The Moon is seen alongside planet Mars on September 5, 2020 in Cali, Colombia. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO … [+] / AFP) (Photo by LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Each Monday, I pick out North America’s celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also apply to mid-northern latitudes in the northern […]
NASA has announced two potential plans for retrieving rocks from Mars that may contain evidence of alien life. Since 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been busy collecting rocks and sediments in an ancient Martian lakebed. However, NASA isn’t sure how to get these samples back to Earth for analysis. The original Mars Sample Return Program […]
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Anyone hoping for a clear path forward this year for NASA’s imperiled Mars Sample Return mission will have to wait a little longer. The agency has settled on two potential strategies for the first effort to bring rock and soil from another planet back to Earth for study, NASA Administrator Bill […]
To a large extent, NASA resisted this change during the remainder of the Trump administration, keeping its core group of major contractors, such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in place. It had help from key US Senators, including Richard Shelby, the now-retired Republican from Alabama. But this time, the push for change is likely to […]
Although SpaceX founder Elon Musk is known for outspokenness and controversial comments on his social media site X, he has been relatively restrained when it comes to US space policy in recent years. For example, he has rarely criticized NASA or its overall goal to return humans to the moon through the Artemis program. Rather, […]
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST, Tuesday, Jan. 7, to provide an update on the status of the agency’s Mars Sample Return Program. The briefing will include NASA’s efforts to complete its goals of returning scientifically selected samples from Mars […]
Mars has fascinated humanity for centuries, with its earliest recorded observations dating back to the Bronze Age. By the 17th century, astronomers were able to identify features of the Martian surface, such as its ice caps and darker regions. Since the 1960s, exploration of the Red Planet has intensified with robotic missions from various space […]
January 3 Quadrantids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak January 10 Planet Parade Begins January 13 Full Wolf Moon January 16 Mars at Opposition A new year means it’s time for a new cosmic calendar! While the lack of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere can really suck out all of our energy, more darkness means opportunities to […]
Every year the robots and satellites scientists have sent to Mars make discoveries that help us learn more about the Red Planet’s past and take us a step closer to humanity’s potential future living there — and this year was no exception. Despite the death of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter and a gaping hole in one […]
If humanity ever makes it to constructing the first permanent buildings on Mars, they will likely need bricks made from Martian regolith—but the construction material may also require blood and other bodily fluids from astronauts themselves. The explorers tasked with establishing a permanent Martian base will also need to pack strategically. Space will be at […]
