Category: perseverance

The first readings from the SuperCam instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover have arrived on Earth. SuperCam was developed jointly by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico and a consortium of French research laboratories under the auspices of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The instrument delivered data to the French Space Agency’s… Continue reading Perseverance Rover’s SuperCam Science Instrument Delivers First Results

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover performed its first drive on Mars March 4, covering 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) across the Martian landscape. The drive served as a mobility test that marks just one of many milestones as team members check out and calibrate every system, subsystem, and instrument on Perseverance. Once the rover begins pursuing… Continue reading NASA’s Perseverance Drives on Mars’ Terrain for First Time

Since NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover touched down at Jezero Crater Feb. 18, mission controllers have made substantial progress as they prepare the rover for the unpaved road ahead. Mission team members from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will discuss mission “firsts” achieved so far and those to come in a media teleconference… Continue reading Media Telecon Materials – March 5, 2021

NASA has awarded the Mars Ascent Propulsion System (MAPS) contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Elkton, Maryland, to provide propulsion support and products for spaceflight missions at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Coupled with the successful touchdown of the Mars Perseverance rover, this award moves NASA and ESA (European Space… Continue reading NASA Awards Mars Ascent Propulsion System Contract for Sample Return

Since NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover touched down at Jezero Crater Feb. 18, mission controllers have made substantial progress as they prepare the rover for the unpaved road ahead. Mission team members from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will discuss mission “firsts” achieved so far and those to come in a media teleconference at 3:30… Continue reading NASA to Provide Update on Perseverance ‘Firsts’ Since Mars Landing

March 20, 2013 How can you communicate with Mars spacecraft when the Sun is in the way? Learn more about ‘solar conjunction’ in this 60-second video. TRANSCRIPT About every two years, Earth and Mars wind up on opposite sides of the sun. Thatʼs called “solar conjunction.” It’s like being on either side of a huge… Continue reading Mars in a Minute: What Happens When the Sun Blocks our Signal?

July 09, 2013 A team of scientists and engineers gives proposals for NASA’s 2020 Mars rover mission.

August 20, 2015 2015 marks 50 years of successful NASA missions to Mars starting with Mariner 4 in 1965. Since then, a total of 15 robotic missions led by various NASA centers have laid the groundwork for future human missions to the Red Planet. The journey to Mars continues with additional robotic missions planned for… Continue reading 50 Years of Mars Exploration

November 29, 2016 This artist’s concept video shows NASA’s Mars 2020 rover raising its head (its mast) and reaching out its robotic arm.

November 14, 2017 The first flight of an advanced supersonic parachute system for Mars 2020-NASA’s next Mars rover. The test took place on Oct. 4, 2017, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. At the moment of full inflation, the parachute is going 1.8 times the speed of sound or nearly 1,300 miles an hour, and… Continue reading NASA’s Mars 2020 Supersonic Parachute: Test Flight #1