months, crews will perform a range of work including re-installing its solar arrays, re-integrating a radio, testing the telecommunications system, loading propellants, and encapsulating the spacecraft inside payload fairings before it leaves the facility and moves to the launch pad.

The Psyche spacecraft will explore a metal-rich asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, made largely of nickel-iron metal. The mission is targeting an Aug. 1, 2022 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. After arriving in 2026, the spacecraft will spend 21 months orbiting its namesake asteroid, mapping and gathering data, potentially providing insights on how planets with a metal core, including Earth, formed. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. 

The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University (ASU). NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission go to: 

nasa.gov/psyche and psyche.asu.edu

Image Credit: NASA/Isaac Watson/Kim Shiflett

Image Dates: April 29-May 3, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Asteroid #Science #Psyche #Spacecraft #Solar #Arrays #MaxarTechnologies #ElectricPropulsion #Maxar #Technology #Earth #Planets #Geology #SolarSystem #Exploration #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #Arizona #ASU #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Comparison: New James Webb Space Telescope vs. Spitzer Space Telescope

Comparison: New James Webb Space Telescope vs. Spitzer Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope is aligned across all four of its science instruments, as seen in a previous engineering image showing the observatory’s full field of view. Now, we take a closer look at that same image, focusing on Webb’s coldest instrument: the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI.

The MIRI test image (at 7.7 microns) shows part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way provided a dense star field to test Webb’s performance.

Here, a close-up of the MIRI image is compared to a past image of the same target taken with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope’s Infrared Array Camera (at 8.0 microns). The retired Spitzer was the first observatory to provide high-resolution images of the near- and mid-infrared Universe. The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 and science operations ended in 2020. Webb, by virtue of its significantly larger primary mirror and improved detectors, will allow us to see the infrared sky with improved clarity, enabling even more discoveries. 

For example, Webb’s MIRI image shows the interstellar gas in unprecedented detail. Here, you can see the emission from ‘polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons’—molecules of carbon and hydrogen that play an important role in the thermal balance and chemistry of interstellar gas. When Webb is ready to begin science observations, studies such as these with MIRI will help give astronomers new insights into the birth of stars and protoplanetary systems.

In the meantime, the Webb team has begun the process of setting up and testing Webb’s instruments to begin science observations this summer. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now experiencing all seasons—from hot to cold—as it undergoes the thermal stability test. Meanwhile, activities are underway for the final phase of commissioning: digging into the details of the science instruments, the heart of Webb. To complete commissioning, we will measure the detailed performance of the science instruments before we start routine science operations in the summer.

Webb is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). MIRI is part of Europe’s contribution to the Webb mission. It is a partnership between Europe and the USA; the main partners are ESA, a consortium of nationally funded European institutes, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech and NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

Release Date: May 9, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Telescope #JWST #JamesWebb #Spitzer #Infrared #LMS #MagellanicCloud #Galaxy #Galaxies #Stars #Exoplanets #Planets #SolarSystem #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #ESA #CSA #Goddard #GSFC #JSC #Testing #UnitedStates #STScI #STEM #Education

A Supernova Remnant | Hubble

A Supernova Remnant | Hubble

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the tattered remnant of a supernova—a titanic explosion marking the end of the life of a dying star. This object—known as DEM L249—is thought to have been created by a Type 1a supernova during the death throes of a white dwarf. While white dwarfs are usually stable, they can slowly accrue matter if they are part of a binary star system. This accretion of matter continues until the white dwarf reaches a critical mass and undergoes a catastrophic supernova explosion, ejecting a vast amount of material into space in the process.

DEM L249 lies in the constellation Mensa and is within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way only 160,000 light-years from Earth. The LMC is an ideal natural laboratory where astronomers can study the births, lives, and deaths of stars, as this region is nearby, oriented towards Earth, and contains relatively little light-absorbing interstellar dust. The data in this image were gathered by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 instrument, and were obtained during a systematic search of the LMC for the surviving companions of white dwarf stars which have gone supernova.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, Y. Chu

Release Date: May 9, 2022

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #WhiteDwarf #DEML249 #Supernova #Mensa #Constellation #LMC #MagellanicCloud #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Europe #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Happy Mother's Day from NASA and Friends of NASA!

Happy Mother's Day from NASA and Friends of NASA!

Friends of NASA (FoN) is an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to building international support for peaceful space exploration, commerce, scientific discovery, and STEM education.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/FriendsOfNASA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FriendsOfNASA

LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/110506

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FriendsOfNASA

#NASA #MothersDay #HappyMothersDay #Space #Astronomy #Science #Technology #Education #STEM #STEAM #Education

Galactic Ballet by NGC 1512 & NGC 1510 | NOIRLab

Galactic Ballet by NGC 1512 & NGC 1510 | NOIRLab

The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510 take center stage in this image from the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, a state-of-the-art wide-field imager on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. NGC 1512 has been in the process of merging with its smaller galactic neighbor for 400 million years, and this drawn-out interaction has ignited waves of star formation.

Credit:

Images and Videos: Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA S. Brunier/Digitized Sky Survey 2, E. Slawik.

Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Music: Stellardrone - A Moment of Stillness

Release Date: May 3, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #NGC1512 #NGC1510 #Galaxies #Interacting #Stars #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Optical #Observatory #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #CerroTololo #Chile #SouthAmerica #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams: Spacewalks—Sensory Overload

NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams: Spacewalks—Sensory Overload

In episode two of Down to Earth: Conversations, veteran astronaut Sunita Williams and environmental studies student Adrien Prouty explore what it is like to conduct a spacewalk on the International Space Station.

Expedition 14/15 (December 9, 2006 to June 22, 2007):

Sunita performed four spacewalks on the International Space Station totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes.

Expedition 32/33 (July 14 to November 18, 2012):

Sunita conducted three spacewalks to replace a component that relays power from the International Space Station's solar arrays to its systems, and to repair an ammonia leak on a station radiator.

NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/sunita-l-williams/biography

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/williams-s.pdf

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 5 minutes, 40 seconds

Release Date: May 6, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Astronaut #Astronauts #SunitaWilliams #EVA #Spacewalks #Pilot #Helicopter #USNavy #DownToEarth #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #Boeing #Starliner #HumanSpaceflight #AdrienProuty #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Mars Rovers: New Perseverance & Curiosity Images | JPL

NASA Mars Rovers: New Perseverance & Curiosity Images | JPL

Image 1

Mars Perseverance rover’s Mastcam-Z camera system captured Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons, eclipsing the Sun on April 2, 2022.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

Image 2

Mars2020 - Sol 425 - Mastcam-Z

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

Image 3

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Right Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast.

This image was acquired on April 29, 2022 (Sol 423) at the local mean solar time of 12:29:02.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Image 4

MSL - Sol 3461 - MAHLI

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Image 5

Curiosity mastcam R sol 3460 demosaicing

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS - Processing: Elisabetta Bonora & Marco Faccin / aliveuniverse.today

Image 6

Mars2020 - Sol 425 - Mastcam-Z

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

Perseverance May 4, 2022 Update: One of the prime objectives of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover mission is to collect a diverse cache of rock samples for eventual return to Earth. Among the highest priority rocks to sample are those that make up the well-preserved delta located on the western side of Jezero crater. This delta was one of the key attributes that made this landing site so appealing in our search for ancient Martian life. Close examination of deltaic rocks is critical for interpreting their depositional environment and establishing whether this paleoenvironment may have been habitable.

Since landing in Jezero crater last year, the rover has been investigating and drilling crater floor rocks to add to the sample cache. However, the rover has not yet had access to coveted deltaic rocks—until now, that is. After conducting a “rapid traverse” toward the delta, Perseverance finally arrived at the delta front. Last week the rover parked at a site called Enchanted Lake, where the team was hopeful we might sample deltaic rocks for the very first time. 

Unfortunately, the rover can only collect a finite number of samples so the team has to carefully weigh all options, keeping in mind what has already been sampled and also trying to anticipate what we might encounter along the rest of the traverse. Although we are eager to drill into the delta, we have to be judicious.

Therefore, our first action item at Enchanted Lake was to examine the rocks there using the rover’s remote science instruments in order to decide whether they fit the desired criteria for sampling. The rocks at this site displayed many distinct—and interesting—characteristics compared to the others we have studied thus far in Jezero. Yet, after a thorough assessment, the team decided to forego sampling at this location. It was a difficult decision to make, but we feel optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead. The data collected at Enchanted Lake will be used instead to build context for future investigations of the delta.

The rover is now headed east toward a location called Hawksbill Gap, another promising location for sampling the delta. While traversing along the delta front, Perseverance will continue to collect data to help characterize the contact between the crater floor and deltaic rocks before ascending onto the delta itself. What about our long-awaited sample of delta rocks? For that, we will have to wait a bit longer.

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: November 6, 2011

Landing: August 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit mars.nasa.gov

Caption Credit: Mariah Baker, Planetary Scientist at Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill/Elisabetta Bonora & Marco Faccin

Image Release Dates: April 2-May 2, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #Jezero #Crater #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Perseverance #Curiosity #Rovers #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #STEM #Education