Feed aggregator

What do you see when you look into this sky?

It came from outer space.

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

Navcam view of the ~3 ft high ridge that marks the eastern side of Volcán Peña Blanca.  The ridge is currently about 35 ft away from the rover, and the team used images like this during today’s planning to decide the exact location for Curiosity’s approach. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth planning date: Thursday, July 3, 2025

The team was delighted this morning to learn that Wednesday’s drive had completed flawlessly, placing us in a stable position facing a ~3 foot high ridge located ~35 feet away.  This ridge is the eastern edge of a feature the team has informally named “Volcán Peña Blanca.” This feature certainly looked intriguing in orbital images, but once we saw Curiosity’s pictures of it from the ground, we decided it was cool enough to spend the time to investigate it closer.  The images from the ground show a lot more detail than is visible in orbit, including clear sedimentary structures exposed along the ridge face which could provide important clues about how the rocks in the boxwork-bearing terrain were initially deposited – dunes? Rivers? Lakes? The team picked their favorite spot to approach the ridge and take a closer look during Wednesday’s planning, so Curiosity made a sharp right turn to take us in that direction.  Using today’s images, we refined our plan for the exact location to approach and planned a drive to take us there, setting us up for contact science on Monday.

We had the opportunity to plan four sols today, to cover the U.S. 4th of July holiday weekend, so there was lots of time for activities besides the drive.  Curiosity is currently sitting right in front of some light toned rocks, including one we gave the evocative name “Huellas de Dinosaurios.” It’s extremely unlikely we’ll see dinosaur footprints in the rock, but we will get the chance to investigate it with APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam.  We also have a pair of ChemCam only targets on a more typical bedrock target named “Amboro” and some pebbles named “Tunari.”  Mastcam will take a high resolution of mosaic covering Volcán Peña Blanca, some nearby rocks named “Laguna Verde,” a small light colored rock named “Suruto,” and various patterns in the ground. Two ChemCam RMI mosaics of features in the distant Mishe Mokwa face and environment monitoring activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sol 4588: Ridges and troughs

Article


2 hours ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

Navcam view of the ~3 ft high ridge that marks the eastern side of Volcán Peña Blanca.  The ridge is currently about 35 ft away from the rover, and the team used images like this during today’s planning to decide the exact location for Curiosity’s approach. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth planning date: Thursday, July 3, 2025

The team was delighted this morning to learn that Wednesday’s drive had completed flawlessly, placing us in a stable position facing a ~3 foot high ridge located ~35 feet away.  This ridge is the eastern edge of a feature the team has informally named “Volcán Peña Blanca.” This feature certainly looked intriguing in orbital images, but once we saw Curiosity’s pictures of it from the ground, we decided it was cool enough to spend the time to investigate it closer.  The images from the ground show a lot more detail than is visible in orbit, including clear sedimentary structures exposed along the ridge face which could provide important clues about how the rocks in the boxwork-bearing terrain were initially deposited – dunes? Rivers? Lakes? The team picked their favorite spot to approach the ridge and take a closer look during Wednesday’s planning, so Curiosity made a sharp right turn to take us in that direction.  Using today’s images, we refined our plan for the exact location to approach and planned a drive to take us there, setting us up for contact science on Monday.

We had the opportunity to plan four sols today, to cover the U.S. 4th of July holiday weekend, so there was lots of time for activities besides the drive.  Curiosity is currently sitting right in front of some light toned rocks, including one we gave the evocative name “Huellas de Dinosaurios.” It’s extremely unlikely we’ll see dinosaur footprints in the rock, but we will get the chance to investigate it with APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam.  We also have a pair of ChemCam only targets on a more typical bedrock target named “Amboro” and some pebbles named “Tunari.”  Mastcam will take a high resolution of mosaic covering Volcán Peña Blanca, some nearby rocks named “Laguna Verde,” a small light colored rock named “Suruto,” and various patterns in the ground. Two ChemCam RMI mosaics of features in the distant Mishe Mokwa face and environment monitoring activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sol 4588: Ridges and troughs

Article


2 hours ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4,587 (2025-07-02 07:33:39 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Lucy Thompson, APXS Collaborator and Senior Research Scientist at the University of New Brunswick, Canada

Earth planning date: Wednesday, July 2, 2025

As we traverse the boxwork terrain, we are encountering a series of more resistant ridges/bedrock patches, and areas that are more rubbly and tend to form lower relief polygonal or trough-like features. We came into planning this morning in one of the trough-like features after another successful drive. The science team is interested in determining why we see these different geomorphological and erosional expressions. Is the rock that comprises the more resistant ridges and patches a different composition to the rock in the troughs and low relief areas? How do the rocks vary texturally? Might the resistant bedrock be an indicator of what we will encounter when we reach the large boxworks that we are driving towards?

We managed to find a large enough area of rock to safely brush (target – “Guapay”), after which we will place APXS and MAHLI to determine the composition and texture. ChemCam will also analyze a different rock target, “Taltal” for chemistry and texture, and we will also acquire an accompanying Mastcam documentation image. The resistant ridge that we are planning to drive towards (“Volcan Pena Blanca”) and eventually investigate will be captured in a Mastcam mosaic. ChemCam will utilize their long-distance imaging capabilities to image the “Mishe Mokwa” butte off to the southeast of our current location, which likely contains bedrock layers that we will eventually pass through as we continue our climb up Mount Sharp.

After a planned drive, taking us closer to the “Volcan Pena Blanca” ridge, MARDI will image the new terrain beneath the wheels, before we execute some atmospheric observations. Mastcam will make a tau observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will acquire a zenith movie. Standard DAN, RAD and REMS activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4589 – 4592: Setting up to explore Volcán Peña Blanca

Article


44 minutes ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4,587 (2025-07-02 07:33:39 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Lucy Thompson, APXS Collaborator and Senior Research Scientist at the University of New Brunswick, Canada

Earth planning date: Wednesday, July 2, 2025

As we traverse the boxwork terrain, we are encountering a series of more resistant ridges/bedrock patches, and areas that are more rubbly and tend to form lower relief polygonal or trough-like features. We came into planning this morning in one of the trough-like features after another successful drive. The science team is interested in determining why we see these different geomorphological and erosional expressions. Is the rock that comprises the more resistant ridges and patches a different composition to the rock in the troughs and low relief areas? How do the rocks vary texturally? Might the resistant bedrock be an indicator of what we will encounter when we reach the large boxworks that we are driving towards?

We managed to find a large enough area of rock to safely brush (target – “Guapay”), after which we will place APXS and MAHLI to determine the composition and texture. ChemCam will also analyze a different rock target, “Taltal” for chemistry and texture, and we will also acquire an accompanying Mastcam documentation image. The resistant ridge that we are planning to drive towards (“Volcan Pena Blanca”) and eventually investigate will be captured in a Mastcam mosaic. ChemCam will utilize their long-distance imaging capabilities to image the “Mishe Mokwa” butte off to the southeast of our current location, which likely contains bedrock layers that we will eventually pass through as we continue our climb up Mount Sharp.

After a planned drive, taking us closer to the “Volcan Pena Blanca” ridge, MARDI will image the new terrain beneath the wheels, before we execute some atmospheric observations. Mastcam will make a tau observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will acquire a zenith movie. Standard DAN, RAD and REMS activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4589 – 4592: Setting up to explore Volcán Peña Blanca

Article


44 minutes ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

The long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory has delivered some preliminary observations of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae field. 47 Tuc is the Milky Way's second-brightest globular cluster, second to Omega Centauri. The Rubin Observatory's data demonstrates the telescope's promising scientific potential.

The Milky Way and other similar galaxies have two distinct disk sections. One is the thin disk section, and it contains mostly younger stars with higher metallicity. The second is the thick disk, and it contains older stars with lower metallicity. The effort to study these disks in more galaxies and in greater detail has been stymied. But now we have the JWST, and researchers used it to examine more than 100 distant, edge-on galaxies.

Earth life is carbon-based, and without carbon, there would be no life. New research shows how Earth got its carbon from impactors, including a boost from Theia, the impactor that created the Moon. Jupiter also pitched in to help.

The search for dark matter requires all of the best models, theories, and ideas we can throw at it. A new paper from Julia Monika Koulen, Stefano Profumo, and Nolan Smyth from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) tackles the implications of the sizes and abundance of one of the more interesting dark matter candidates - primordial black holes (PBHs).

Proxima Centauri b is the closest known exoplanet that could be in the habitable zone of its star. Therefore, it has garnered a lot of attention, including several missions designed to visit it and send back information. Unfortunately, due to technological constraints and the gigantic distances involved, most of those missions only weigh a few grams and require massive solar scales or pushing lasers to get anywhere near their target. But why let modern technological levels limit your imagination when there are so many other options, if still theoretical, options to send a larger mission to our nearest potentially habitable neighbor? That was the thought behind the Master’s Thesis of Amelie Lutz at Virginia Tech - she looked at the possibility of using fusion propulsion systems to send a few hundred kilogram probe to the system, and potentially even orbit it.

What new methods can be developed in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)? This is what a recent white paper submitted to the 2025 NASA Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration Strategy (DARES) Request for Information (RFI) hopes to address as a pair of researchers from the Breakthrough Listen project and Michigan State University discussed how high-energy astronomy could be used for identifying radio signals from an extraterrestrial technological civilization, also called technosignatures. This study has the potential to help SETI and other organizations develop novel techniques for finding intelligent life beyond Earth.

One of the most iconic cosmic scenes in the Universe lies nearly 3.8 billion light-years away from us in the direction of the constellation Carina. This is where two massive clusters of galaxies have collided. The resulting combined galaxies and other material is now called the Bullet Cluster, after one of the two members that interacted over several billion years. It's one of the hottest-known galaxy clusters, thanks to clouds of gas that were heated by shockwaves during the event. Astronomers have observed this scene with several different telescopes in multiple wavelengths of light, including X-ray and infrared. Those observations and others show that the dark matter makes up the majority of the cluster's mass. Its gravitational effect distorts light from more distant objects and makes it an ideal gravitational lens.

Earlier this year, asteroid 2024 YR4 was discovered and found to have a trajectory through the Earth/Moon system in 2032. The world's telescopes focused on the potential threat and downgraded the chance to negligible for the Earth...but it still has a non-zero chance of hitting the Moon. As the asteroid became too dim to continue observing, its Moon impact chance stood at 4%. When will we update this number? Not until it does another close flyby in 2028.

Astronomers have made a breakthrough by using 25 year old Hubble images to investigate a potential "rogue planet" drifting through space without a host star. When a brief gravitational microlensing event occurred in 2023, researchers discovered Hubble had photographed the same location in 1997, creating an unprecedented quarter century baseline. Finding no stellar companion in the archival data strengthened evidence for a rogue planet with mass between Earth and Saturn, demonstrating the scientific value of space telescope archives for studying these elusive worlds wandering the Galaxy alone.

Some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world are designed to simulate complex astrophysical processes, like what's happening inside a giant star as it's going supernova. But researchers have developed a new machine learning algorithm that was able to accurately simulate galaxy evolution with fewer computer resources and dramatically more quickly than a supercomputer, which could take years to fully process.

Astronomers once wondered if the Universe might one day collapse in on itself in a Big Crunch, but the discovery of dark energy suggested that the expansion of the Universe would accelerate, removing that possibility. New data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument suggests that dark energy might be changing in strength over time, maybe even going negative. If that result holds, are we due for a Big Crunch? And how long would it take?

How do galaxies like ours continue producing stars long after they should have used up their star-forming gas. Somehow, an external gas source must find its way into the galaxy. New research has found evidence of gas clouds that found their way into a spiral galaxy, likely fueling continued star formation.

The beautiful supernova remnant looks a little different from other examples of stars that detonated in the past. And it should, because according to astronomers, the star that met its end exploded twice. It was a white dwarf in its former life, pulling material from a binary companion, creating the perfect conditions for a Type 1a supernova. It accumulated a blanket of helium, which exploded first, triggering a second detonation at the core of the star.