Mars News and Discussions

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caltrek
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New NASA Nuclear Rocket Plan Aims to Get to Mars in Just 45 Days
by Matt Williams
January 23, 2023

Introduction:
(Science Alert) We live in an era of renewed space exploration, where multiple agencies are planning to send astronauts to the Moon in the coming years. This will be followed in the next decade with crewed missions to Mars by NASA and China, who may be joined by other nations before long.

These and other missions that will take astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the Earth-Moon system require new technologies, ranging from life support and radiation shielding to power and propulsion.

And when it comes to the latter, Nuclear Thermal and Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP) is a top contender!

NASA and the Soviet space program spent decades researching nuclear propulsion during the Space Race.

A few years ago, NASA reignited its nuclear program for the purpose of developing bimodal nuclear propulsion – a two-part system consisting of an NTP and NEP element – that could enable transits to Mars in 100 days.
Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/new-nasa- ... t-45-days

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Finding a huge amount of water on Mars surprised scientists
February 1, 2023

Α groυp of scieпtists υsiпg the Eυropeaп Space Αgeпcy’s ExoMars Orbiter ideпtified a sigпificaпt deposit of water immediately beпeath the Valles Mariпeris Martiaп caпyoп system, which is teп times loпger aпd five times deeper thaп oυr owп Graпd Caпyoп.

The scieпtists discovered geпυiпe water ice aroυпd three feet below the caпyoп’s sυrface after aпalyziпg data from the Trace Gas Orbiter’s (TGO) Fiпe Resolυtioп Epithermal Neυtroп Detector (FREND).

The preseпce of water oп Mars coυld iпdicate the preseпce of microbial alieп life, as well as the possibility of more complex life forms – especially if Mars has the vast expaпses of water that Earth does.

“With TGO we caп look dowп to oпe meter below this dυsty layer aпd see what’s really goiпg oп below Mars’ sυrface,” lead aυthor Igor Mitrofaпov of the Rυssiaп Αcademy of Scieпces said iп a statemeпt.

“FREND revealed aп area with aп υпυsυally large amoυпt of hydrogeп iп the colossal Valles Mariпeris caпyoп system: assυmiпg the hydrogeп we see is boυпd iпto water molecυles, as mυch as 40 perceпt of the пear-sυrface material iп this regioп appears to be water,” he added.
https://fancy4sport.com/finding-a-huge- ... sts-cusan/
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Time_Traveller wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 3:23 pm Finding a huge amount of water on Mars surprised scientists
February 1, 2023

Α groυp of scieпtists υsiпg the Eυropeaп Space Αgeпcy’s ExoMars Orbiter ideпtified a sigпificaпt deposit of water immediately beпeath the Valles Mariпeris Martiaп caпyoп system, which is teп times loпger aпd five times deeper thaп oυr owп Graпd Caпyoп.

The scieпtists discovered geпυiпe water ice aroυпd three feet below the caпyoп’s sυrface after aпalyziпg data from the Trace Gas Orbiter’s (TGO) Fiпe Resolυtioп Epithermal Neυtroп Detector (FREND).

The preseпce of water oп Mars coυld iпdicate the preseпce of microbial alieп life, as well as the possibility of more complex life forms – especially if Mars has the vast expaпses of water that Earth does.

“With TGO we caп look dowп to oпe meter below this dυsty layer aпd see what’s really goiпg oп below Mars’ sυrface,” lead aυthor Igor Mitrofaпov of the Rυssiaп Αcademy of Scieпces said iп a statemeпt.

“FREND revealed aп area with aп υпυsυally large amoυпt of hydrogeп iп the colossal Valles Mariпeris caпyoп system: assυmiпg the hydrogeп we see is boυпd iпto water molecυles, as mυch as 40 perceпt of the пear-sυrface material iп this regioп appears to be water,” he added.
https://fancy4sport.com/finding-a-huge- ... sts-cusan/
Discovery of the year? At least in astronomy.
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New interactive mosaic uses NASA imagery to show Mars in vivid detail
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-interacti ... -mars.html
by Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Both scientists and the public can navigate a new global image of the Red Planet that was made at Caltech using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Cliffsides, impact craters, and dust devil tracks are captured in mesmerizing detail in a new mosaic of the Red Planet composed of 110,000 images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Taken by the veteran spacecraft's black-and-white Context Camera, or CTX, the images cover nearly 270 square feet (25 square meters) of surface per pixel.

That makes the Global CTX Mosaic of Mars the highest-resolution global image of the Red Planet ever created. If it were printed out, this 5.7 trillion pixel (or 5.7 terapixel) mosaic would be large enough to cover the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.

The product of Caltech's Bruce Murray Laboratory for Planetary Visualization, the mosaic took six years and tens of thousands of hours to develop. It is so detailed that more than 120 peer-reviewed science papers have already cited a beta version. But the mosaic is also easy enough for anyone to use.

"I wanted something that would be accessible to everyone," said Jay Dickson, the image processing scientist who led the project and manages the Murray Lab. "Schoolchildren can use this now. My mother, who just turned 78, can use this now. The goal is to lower the barriers for people who are interested in exploring Mars."

CTX is among three cameras aboard MRO, which is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. One of those cameras, the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), provides color images of surface features as small as a dining room table. In contrast, CTX provides a broader view of terrain around those features, helping scientists understand how they're related. Its ability to capture larger expanses of the landscape has made CTX especially useful for spotting impact craters on the surface. A third camera, the Mars Color Imager (MARCI), led by the same team that operates CTX, produces a daily global map of Mars weather at much lower spatial resolution.
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NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter completes 50th flight
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-nasa-inge ... -50th.html

by Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The history-making rotorcraft has recently been negotiating some of the most hazardous terrain it's encountered on the Red Planet.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has completed its 50th flight on Mars. The first aircraft on another world reached the half-century mark on April 13, traveling over 1,057.09 feet (322.2 meters) in 145.7 seconds. The helicopter also achieved a new altitude record of 59 feet (18 meters) before alighting near the half-mile-wide (800-meter-wide) "Belva Crater."

With Flight 50 in the mission logbook, the helicopter team plans to perform another repositioning flight before exploring the "Fall River Pass" region of Jezero Crater.

"Just as the Wright brothers continued their experiments well after that momentous day at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the Ingenuity team continues to pursue and learn from the flight operations of the first aircraft on another world," said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Ingenuity landed on the Red Planet in February 2021 attached to the belly of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover and will soon mark the two-year anniversary of its first flight, which took place on April 19, 2021. Designed as a technology demonstration that would fly no more than five times, the helicopter was intended to prove powered, controlled flight on another planet was possible. But Ingenuity exceeded expectations and transitioned into being an operations demonstration.
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NASA Unveils Interior of Simulation Mars Habitat for Future Missions
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NASA opened its doors to the media for a deeper look at its Mars test environment, where four volunteers will spend a year farming and conducting experiments as if they lived on the Red Planet.
As NASA promised in March, we have far more information about the space at the heart of the agency's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA), which aims to study how humans might someday live on Mars.

This summer, four volunteers will move into NASA’s Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed structure and massive sandbox comprising a simulative Mars habitat. The volunteers will live around the clock in Mars Dune Alpha for one year at a time, conducting farming, geology, and even medical experiments to help NASA determine the viability of long-term life on Mars. Even though the habitat is here on Earth, the volunteers will be prevented from contacting their “real world” friends and family for the duration of the test.
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/n ... e-missions

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NASA Selects 10 Scientists for International Mission to Martian Moons
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9384/nasa-se ... ian-moons/
JPL’s Abigail Fraeman will help study the composition of Phobos and Deimos using instruments on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s spacecraft.

NASA has selected 10 researchers from institutions across the U.S. to join the Science Working Team of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission as NASA-supported participating scientists.

JAXA’s MMX mission, planned to launch in 2024, will visit the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, land on the surface of Phobos, and collect a surface sample. Plans are for the sample to be delivered to Earth in 2029.

Seven of the selected scientists will conduct research using the MMX flight instruments. They are:
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