Category Archives: Mars

NASA engineers are firing micro-bullets at squares of anti-meteoroid shield material that will protect a Mars sample return orbiter during its journey back to Earth.

During the tests, which take place at NASA's remote White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico, the shield has to withstand projectile punches coming at such high speeds that if an aircraft traveled as fast, it would get from New York to San Francisco in less than 5 minutes, Dennis Garcia, a test engineer at White Sands said in a statement (opens in new tab).

These speeds, however, are still not as fast as those of meteoroids and space junk fragments that orbit in space, so the engineers have to use computer models to simulate the actual velocities, which can reach over 50 miles per second (80 kilometers per second). At such speeds, "even dust could cause damage to a spacecraft," Bruno Sarli, an engineer at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who oversees the tests, said in the statement.

Related: Mars sample return mission adds 2 helicopters, scraps 'fetch' rover

The Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory, where the tests take place, has been serving NASA since the space shuttle era, enabling engineers to develop materials that protect the International Space Station, commercial crew vehicles and space cargo freighters against impacts by debris and rock fragments in space.

The gun used to fire the space-like micro-bullets at the shield material has two stages, the first of which uses conventional gun powder to propel a projectile. The second stage gives the projectile an extra boost by pushing highly compressed hydrogen gas into a smaller tube like a car piston. The pressure in the gun, the researchers said in the statement, is so high that it would destroy the building if it were to explode.

The engineers found that, instead of relying on one thick block of metal to ward off the projectiles, the shield offers better protection when it's made of multiple thin layers, Sarli said.

The Mars Sample Return Orbiter to be built jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will bring to Earth precious samples of Martian rocks that NASA's Perseverance rover is currently collecting on the planet's surface. The operation will be the first of its kind and will for the first time allow scientists to hold in their hands rocks freshly extracted from another planet. Martian meteorites sometimes fall to Earth, but these rocks have spent millions or billions of years in space and have been altered by its harsh environment and radiation. Mars meteorites are also contaminated by Earth life when they fall on our planet, making it tough to search them for signs of Red Planet organisms.

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NASA fires micro-bullets at Mars sample-return orbiter's meteoroid ...

Mars mission to collect rock and dust samples

Mars sample return artist's concept

A Mars sample-return (MSR) mission is a proposed mission to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and return them to Earth.[1] Such a mission would allow more extensive analysis than that allowed by onboard sensors.[2]

The three most recent concepts are a NASAESA proposal, a CNSA proposal, Tianwen-3, and a Roscosmos proposal, Mars-Grunt. Although NASA and ESA's plans to return the samples to Earth are still in the design stage as of 2022, samples have been gathered on Mars by the Perseverance rover.[3]

Risks of cross-contamination of the Earth biosphere from returned Martian samples have been raised, though the risk of this occuring is considered to be extremely low.[4]

Once returned to Earth, stored samples can be studied with the most sophisticated science instruments available. Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, expect such studies to allow several new discoveries at many fields.[5] Samples may be reanalyzed in the future by instruments that do not yet exist.[6]

In 2006, the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group identified 55 important investigations related to Mars exploration. In 2008, they concluded that about half of the investigations "could be addressed to one degree or another by MSR", making MSR "the single mission that would make the most progress towards the entire list" of investigations. Moreover, it was reported that a significant fraction of the investigations could not be meaningfully advanced without returned samples.[7]

One source of Mars samples is what are thought to be Martian meteorites, which are rocks ejected from Mars that made their way to Earth. As of April 2019, 266 meteorites had been identified as Martian, out of over 61,000 known meteorites.[8] These meteorites are believed to be from Mars because their elemental and isotopic compositions are similar to rocks and atmospheric gases analyzed on Mars.[9]

For at least three decades, scientists have advocated the return of geological samples from Mars.[10] One early concept was the Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars (SCIM) proposal, which involved sending a spacecraft in a grazing pass through Mars's upper atmosphere to collect dust and air samples without landing or orbiting.[11]

The Soviet Union considered a Mars sample-return mission, Mars 5NM, in 1975 but it was cancelled due to the repeated failures of the N1 rocket that would have launched it. Another sample-return mission, Mars 5M (Mars-79), planned for 1979, was cancelled due to complexity and technical problems.[12]

The United States' Mars Exploration Program, formed after Mars Observer's failure in September 1993, supported a Mars sample return.[13] One architecture was proposed by Glenn J. MacPherson in the early 2000s.[14]

In 1996, the possibility of life on Mars was raised when apparent microfossils were thought to have been found in Mars meteorite, ALH84001. This hypothesis was eventually rejected, but led to a renewed interest in a Mars sample return.[15]

As of late 1999, the MSR mission was anticipated to be launched from Earth in 2003 and 2005.[16] Each was to deliver a rover and a Mars ascent vehicle, and a French supplied Mars orbiter with Earth return capability was to be included in 2005. Sample containers orbited by both MAVs were to reach Earth in 2008. This mission concept, considered by NASA's Mars Exploration Program to return samples by 2008,[17] was cancelled following a program review.[18]

In the summer of 2001, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) requested mission concepts and proposals from industry-led teams (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and TRW).[19] The science requirements included at least 500 grams of samples, rover mobility to obtain samples at least 1 kilometer from the landing spot, and drilling to obtain one sample from a depth of 2 meters. That following winter, JPL made similar requests of certain university aerospace engineering departments (MIT and the University of Michigan).

Also in 2001, a separate set of industry studies was done for the Mars ascent vehicle (MAV) due to the uniqueness and key role of the MAV for MSR.[20] Figure 11 in this reference summarized the need for MAV flight testing at a high altitude over Earth, based on Lockheed Martin's analysis that the risk of mission failure is "extremely high" if launch vehicle components are only tested separately.

In 2003, JPL reported that the mission concepts from 2001 had been deemed too costly, which led to the study of a more affordable plan accepted by two groups of scientists, a new MSR Science Steering Group and the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG).[21] Instead of a rover and deep drilling, a scoop on the lander would dig 20 centimeters deep and place multiple samples together into one container. After five years of technology development, the MAV would be flight-tested twice above Earth before the mission PDR (Preliminary Design Review) in 2009.

In mid-2006, the International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples (iMARS) Working Group was chartered by the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG) to outline the scientific and engineering requirements of an internationally sponsored and executed Mars sample-return mission in the 20182023 time frame.[7]

In October 2009, NASA and ESA established the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative to proceed with the ExoMars program, whose ultimate aim is "the return of samples from Mars in the 2020s".[22][23] ExoMars's first mission was planned to launch in 2018 [6][24] with unspecified missions to return samples in the 20202022 time frame.[25] The cancellation of the caching rover MAX-C in 2011, and later NASA withdrawal from ExoMars, due to budget limitations, ended the mission.[26] The pull-out was described as "traumatic" for the science community.[26]

In early 2011, the US National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey, which laid out mission planning priorities for the period 20132022, declared an MSR campaign its highest priority Flagship Mission for that period.[27] In particular, it endorsed the proposed Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C) mission in a "descoped" (less ambitious) form. This mission plan was officially cancelled in April 2011.

In September 2012, NASA announced its intention to further study several strategies of bringing a sample of Mars to Earth including a multiple launch scenario, a single-launch scenario, and a multiple-rover scenario for a mission beginning as early as 2018.[28][29] A "fetch rover" would retrieve the sample caches and deliver them to a Mars ascent vehicle (MAV). In July 2018, NASA contracted Airbus to produce a "fetch rover" concept.[30][31][32]

In April 2018, a letter of intent was signed by NASA and ESA that may provide a basis for a Mars sample-return mission.[33][34] In July 2019, a mission architecture was proposed.[35][36] In April 2020, an updated version of the mission was presented.[37]

A key mission requirement for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission was that it help prepare for MSR.[38][39][29] The rover landed on 18 February 2021 in Jezero Crater to collect samples and store them in 43 cylindrical tubes for later retrieval.

The Mars 2020 mission landed the Perseverance rover in Jezero crater in February 2021. It collected multiple samples and packed them into cylinders for later return. Jezero appears to be an ancient lakebed, suitable for ground sampling.[44][45][46]

In the beginning of August 2021, Perseverance made its first attempt to collect a ground sample by drilling out a finger-size core of Martian rock.[47] This attempt did not succeed. A drill hole was produced, as indicated by instrument readings, and documented by a photograph of the drill hole. However, the sample container turned out to be empty, indicating that the rock sampled was not robust enough to produce a solid core.[48]

A second target rock judged to have a better chance to yield a sufficiently robust sample was sampled at the end of August and the beginning of September 2021. After abrading the rock, cleaning away dust by puffs of pressurized nitrogen, and inspecting the resulting rock surface, a hole was drilled on September 1. A rock sample appeared to be in the tube, but it was not immediately placed in a container. A new procedure of inspecting the tube optically was performed.[49] On September 6, the process was completed and the first sample placed in a container.[50]

Samples Tubes Cached(44%)

The NASA-ESA plan is to return samples using three missions: a sample collection mission (Perseverance), a sample retrieval mission (Sample Retrieval Lander + Mars ascent vehicle + Sample Transfer arm + 2 Ingenuity class helicopters), and a return mission (Earth Return Orbiter).[67][68][69] The mission hopes to resolve the question of whether Mars once harbored life.

The Mars 2020 mission landed the Perseverance rover, which is storing samples to be returned to Earth later. After consideration, it was decided that given Perseverances expected longevity, it will be the primary means of transporting samples to Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL).

The sample retrieval mission involves launching a sample return lander in 2028 with the Mars Ascent Vehicle and two Ingenuity class sample recovery helicopters, both of which will be collecting the samples with a tiny robotic arm as a backup for Perseverance. The rover and helicopters will transport the samples to the SRL lander. SRL's robotic arm will be used to extract the samples and load them into the Sample Return Capsule in the Ascent Vehicle.[67] It is planned to land near the Octavia E. Butler Landing site in 2029.

MAV is a 3-meter long, two-stage, solid-fueled rocket that will deliver the collected samples from the surface of Mars to the Earth Return Orbiter. Early in 2022, Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract to partner with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in developing the MAV.[71] It is planned to be catapulted into the air just before it ignites, at a rate of 16 feet (5 meters) per second, to remove the odds of wrong liftoff like slipping or tilting of SRL under rocket's shear weight and exhaust at liftoff. This Vertically Ejected Controlled Tip-off Release (VECTOR) system adds a slight rotation during launch, pitching the rocket up and away from the surface.[72] MAV would enter a 380km orbit.[73] It will remain stowed inside a cylinder on the SRL and will have a thermal protective coating. The rocket's first stage would be run by a single updated STAR-20 engine burning for 70 seconds, while the second stage would have a single updated STAR-15 engine burning for another 27 seconds. They would be separated by a coast phase, after which the sample container would be released in orbit. As of early 2022, the second stage is planned to be spin-stabilized to save weight in lieu of active guidance, while the Mars samples will result in an unknown payload mass distribution.[73]

MAV is scheduled to be launched in 2028 onboard the SRL lander.[67]

ERO is an ESA-developed spacecraft.[74][29] It includes the NASA-built Capture and Containment and Return System to rendezvous with the samples delivered by MAV in low Mars orbit (LMO).

ERO is scheduled to launch on an Ariane 64 rocket[75] in 2027 and arrive at Mars in 2028,[67] using ion propulsion and a separate propulsion element to gradually reach the proper orbit and then rendezvous with the orbiting sample. The MAV's 2nd stage will have a radio beacon that will give controllers the information they need to get the ESA Earth Return Orbiter close enough to the Orbiting Sample to see it through reflective light and capture it for return to earth. The orbiter will retrieve and seal the canisters in orbit and use a NASA-built robotic arm to place the sealed container into an Earth-entry capsule. It will raise its orbit, release the propulsion element, and return to Earth during the 2033 Mars-to-Earth transfer window.

The Capture/Containment and Return System (CCRS) would stow the sample in the EEV. EEV would return to Earth and land passively, without a parachute. The desert sand at the Utah Test and Training Range and shock absorbing materials in the vehicle were planned to protect the samples from impact forces.[76][39][29] EEV is scheduled to land on Earth in 2033.[77]

Interior design of MAV, First Extraterrestrial Staging Rocket

Mars Sample Return 2020-2033 Timeline

cross section of the Earth return orbiter

capture and containment system

China has announced plans for a Mars sample-return mission to be called Tianwen-3.[78] The mission would launch in late 2028, with a lander and ascent vehicle on a Long March 5 and an orbiter and return module launched separately on a Long March 3B. Samples would be returned to Earth in July 2031.[79]

A previous plan would have used a large spacecraft that could carry out all mission phases, including sample collection, ascent, orbital rendezvous, and return flight. This would have required the super-heavy-lift Long March 9 launch vehicle.[80][81][82] Another plan involved using Tianwen-1 to cache the samples for retrieval.[83]

France has worked towards a sample return for many years. This included concepts of an extraterrestrial sample curation facility for returned samples, and numerous proposals. They worked on the development of a Mars sample-return orbiter, which would capture and return the samples as part of a joint mission with other countries.[84]

On 9 June 2015, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) unveiled a plan named Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) to retrieve samples from Phobos or Deimos.[85][86] Phobos's orbit is closer to Mars and its surface may have captured particles blasted from Mars.[87] The launch from Earth is planned for September 2024, with a return to Earth in 2029.[88] Japan has also shown interest in participating in an international Mars sample-return mission.

A Russian Mars sample-return mission concept is Mars-Grunt.[89][90][91][92][93] It adopted Fobos-Grunt design heritage.[90] 2011 plans envisioned a two-stage architecture with an orbiter and a lander (but no roving capability),[94] with samples gathered from around the lander by a robotic arm.[89][95]

Whether life forms exist on Mars is unresolved. Thus, MSR could potentially transfer viable organisms to Earth, resulting in back contamination the introduction of extraterrestrial organisms into Earth's biosphere. The scientific consensus is that the potential for large-scale effects, either through pathogenesis or ecological disruption, is small.[96][97][98][99][100] Returned samples would be treated as potentially biohazardous until scientists decide the samples are safe. The goal is that the probability of release of a Mars particle is less than one in a million.[97]

The proposed NASA Mars sample-return mission will not be approved by NASA until the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process has been completed.[101] Furthermore, under the terms of Article VII of the Outer Space Treaty and other legal frameworks, were a release of organisms to occur, the releasing nation(s) would be liable for any resultant damages.[102]

The sample-return mission would be tasked with preventing contact between the Martian environment and the exterior of the sample containers.[97][101]

In order to eliminate the risk of parachute failure, the current plan is to use the thermal protection system to cushion the capsule upon impact (at terminal velocity). The sample container would be designed to withstand the force of impact.[101] To receive the returned samples, NASA proposed a custom Biosafety Level 4 containment facility, the Mars Sample-Return Receiving facility (MSRRF).[103][104]

Other scientists and engineers, notably Robert Zubrin of the Mars Society, argued in the Journal of Cosmology that contamination risk is functionally zero leaving little need to worry. They cite, among other things, lack of any known incident although trillions of kilograms of material have been exchanged between Mars and Earth via meteorite impacts.[105]

The International Committee Against Mars Sample Return (ICAMSR) is an advocacy group led by Barry DiGregorio, that campaigns against a Mars sample-return mission. While ICAMSR acknowledges a low probability for biohazards, it considers the proposed containment measures to be unsafe. ICAMSR advocates more in situ studies on Mars, and preliminary biohazard testing at the International Space Station before the samples are brought to Earth.[106][107] DiGregorio accepts the conspiracy theory of a NASA coverup regarding the discovery of microbial life by the 1976 Viking landers.[108][109] DiGregorio also supports a view that several pathogens such as common viruses originate in space and probably caused some mass extinctions and pandemics.[110][111] These claims connecting terrestrial disease and extraterrestrial pathogens have been rejected by the scientific community.[110]

Orbiting sample container (concept; 2020)

Inserting sample tubes into the rover

01. Perseverance rover obtaining samples

02. Perseverance rover storing samples

03. SRL 1 landing pattern

05. Mars Samples return helicopters deployed by SRL and fetching samples as a backup

06. SRL picking up samples and loading them on MAV for launch

07. Launching from Mars to low Martian Orbit

08. MAV in powered flight after release from vector

09. MAV in coast phase in Low Mars orbit after Main engine cutoff awaiting stage separation and second engine startup

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Mars sample-return mission - Wikipedia

1. Early Life on Mars Might Have Wiped Out Life on Mars  Universe Today
2. Life on Mars Could Have Self-Destructed in a Climate Catastrophe  History of Yesterday
3. Life on Mars killed off by Martians? Shocking study says so  HT Tech
4. Ancient Mars May Have Been Filled With Underground Microbial Life  Popular Mechanics
5. A hydrogen-rich first atmosphere for Mars inferred from clays on its surface  ASU News Now
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Early Life on Mars Might Have Wiped Out Life on Mars - Universe Today

Touching safely down on Mars is a true, nail biting event. Those terror gripping, heart-stopping moments of entry, descent, and landing (EDL) after months of cruising to the Red Planet are indeed frightening affairs.

The EDL community is busy at work on fresh ideas on how to breach Mars' atmosphere, put on the speed brakes, and plop down payloads. One big and new assignment is NASA's Mars Sample Return project and the challenges that initiative faces.

In the near and far-term, Mars is on tap to be on the receiving end of a load of landed hardware, not only to support further robotic investigations, but to reinforce a human presence on that world. But getting down, dirty and securely on Mars remains a delicate balance of technical skill, mixed in with hard-earned luck.

Related: Mars rover Perseverance spots shiny silver litter on the Red Planet (photo)

"I see two big challenges," said Zachary Putnam, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Landing really big things on the surface, for more advanced robotic missions and human exploration, and landing lots of smaller, less expensive things at relatively low cost," Putnam said.

What's ahead for Mars is clear, Putnam said.

Being able to send lots of smaller payloads to the Martian surface less expensively, Putnam added, would leverage excess payload capacity on launch vehicles used to send larger payloads and take advantage of the improving abilities of small satellite technology.

"It would allow us to accept more risk, since a few failures is less of an issue if there are a lot of landers, which could help us improve all our landing technology over time," said Putnam. "Also, there's the engagement of a larger, more diverse community of scientists and engineers, such as universities."

Alike in view is Bethany Ehlmann, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology and associate director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies in Pasadena, California.

"I think what is exciting is that Mars surface access technology is gaining new interest from companies and government technology programs," Ehlmann told Space.com. "Mars landing is the tallest tent pole in translating all of the commercial space systems investment at the moon to Mars, enabling lower cost and more frequent Mars exploration."

Ehlmann said that there is need for development at both the small size and the large size payloads. "This includes developing more cost-efficient means than sky cranes to deliver small science missions. At the large size, payloads that are human-rated also require different approaches," she said.

To Ehlmann's point, six companies received seven contracts from NASA in September to build inflatable aerodynamic decelerator systems for spacecraft entry, descent and landing operations and aerocapture missions. Potential NASA and commercial mission applications will benefit from this advanced technology.

For today, it all comes back to JPL's focus for the last 20 years, said JPL's Allen Chen, Mars Sample Return (MSR) program system engineering and integration manager. "And that is to land more on Mars and land it even more precisely than before."

In front of EDL experts is a key element of the MSR undertaking; A Sample Retrieval Lander totes with it a NASA-led Mars ascent rocket and a pair of Mars helicopters.

That lander would touch down close to the then location of Perseverance in Jezero Crater, load up with Mars collectibles and then rocket those bits and pieces (and atmospheric sample) back to Earth for detailed study.

"The Sample Retrieval Lander now weighs a little over two metric tons. That's almost twice the mass of what we put down with the Perseverance rover," Chen told Space.com. "That's a huge difference in terms of what we need to get to the ground. It's so much bigger than what we've landed before," he said.

Read more: Ingenuity helicopter on Mars heads toward ancient river delta on 31st flight

The sky crane concept used for the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars landings - is not in play this go-round for the Sample Retrieval Lander. Rather, the craft is to power itself down using built-in retro rockets.

As for the precise part of the MSR mission, Chen said that there's a "doubling-down" on the use of Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN), a capability that provides a map-relative position fix that can be used to accurately target specific landing points on the surface of Mars while steering clear of hazards.

Using TRN, and adding a lot of fuel to the Sample Retrieval Lander, will allow the craft to land within 60 meters or better of a target. "We have to land an even bigger vehicle in a particular parking lot in a particular parking space," Chen said.

Additionally, an adaptive range trigger is to enable an even smarter self-decision about when the lander deploys its parachute.

And there's more. The lander's parachute itself is growing to an 80-foot (24-meter) design. "We want to beef up the parachute to be able to handle the load of a much bigger vehicle," said Chen.

The Mars Perseverance rover is already pre-scouting the landscape to help ascertain that primo parking space for a touch down. "For the first time we can see everything that's of a concern to the lander," Chen said. "We'll know exactly what's there and that's a huge advantage."

The goal is to land within a couple hundred meters of where the Perseverance rover will be, or a locale where the wheeled robot can easily drive up to deliver Mars specimens to the Sample Retrieval Lander. Care will be taken not to land directly near Perseverance, Chen said, due to concern about the ruckus created when the lander's rocket plume pitches out surface rock and sand.

"Given what we have right now, and the need to land a huge amount of mass very precisely, what you're seeing for us is a big step, but really an evolution of what we have been doing in the past. We're excited for the opportunity to show what we can do," Chen concluded.

Since the early 1990s, Rob Manning, now chief engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has been actively engaged in plotting out EDL at Mars.

As for the MSR effort ahead, "I won't say the word is risk because I don't know how to quantify the risks, but there are a lot of developmental challenges," Manning said. "I hope we don't bump into new physics."

In looking beyond MSR, Manning said there's a "kink in the curve" for EDL.

"Supersonic Retro Propulsion is a whole new game," Manning said. Supersonic retro propulsion, SRP for short, is a method to decelerate a vehicle using retrorockets in the supersonic regime.

"I think the big step function in the future is taking a stab and try SRP on Mars, and actually get that to work. I think it will work. Everyone agrees that it could work. It's just that we're all kind of chicken," said Manning.

SRP work at JPL has benefited by cooperation with SpaceX and Elon Musk, the company's chief. "They've allowed us to monitor the quality of their booster returns which fly exactly in the right domain," Manning said, noting complicated phenomenon, like the interaction of rocket plume with the supersonic wake that's being generated around the re-entering booster.

"It's so hard to get your arms around it computationally very hard to analyze," Manning said.

For the EDL community there's much work ahead in terms of new research, new know-how and hardware to showcase new capabilities.

"Especially the push by MSR, the Sample Retrieval Lander fits squarely between where we've going with the large landing system and where we are going after that, in human scale," Manning said.

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Landing on Mars: Keep straight and fly right for Martian touchdown success - Space.com

People who enjoy looking up at the night skymay besurprised to see a bright dot accompanying the moon on Friday night.

Oct. 14'swaninggibbous moon will be visible as the sun goes downaround 6 p.m.Arizona time. Abright, reddish dot ofMarswill be shining several finger widths to its lower rightaround 10 p.m.

If you are looking up at the sky you should be able tosee Mars by3.6 degreesbeneath the 73%-lit waning gibbous moon.

For folks unfamiliar or who needa quick refresher on what"waning gibbous"means, it's when the moon isbetween a Full Moon and a Half Moon. "Waning" means that the light on the moon is getting smaller. "Gibbous" refers to theobservable illuminated part of the moon.

The moon is projected to risearound 9 p.m.

How to see the moon and Mars

Using a pair of binocularswill help you get a better view of the moon and Mars.

Once the sun is rising at around 6:30 a.m. Oct. 15, the moon will be further and too far awayto see.

The red planet isbrightening as it waxes until thebiannualsuper bright opposition in early December. This means that Earth will be exactly between Mars and the Sun as we rotate around the sun faster.Thiswill be atits closest to Earth for just over two years.

Have a question you need answered? Reach the reporter at rromeroruiz@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter@raphaeldelag.

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Moon and Mars tonight: What time and how to see them in Arizona - The Arizona Republic

NASA's Perseverance rover is having a bit of trouble with its latest Red Planet sample.

Perseverance, which is exploring Jezero Crater on Mars, drilled out and collected its 14th Martian rock sample over the weekend (Oct. 8 and Oct. 9) but was unable to seal it away in its designated tube.

"The sample is stored safely inside my caching assembly, but some work remains to figure out how to cap and seal the tube," mission team members tweeted (opens in new tab) on Tuesday (Oct. 11).

Related: 12 amazing photos from the Perseverance rover's 1st year on Mars

Perseverance is collecting these Martian samples for a future return to Earth; they could arrive here as early as 2033.

If all goes to plan, Perseverance will deliver its sealed-up tubes to a NASA sample-return lander.A small rocket carried by the lander will launch the tubes into Mars orbit, where they'll be grabbed by an Earth-return spacecraft provided by NASA's partner in the sample return effort, the European Space Agency. (The lander, rocket and Earth-return spacecraft are all in development.)

Perseverance is picking up two samples from each rock it drills. The plan is to keep one set of samples on board and cache the other set in one or more "depots" on Jezero's floor. Should Perseverance have issues moving the rocks to the NASA lander, the sample return mission has a backup: two small "fetch" helicopters will bring the tubes back from the depot(s) one at a time.

Those helicopters will be based on NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which accompanied Perseverance to the Martian surface in February 2021. Ingenuity is still going strong; it has now completed 33 sorties on Mars, more than six times more than it was initially expected to perform.

The latest flight for Ingenuity also ran into the unexpected, however. During a flight in late September, a piece of debris fell away harmlessly from one of the chopper's legs mid-flight. The helicopter landed safely, and an investigation is ongoing.

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Perseverance Mars rover hits snag while grabbing 14th rock sample - Space.com

17 years ago, I went to go see System Of A Down blow the fucking roof off of Denvers Pepsi Center, now called Ball Arena. It was my first big boy concert, I went with a few friends, it was great. Opening for them was a band I had only cursorily heard of before. When they took the stage, it was just a whirlwind of noise and colors the lead singer was dancing his ass off with luxurious hair that would become #goals for me for years up to now (I cant pull it off, but I do my own thing), never missing a beat. I was absolutely enamored. It was that moment alone I can attribute to opening the doors to me becoming much more exploratory and weirder in my tastes. That band was The Mars Volta.

Its hard to put into words how much the band means to me. Even during a time where Im done with idolatry and only want to see artists for who they are people, who are inherently, unquestionably flawed its hard not to see Cedric Bixler-Zavala as the cool dude he seems to be. Omar Rodriguez-Lpez, though more private, is equally deserving of that accolade just knowing that hes a primary force behind The Mars Voltas music. Its also why it was devastating seeing them break up and fall out after 2012s Noctourniquet, an admittedly divisive album to follow the acid-trip concepts and progression of past work.

The Mars Volta, the album, is Cedric and Omar punching the reset button in unison, though not leaving behind all they built up to now. Yes, this albums different, but to say there isnt common themes or approaches is disingenuous. This is Cedric and Omar grown up, made up, and still showing a fiery purpose with their art. The first taste we got of this album, Blacklight Shine, was a short film steeped in Puerto Rican culture and life. The thumbnail emblazoned with the flag of Puerto Rico, people dancing Bomba, wearing more traditional clothing, playing traditional music thats very much ingrained in the song itself its life, for a lot of people. Its the perseverance of historical and native culture, seeing older generations bring younger into the fold to learn and, hopefully, retain what makes them them. Its beautiful, and seeing people of all related origins Dominican, Taino, Aboriginal, African in the comments of the video lighting up with appreciation is too.

Omar is Boricua, born in Puerto Rico, so him going so hard as to take this direction with the visuals for the band makes perfect sense. Cedric, though Mexican in heritage mi gente surely didnt have to be swayed much to get on board with that. This is where the themes of The Mars Volta begin to take shape in a layered and multi-angled fashion. Its an album of resistance, of revolution, easily read as a defiant sword against the throat of colonialism and erasure that many people have had to fight for generations and centuries, especially Afro-Latin people. Personally, Cedric wove his own personal life in the least cryptic way hes ever done, writing lyrics that reference his very antagonistic history with the Church of Scientology (he was a member of the church around the time The Mars Volta broke up, which was also at least a partial cause of said break-up), seething with revenge for what the church and its members have done to him and his wife, actress Chrissie Bixler (fuck Danny Masterson forever).

The intersection of all of these elements is the music itself, a fair number of steps calmer and more considered than the delectable chaos of past albums. Instrumentation retains Latin flair, but otherwise form poppy and restrained structures to help guide the dance of lyrical blades on many songs. Equus 3 is an electro-rock punctuation toward the end of the record, but the lyrics are laced with vengeance seemingly referencing an ongoing lawsuit the Bixler family are complainants of.

Dont you let the spurs dig inWill the deepest pockets win?Will it only matter when it comesAnd it happens to you?You can try and blind them allYou can claim your god as faultBut Ill make him shatter whenIll take an eye for an eye

Another key difference, but a welcomed one at that, is that theres some genuine hooks on this thing. The Requisition has a groovy hook after an already groovy verse melody with bold bass. Blacklight Shine was a very strong single to lead with and introduce this newer sound to old fans guitars are washed out with some reverb, the Latin percussion calls back to classics like Drunkship of Lanterns or LVia LViaquez. You just want to sing along to much of it, the mark of a good pop record for sure, but also shows how far The Mars Volta are removed from their past on purpose. Vigil is haunting for as clean as it is with its surf rock-styled guitar lead toward the end, the ascending and descending grating hums of noise (also generated by a guitar?) feel almost occult in nature.

My favorite track is without a doubt Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazon (May God Curse You My Heart/Love), which steps up the Latin influence to its highest danceable point on the album. The piano is absolutely exquisite. If I had any sort of complaint about The Mars Volta, its simply that I wanted more of this, but it makes me appreciate what we got from it even more. I commend it for what it is. Some fans will be disappointed, but well always have the youthful energy of Deloused in the Comatorium or The Bedlam in Goliath. The Mars Volta are unapologetically on their grown man shit now, freed from any possible constraints ironically enough, and its more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, leagues better than their short-lived excursion as Antemasque or their reunion as At the Drive-In.

The Mars Volta is a Trojan horse of sorts, sneaking its way back into the hearts of fans, sneaking its way past the oppressive pat-downs and censures it rallies against, on all levels. Ive never heard the band like this, and neither have you. Its only possible after years of reconciliation, honestly, and hardship, chronicled in a number of talks Omar and Cedric have had, though my favorite is their sit-down with Zane Lowe, which is unflinching and human as hell. I cant help it I love The Mars Volta, and now with more self-awareness, kindness, and focusing their vitriol at institutions that well and truly deserve it, its nigh impossible not to see them as folk heroes of sorts, prime examples of how to grow in mind and spirit, and maybe this new album is the start of something even greater than before.

Before I go, I want to send a shoutout to Puerto Rico itself, from which I have a number of friends, one who writes for this very site. The island has once again been ravaged by a hurricane which knocked out their entire power grid, caused floods, and so much more horrendous, preventable disaster. I urge you to take a look at this abridged list of resources and ways you can provide community support as the people fight for literal survival and begin to rebuild only a handful of years after another hurricane destroyed them in very similar ways.

Artist photo by Fat Bob

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The Mars Volta - "The Mars Volta" - Everything Is Noise

While NASAs Mars Perseverance rover tends to get all the attention these days, an incoming Amblin Entertainment and Amazon Studios documentary gives us a chance to celebrate two other Mars rovers that paved the way for the current Perseverance mission.

Good Night Oppy, which lands on Prime Video on November 24 following a limited theatrical release on November 4, uses archival footage, computer animation, and talking heads to tell the story of Opportunity and its twin rover Spirit, two NASA vehicles that landed on the red planet in 2004.

A big part of what makes the story remarkable is the longevity of the two rover missions. NASA had planned 90-day programs for Opportunity and Spirit, but they ended up exploring the Martian surface for 15 years and 6 years, respectively.

A trailer for the documentary dropped this week. You can watch it below.

Directed by Ryan White (The Case Against 8, Ask Dr. Ruth), Good Night Oppy has so far received largely warm reviews.

The Hollywood Reporters Daniel Fienberg, for example, called it a lively celebration of unabashed nerdiness and enthusiastic problem-solving, the sort of movie that feels designed to attract Wall-E-loving children, who can then be shaped into the engineers and astrophysicists of the future.

He described the documentary as a glossy advertisement for NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the NASA center that oversees the space agencys Mars missions, adding: Whites greatest asset is footage from different rover mission control and meeting rooms over two decades. Almost on a crisis-by-crisis basis, Good Night Oppy takes us through various catastrophes experienced by Spirit and Opportunity impending sandstorms, dust-clogged sensors, inoperable machinery and breaks down the stages of the process that allowed them to overcome each bout with adversity.

Varietys Peter Debruge also noted the movies potential to inspire the younger generation, calling Good Night Oppy an ideal choice for classrooms: a practical demonstration of applied science, showing how designers work with engineers, and where human contributions to these fields can take us. Put another way, its an out-of-this-world example sure to get kids fired up about STEM.

He added: The meek may well inherit the earth, but its the nerds of tomorrow that will get us to Mars.

During their Mars explorations, Opportunity and Sprit showed that the distant planet had once hosted wet and warm conditions that were potentially hospitable to life, discoveries that inspired todays Perseverance team to search for evidence of ancient life there.

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Opportunity Mars rover movie incoming watch the trailer - Digital Trends

Elon Musk has been an active advocate of creating cities for humans on Mars. He is not the only one. The concept of colonizing Mars first appeared as a fictional narrative in the 1897 novel Two Planets by Kurd Lasswitz. The story is about Arctic explorers who find a Martian base. The Martians take some explorers to Mars. The novel was published 72 years before the first man landed on the Moon in 1969.

Colonizing Mars has remained a concept for humans for eons. However, with advancements in science and technology, we are devising ways to journey to the Red Planet. It is not the journey that excites us but the possibility of living there. Musk has time and again explained the idea of living on Mars. In 2019 Musk said that Its been almost half a century since humans were last on the moon. Thats too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the moon again, like a big permanently occupied base on the moon. And then build a city on Mars to become a spacefaring civilization, a multi-planet species.

No matter how thrilling the idea sounds, the logistical challenges will be monumental indeed. Imagine taking construction raw materials to Mars including objects ranging from nails and irons, beams, concrete and glass, to equipment and heavy machinery including bulldozers, front loaders, dump trucks, and cranes among others.

Humans would have to build cities and towns on Mars from scratch. They would need to conduct soil sampling before erecting the foundations for their cities. Weather conditions including wind pressure and other climate changes will need to be addressed.

Life on Mars will not be easy. Humans will need to create cities enclosed in glass or a concrete dome to maintain proper oxygen levels and perhaps to simulate day and night through artificial means. There needs to be a continuous supply of water to complete daily tasks. Electricity needs to be available round the clock to complete chores such as cooking and washing.

The lifestyle on Mars will need to be different from the tried and tested environment on Earth. One wonders what economic model will the humans pursue on Mars. Will there be banking and investment? Will humans earn by doing jobs? If humans plan on earning on Mars, then the Earths economic system would need to be implemented. Or, the banking and economic system would be extended to Mars. The humans on Mars will also need avenues to spend their salaries. This will bring about the need to build shopping malls and departmental stores.

The children on Mars should be taught to become thinkers, innovators, and inventors. They should be allowed to follow a discipline of their choosing. The learning activities at schools should be focused on improving intelligence.

Colonising Mars will not be an easy task. It will require months and perhaps years of planning to send human and capital resources to Mars. Effective brainstorming and implementation of plans will be required to create an eco-friendly sustainable city that is suitable for animal and plant life.

The rest is here:

Will Mars be Earth 2.0? - The Nation

Dogelon Mars (ELON) gets a very bullish rating from InvestorsObserver Saturday. The token is up 4.72% to $0.000000258819364 while the broader crypto market is down 0.97%.

The Sentiment Score provides a quick, short-term look at the cryptos recent performance. This can be useful for both short-term investors looking to ride a rally and longer-term investors trying to buy the dip.

Dogelon Mars price is currently above resistance. With support set around $0.000000242615099854995 and resistance at $0.000000250853786032715, Dogelon Mars is potentially in a volatile position if the rally burns out.

Dogelon Mars has traded on low volume recently. This means that today's volume is below its average volume over the past seven days.

Due to a lack of data, this crypto may be less suitable for some investors.

Click here to unlock the rest of the report on Dogelon Mars

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Dogelon Mars (ELON) Receives a Very Bullish Rating Saturday: Is it Time to Get on Board? - InvestorsObserver