The as-yet-unnamed Tianwen-1 rover is the size of a small golf cart and one-quarter the weight of NASA's Perseverance. The solar-powered rover is expected to operate for at least 90 days.
NASA's Perseverance rover may have company on the Red Planet. China aims to leap to the front ranks in planetary exploration with an ambitious Mars mission, its first independent bid to reach the planet. Tianwen-1—"quest for heavenly truth"—consists of not only an orbiter, but also a lander and a rover, a trifecta no other nation has accomplished on its first Mars bid. "A successful landing would put China among elite company," says Mason Peck, an aerospace engineer at Cornell University.
In case you are keeping track:
How 'Mars Undergound' sparked a return to the Red Planet | Astronomy.com
In the early 1950s, while the space race was still taking shape, German-American rocket scientist Wernher von Braun pushed the U.S. to look beyond just the Moon. His audacious plan, called “The Mars Project,” called for humans to visit the Red Planet as early as 1965 using a fleet of 10 ships crewed with 70 astronauts.
And the more we learned about the Red Planet, the less feasible human missions there seemed to become.
Following the Viking missions, it took 21 years for NASA to successfully send another robotic explorer to Mars.
Mars 2020 Mission Now Targeted for July 22 Launch
NASA and United Launch Alliance are now targeting Wednesday, July 22, for launch of the Mars 2020 mission due to a processing delay encountered during encapsulation activities of the spacecraft. Additional time was needed to resolve a contamination concern in the ground support lines in NASA's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF).
The spacecraft and vehicle remain healthy. The launch of the Mars 2020 mission on an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for 9:35 a.m. ET with a two-hour window.
Former NASA scientist hopes UAE Mars mission inspires young people in the Middle East | Arab News
LOS ANGELES: A former NASA scientist advising the UAE space program said he hopes the Emirates' upcoming Mars mission will inspire young scientists in the Middle East.
The Mars Hope Mission is expected to blast off on July 14 with the aim of sending a probe to orbit the red planet .
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Lending his experience as a member of the UAE Space Agency Advisory Board is Lebanese-American Charles Elachi, the retired director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Elon Musk shares latest progress of Mars-bound Starship | The Independent
The SpaceX boss shared an image on Twitter on Thursday, showing an aerial view of two massive tanks designed to hold fuel for the rocket. He also replied to a post by a space photographer, confirming that a major update on Starship's progress can be expected in September.
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A prototype of the Starship craft was unveiled last year and has since gone through several iterations as it undergoes flight and launch tests.
The stainless steel Starship craft will eventually be capable of carrying up to 100 people on missions around the Solar System.
Atlas 5 rocket runs through practice countdown before Mars rover launch – Spaceflight Now
The Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s Perseverance rover toward Mars next month aced a countdown rehearsal Monday at Cape Canaveral, helping ensure the United Launch Alliance-built rocket is ready for liftoff during the rover’s 23-day launch window.
Working a few miles away from the Atlas 5 launch pad at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center, ULA’s launch team powered up the Atlas 5 rocket and ran the rocket through a practice countdown. During the test — called a “wet dress rehearsal” — ULA loaded super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Atlas 5’s Centaur upper stage, and pumped liquid oxygen into the Atlas first stage booster.
Amazing View of How Dust Storms Grow on Mars - Universe Today
In 2018, Mars experienced one of its global dust storms, a phenomenon seen nowhere else. As science would have it, there were no fewer than six spacecraft in orbit around Mars at the time, and two surface rovers. This was an unprecedented opportunity to watch and study the storm.
Martian Global Dust Storms (GDS) occur only in the latter half of the Martian year. But other than that, they’re unpredictable. They vary widely inside that time frame, and their origin, onset, and diminishment are not well understood.
Mars Reveals Athletic Guidelines - ButlerRadio.com - Butler, PA
The Mars Area School District is moving forward with an Athletics Health and Safety Plan to provide a protective environment for all participants in the district's athletic programs.
As part of the plan, all student-athletes will be required to complete an Athletics Participation waiver which is available on the Mars Area School District website.
Student-athletes should arrive 10 minutes early to practice to undergo a daily general health assessment which includes having a temperature taken. Any students who have a temperature over 100.3 or without a signed waiver will be immediately sent home. Parents will not be permitted to attend practices until further notice.
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