Mars

The planning and construction of a new space mission is a multi-year process by both the space agency itself and a large number of other contractors working on the spacecraft’s hardware and software, to the rocket launching the interplanetary probe toward its target. Here we’ve assembled a gallery of the Mars 2020 rover and helicopter throughout …

Mars

1960s MARSNIK 1 Failure USSR • Oct. 10, 1960 • Flyby Did not reach Earth orbit. MARSNIK 2 Failure USSR • Oct. 14, 1960 • Flyby Did not reach Earth orbit. SPUTNIK 22 Failure USSR • Oct. 24, 1962 • Flyby Achieved Earth orbit only. MARS 1 Failure USSR • Nov. 1, 1962 • Flyby …

MarsQuizMe

  During the past 60 years humanity has been sending mission after mission to Mars in order to learn more about our neighbor. Now it is your turn to test your knowledge about those missions that have failed to turn up any sign of the little green Martians once popular in science fiction. This latest …

Fun & Games

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, launching in July 2020, will carry the first helicopter to the surface of Mars! This helicopter has to be super lightweight to fly on Mars. It also needs large blades that can rotate really fast so it can generate enough lift to overcome the gravity of the Red Planet and lift …

Astronomy GuideEarth

Recently discovered Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3)  is now putting on a dazzling display in the early evening for skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere and it is right at prime time, roughly 45 minutes or so after sunset, and showing off a spectacular tail to boot – as it passes through the inner solar system, weather …

HistoryIce and StoneWeek 30

JULY 19, 2009: An unknown object, most likely an asteroid a few hundred meters across, impacts Jupiter, leaving a black “scar” in Jupiter’s atmosphere that persists for the next one to two weeks; the “scar” was first noticed by amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley in New South Wales. The “scar” was reminiscent of those produced by …