Name: Solar Orbiter, or “Solo’ as the mission control team fondly call it, is one of the European Space Agency’s pluckiest missions and is now cruising toward the sun. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-esa-solar-orbiter-ducks-sun.html…
Tag: orbiter
Mars atmosphere shedding charged particles onto Phobos?
New research suggests that particles escaping from Mars’ atmosphere have been accumulating on the surface of the planet’s largest moon Phobos for billions of years. They could provide important new details about the history of both worlds. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-atmosphere-history-phobos-soil…
Chinese spacecraft nearing Mars, world’s 2nd in 2 days
A Chinese spacecraft appears poised to enter orbit around Mars, one day after an orbiter from the United Arab Emirates did so and about a week ahead of an American attempt to put down another spacecraft on the surface of the red planet. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-chinese-spacecraft-nearing-mars-world.html…
UAE’s Hope mission to Mars arrives today: How to watch
The Emirates Mars Mission “Hope” is a United Arab Emirates Space Agency uncrewed mission to Mars. It’s slated to enter Mars orbit on February 9, 2021. It’ll be followed on February 10 by China’s Tianwen-1 mission and, on February 18, by NASA’s Perseverance mission. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/missions-to-mars-uae-hope-china-tianwen-1…
Get ready for Perseverance’s landing on Mars February 18
Some call attempts to land on Mars “7 minutes of terror.” The Perseverance mission will provide the most detailed video and photos of a landing yet. We’ll watch ourselves land on another planet, for the first time ever. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/get-ready-nasa-perseverance-landing-feb2021…
Tomorrow is New Year’s Day on Mars
Mars Year 36 begins on February 7, 2021. If you’re looking for a reason to celebrate, here’s to a Happy New Year … on Mars. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/mars-calendar-years-began-in-earth-year-1955…
Chinese Probe Sends Back Its First Picture of Mars
Launched in July, China’s probe “Tianwen-1” is now approaching an orbit around Mars — and it’s sent back its first picture. Slashdot reader AmiMoJo spotted this report in the Guardian: The photo released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows geological features including the Schiaparelli crater and the Valles Marineris, a vast stretch of canyons on the Martian surface. The…
The United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter is about to arrive at Mars
The Hope spacecraft will enter orbit around Mars on 9 February, which will require a tricky manoeuvre on auto-pilot to get into position for observing the planet’s atmosphere Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2266796-the-united-arab-emirates-hope-orbiter-is-about-to-arrive-at-mars/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
ExoMars orbiter’s 20,000th image
The CaSSIS camera onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has captured its 20,000th image of Mars. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-exomars-orbiter-20000th-image.html…
Unique solar system views from NASA sun-studying missions
Though they focus on the star at the center of our solar system, three of NASA’s Sun-watching spacecraft have captured unique views of the planets throughout the last several months. Using instruments that look not at the Sun itself, but at the constant outflow of solar material from the Sun, the missions—ESA and NASA’s Solar Orbiter, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, and…