Mars – My WordPress Site

This image was acquired on April 3, 2026 (Sol 1820) at the local mean solar time of 11:29:28. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Astrobiology Droid Perseverance At Work On Mars

by Keith CowingApril 12, 2026April 12, 2026

This photo was selected by public vote and featured as “Image of the Week” for Week 268 (March 29 – April 4, 2026) of the Perseverance rover mission on Mars.

Habitability factors at time period from ∼4.1 Ga till end of LHB (left) and current (right) Earth (green), Venus (yellow), and Mars (red). -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Mars, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Venus

Habitability Study of Terrestrial Planets: Application to Venus-like Worlds

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2026April 9, 2026

Wide Gullies In Terra Cimmeria Larger imagery, NASA HiRISE

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars

Wide Gullies In Terra Cimmeria On Mars

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2026April 9, 2026

PIXL micro-XRF observation from the third “Apollo Temple” scan (a,b), alongside a SHERLOC WATSON color image for context (c). An RGB composite shows the areas with relative enrichment of FeOT, SO3, and SiO2 where brownish tones highlight Fe-sulfide (a). Zones of Ni enrichment are seen in yellow (b) and marked with white arrows (a,b,c). Dashed black box shows the approximate area of the PIXL scan (c). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Strong Nickel Enrichment Co-located With Redox-organic Interactions In Neretva Vallis, Mars

by Keith CowingApril 8, 2026April 8, 2026

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Life Support Systems, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors

A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars

by Keith CowingApril 7, 2026April 7, 2026

ID: ESP_049028_2065 date: 10 January 2017 altitude: 287 km NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Larger image

Alpha Centauri, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Mars

Icy Flow In A Crater On Mars

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

A closer view of the supercritical climbing wind ripples that provide direct evidence of a sandstorm, roughly three and a half billion years ago. Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Serendipitous Discovery Of Martian Ripple Marks Reveals An Ancient Sandstorm

by Keith CowingApril 4, 2026April 4, 2026

Artist’s impression showing possible choices for the scale of human involvement in the future of Mars.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Beta Pictoris, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Mars, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Research Roadmap For Assessing The Feasibility Of Warming Mars

by Keith CowingApril 3, 2026April 3, 2026

Image of Coffee_Cove (Sol 1466) with the locations and fields of view for the luminescence analyses (a). Comparison of the luminescence spectra taken on Hampden_River and Coffee_Cove compared to lab spectra collected on a pure ruby, ruby in an amphibolite rock, and diaspore -- LPSC

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Mars, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors

SuperCam Identifies Corundum In Jezero Crater, Mars, Using Time-Resolved Luminescence Spectroscopy

by Keith CowingApril 2, 2026April 2, 2026

Fully corrected and calibrated albedos of Titan (yellow), Saturn (green), Uranus (blue), and Neptune (red) covering 0.3 µm to 2.1 µm, offset for clarity. Regions of strong telluric absorption are masked in lighter shades, and it should be noted that they are less reliably corrected. The flat regions in the UV were flagged as bad pixels in all images by X-shooter. We also highlight a vertical discontinuity between the VIS and NIR arms of Titan, which is likely due to weather inconsistency. The colors used for these objects are the same in the following figures. -- Astronomy & Astrophysics

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Titan, Uranus

HiDef Neighbors: Solar System Objects As Exoplanet Analogs I. Gaseous Objects, Planets, Planetary Systems, And Small Bodies

by Keith CowingMarch 27, 2026