Viking 1: A Retrospective

Mars. The red planet. A planet that has captured the human imagination for decades. Mars has been the feature of millions of Hollywood sci-fi movies that claimed it as the home of Aliens dubbed “Martians”. Humanity has long imagined what it would be like on Mars and created fancy sceneries for it, ranging from advanced Alien colonies to barren wastelands. For some reason, people and … Continue reading Viking 1: A Retrospective

The First Sounds From Mars

Rovers have already given us the ability to see and touch, and sensors provide taste and smell. The only part we’ve been missing is the ability to hear on Mars, but that will change with Perseverance! The new rover has been outfitted with two microphones in order to hear the red planet. Two other rovers in the past have had microphones on them but one … Continue reading The First Sounds From Mars

See Perseverance’s First Images From Mars

On February 18th, 2021, NASA’s latest Mars rover, dubbed Perseverance, touched down on the dusty rock of the red planet. In the tradition of NASA’s Viking missions and many others since, Perseverance immediately began taking photos, video, and audio to send back to Earth. If you want to learn more about the Perseverance mission or the transmitted audio, you can check out other articles from … Continue reading See Perseverance’s First Images From Mars

Meet Ingenuity: The First Martian Helicopter

The rover Perseverance was outfitted with a groundbreaking helicopter called Ingenuity.  Until now, Earth has been the only planet with technology capable of sustained flight in our solar system. This might not seem like a big deal, but Mars’ atmosphere is roughly 1% of our atmosphere. For perspective, the tip of Mount Everest has a third of the atmospheric pressure there is at sea level. … Continue reading Meet Ingenuity: The First Martian Helicopter

Can I Buy a House On Mars? The Question of Territory in Space

We all know that the land between Canada and Mexico is the United States, and that the strip of land south of Russia, but north of China, is Mongolia, and that the lone island that sits near New Zealand turns out to be Australia. These places are all there because they were claimed by its people. Just like how calling ‘dibs’ on a brownie makes … Continue reading Can I Buy a House On Mars? The Question of Territory in Space

The Martian Review

The Martian (film) is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America. Waking up to a blaring alarm in the morning is one thing, and quite a horrible thing at that, but waking up to a blaring ‘low oxygen’ alarm after being left for dead on the surface of Mars is quite another. Unfortunately for fictional botanist Mark Watney, that’s exactly what he has … Continue reading The Martian Review

Hidden Message Found in Perseverance’s Parachute

If there’s one thing NASA is known for, it’s attention to detail. Sometimes that translates into absurdly good equipment, like when the Opportunity rover explored Mars for more than 5,000 sols when it was designed to last only 90, and sometimes it translates into bored engineers leaving secret messages on everything. With NASA’s latest rover – Perseverance – we hope that the first will prove … Continue reading Hidden Message Found in Perseverance’s Parachute