Nope, that’s not a red star hanging low in the sky. Right now, Mars is one of the brightest objects in the sky, outshining even Jupiter (the waning Moon and late rising Venus will make it even easier to see Mars in all her glory), due to the close timing of both the Martian opposition and perihelion.
Opposition (when Mars and the Sun appear to be on opposite sides of the sky) occurs every 26 months. Mars appears to rise in the east as the Sun sets in the west, not setting until the Sun rises again in the east. As per NASA, every 15-17 years, opposition occurs within a few weeks of Mars’ perihelion, the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun, which occurred this year on Aug. 3 rd . Closest approach to Earth occurred on Oct.
Many things are taking place:
NASA InSight's 'Mole' Is Out of Sight – NASA's Mars Exploration Program
InSight's Arm Pulls Back, Revealing the Mole: NASA's InSight retracted its robotic arm on Oct. 3, 2020, revealing where the spike-like "mole" is trying to burrow into Mars. The copper-colored ribbon attached to the mole has sensors to measure the planet's heat flow. In the coming months, the arm will scrape and tamp down soil on top of the mole to help it dig. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Full image and caption ›
NASA's InSight lander continues working to get its "mole" – a 16-inch-long (40-centimeter-long) pile driver and heat probe – deep below the surface of Mars. A camera on InSight's arm recently took images of the now partially filled-in "mole hole," showing only the device's science tether protruding from the ground.
Starman just made his closest approach to Mars
The Roadster made its first close approach of Mars a week ago, at about 11:25 AM PDT (02:25 PM EDT) on Wednesday, Oct. 7th. According to independent calculations performed by astronomer Jonathon McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), the Roadster passed within 7.4 million kilometers (4.6 million miles) of Mars. Too far to look down on the surface, but close enough to see Mars' big red disk.
Starman, last seen leaving Earth, made its first close approach with Mars today—within 0.05 astronomical units, or under 5 million miles, of the Red Planet pic.twitter.com/gV8barFTm7
Mars makes a close approach to Earth | WWMT
Quite a lot has been going on:
Trio of Mars missions to follow OSIRIS-REx on space exploration calendar - AZPM
The Mars 2020 rover is among the planetary explorers set to make news in 2021. NASA
The University of Arizona backed OSIRIS-REx spacecraft makes its first attempt at collecting a soil sample from the asteroid Bennu next Tuesday. But space scientists say they won't need to wait long before the next big moment in planetary exploration.
Mark Sykes of the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute notes the skies above Mars will be crowded with new visitors from Earth early next year.
Multiple Salty Lakes May Exist Below the South Pole of Mars | Planetary News
SpaceX's Tesla roadster made its first close approach with Mars - CNN
The stage passed Mars's orbit a couple days earlier, about Oct 5.5, but Mars was further from it then (hadn't reached that part of its orbit). pic.twitter.com/mWUoUn0UO9
Airbus Wins Mars Spacecraft Contract. Why the Stock Is Falling. | Barron's
European aerospace giant Airbus has won a contract to design and build a spacecraft headed for Mars, but the news has been overshadowed for investors by more turbulence for the aviation industry.
The plane manufacturer said on Wednesday it has been selected by the European Space Agency for its joint mission with NASA to bring samples from Mars back to Earth for the first time.
Airbus will build the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), as well as a small rover which will collect the samples, for the five-year mission set to launch in 2026. The ERO contract is worth €491 million, the company said.
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