Fox News - Fair & Balanced

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

RelatedTopics

  1. Planet Mars
  2. Orbital Sciences Corporation
  3. Viking 1
  4. Wasteful NASA Constellation Spending
  5. Unmanned Space Exploration
  6. NASA
Get updates on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Rover Seen from Space in NASA 'Crime Scene Photo'

The first pictures of NASA's Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars have been taken from above by a spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet.The photos come from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which snapped Curiosity as well as the Sky Crane landing stage, heat shield and parachute that helped deliver the rover to the Red Planet's surface.   Curiosity touched down on Mars   late Sunday (Aug. 5), beginning a two-year mission to study whether Mars was ever a habitable world."This is what we're calling a crime scene photo," Sarah Milkovich, an investigation scientist for MRO's HiRISE camera, said during a news briefing today (Aug. 7) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "We can see all of the components of the whole EDL [entry, descent and landing] system."The photo shows the aftermath of the landing in the vast Gale crater, during which the rover was lowered to the surface on cables attached to the hovering Sky Crane. Around Curiosity's landing spot, dark streaks ...

Read More ›

  1. Mars rover missions to go on spring break due to sun's interference

    It's the Martian version of spring break: Curiosity and Opportunity, along with their spacecraft friends circling overhead, will take it easy this month because of t...

  2. 'Virgin' comet may hit Mars in 2014

    A newfound comet is apparently on course to have an exceedingly close call with the planet Mars in October 2014, and there is a chance — albeit small — that the come...

  3. Curiosity's parachute flaps in the Martian wind

    When NASA's rover Curiosity entered the Martian atmosphere to begin its famous "7 minutes of terror," one component of its entry, descent and landing (EDL) included ...

  4. NASA's next Mars mission readies for 2013 launch

    NASA's next mission to the Red Planet is undergoing extensive testing in preparation for its launch next year.Here within a Lockheed Martin Space Systems high-bay cl...

  5. Mars Rover Curiosity Gets Mission Extension

    SAN FRANCISCO — When NASA's next Mars rover touches down in 2021, its six-wheeled sister, Curiosity, may still be chugging around the Red Planet.NASA announced Tuesd...

  6. Spacecraft Makers Watch as Probes Smash into Moon

    LITTLETON, Colorado – Flight controllers here purposely plowed NASA's Ebb and Flow spacecraft into the moon Monday (Dec. 17), ending the agency's Gravity Recovery an...

  7. Mars rover Curiosity's tracks seen from space

    The Red Planet ramblings of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity are clearly visible in a new image snapped by a sharp-eyed spacecraft.The rover photo, taken on Jan. 2 by the...

  8. Blue, not red: did ancient Mars look like this?

    It's hard to imagine what Mars might've looked like when its valleys were filled with water and its thick atmosphere sported white fluffy clouds. Now try to imagine ...

  9. NASA Tracks Big Dust Storm on Mars

    A NASA spacecraft is keeping tabs on a vast dust storm on Mars that has spawned changes in the Martian atmosphere felt by two rovers on the planet's surface.The Mart...

  10. Mars Rover Opportunity Exploring Possibly Habitable Ancient Environment

    SAN FRANCISCO — NASA's Mars rover Curiosity may be dominating the headlines, but its older, smaller cousin has made its way to a spot on the Red Planet that may have...

  11. NASA scientists eyeing regional dust storm on Mars

    NASA is tracking a regional dust storm on Mars, but says it has not affected the operations of its two rovers on the surface.The space agency said Wednesday the stor...

  12. Giant Mars crater shows evidence of lake ... and maybe life?

    New photos of a huge crater on Mars suggest water may lurk in crevices under the planet's surface, hinting that life might have once lived there, and raising the pos...

  1. Ultra-Sharp Color Photo Reveals Mars Rover From Space

    A NASA spacecraft in orbit around Mars snapped a new, incredibly crisp color photo of the Curiosity rover on the surface of the Red Planet.The photo was taken by the...

  2. Man-Made Mars Craters Likely Beyond Curiosity Rover's Reach

    It looks like there will be no shortcuts to peer beneath the surface of Mars for NASA's Curiosity rover.Mission scientists had held out some hope that the 1-ton rove...

  3. New Mars photos may reveal 1970s Soviet lander

    Russian space enthusiasts poring through photos from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have spotted what looks like the remains of the Soviet Mars 3 lander that arr...

  4. Did NASA Find Liquid Water on Surface of Mars?

    Images snapped by a NASA satellite point to the possibility of seasonal liquid water on the Red Planet's surface -- water on Mars, the space agency announced Thursda...

  5. Huge Martian Dust Devil Churns in New Photo

    A gigantic dust devil races across the surface of Mars in a stunning new photo snapped by a NASA spacecraft.NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter  (MRO) captured the 12...

  6. Glitch Sends NASA's Mars Orbiter Into Safe Mode

    NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be kept in its safe mode — suspending its science observations of the red planet for several weeks — while engineers try to i...

  7. Radio Problem Hampers Link to Mars Lander

    A glitch with a Mars orbiter relaying commands from Earth delayed plans for the Phoenix Mars Lander's second day of activities on Tuesday, NASA officials said.The Ma...

‹ Prev12345…Next ›