Earth planning date: Friday, May 1, 2026 Chile’s Atacama desert is the driest mid-latitude desert in the world, receiving only 15 millimeters (0.59 inches) of precipitation per year. Only the […]
rover
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report
Offworld Science Droids: A Review Maps Key Technologies For Small-body Sampling Robots
Unlike planetary rovers operating on the Moon or Mars, robots working on asteroids and comets must interact with surfaces where gravity is extremely weak, terrain is highly irregular, and material […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return
NASA’s Perseverance, Curiosity Panoramas Capture Two Sides of Mars
NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have captured two 360-degree landscapes that highlight how the missions are revealing details of the Red Planet’s formation, watery past, and potential for life (astrobiology).
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Comets and Asteroids, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Planetary Exploration 3.0: A Roadmap for Software-Defined, Radically Adaptive Space Systems
The surface and subsurface of worlds beyond Mars remain largely unexplored. Yet these worlds hold keys to fundamental questions in planetary science – from potentially habitable subsurface oceans on icy […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs
Serendipitous Discovery Of Martian Ripple Marks Reveals An Ancient Sandstorm
The search for life on Mars involves the efforts of scientists from many different disciplines. An important aspect of that search is to study Martian sedimentary rocks for information about […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Mars, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
SuperCam Identifies Corundum In Jezero Crater, Mars, Using Time-Resolved Luminescence Spectroscopy
The Perseverance rover recently began exploring the Jezero crater rim after traversing the crater floor, fan deposits, and margin unit. In the rim deposits, several plagioclase-rich light-toned float rocks (LTF) […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Analog Studies, Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Tricorders & Sensors
ISAS/JAXA Campaign Using A Swarm Of Small Robots
The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), in collaboration with Chuo University, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and CSIRO, Australia’s national […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Radiation, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Tricorder Tech: Developing Robust Electronics That Can Withstand Harsh Conditions on Cold Planetary Bodies
A NASA-sponsored team has developed electronics that can operate reliably in the harsh radiation and temperature conditions found on distant planetary bodies like Europa, an ocean world orbiting Jupiter. Not […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Citizen Science / Open Science, Education and Outreach, Exploration Gear & Tech, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors
Build Your Own Mars Astrobiology Rover
Editor’s note: NASA currently has two droids at work on Mars: Perseverance and its Older sibling Curiosity. Their common task is to perform astrobiology and astrogeology exploration activities on Mars. […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Novelty Detection In Rover-based Planetary Surface Images Using Autoencoders
In the domain of planetary science, novelty detection is gaining attention because of the operational opportunities it offers, including annotated data products and downlink prioritization.