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It is a large, bright blue circle dotted with stars and crossed by a red, V-shaped swoosh. "NASA" is written in large white text on the circle. Rita wears a patterned blue dress and black sandals. It is a bright, sunny day with blue sky, puffy clouds, and green grass. A building and trucks are visible behind the NASA inflatable. 9 min read Rita Owens: Keeper of NASA's Digital Knowledge article6 days ago New Patterns in Mars's Clouds Revealed by Volunteers 3 min read New Patterns in Mars's Clouds Revealed by Volunteers article6 days ago Tundra wetlands are shown in late spring at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. 5 min read NASA Flights Link Methane Plumes to Tundra Fires in Western Alaska article6 days ago Back --------------------------------------------------------------------- Missions * Search All NASA Missions * A to Z List of Missions * Upcoming Launches and Landings * Spaceships and Rockets * Communicating with Missions * Artemis * James Webb Space Telescope * Hubble Space Telescope * International Space Station Humans in Space * Why Go to Space * Astronauts * Commercial Space * Destinations * Spaceships and Rockets * Living in Space Earth & Climate * Explore Earth Science * Climate Change * Earth, Our Planet * Earth Science in Action * Earth Multimedia * Earth Data * Earth Science Researchers The Solar System * The Sun * Mercury * Venus * Earth * The Moon * Mars * Jupiter * Saturn * Uranus * Pluto & Dwarf Planets * Asteroids, Comets & Meteors * The Kuiper Belt * The Oort Cloud * Skywatching The Universe * Exoplanets * The Search for Life in the Universe * Stars * Galaxies * Black Holes * The Big Bang * Dark Energy & Dark Matter Science * Earth Science * Planetary Science * Astrophysics & Space Science * The Sun & Heliophysics * Biological & Physical Sciences * Lunar Science * Citizen Science * Astromaterials * Aeronautics Research * Human Space Travel Research Aeronautics * Science in the Air * NASA Aircraft * Flight Innovation * Supersonic Flight * Air Traffic Solutions * Green Aviation Tech * Drones & You Technology * Technology Transfer & Spinoffs * Space Travel Technology * Technology Living in Space * Manufacturing and Materials * Robotics * Science Instruments * Computing Learning Resources * For Kids and Students * For Educators * For Colleges and Universities * For Professionals * Science for Everyone * Requests for Exhibits, Artifacts, or Speakers * STEM Engagement at NASA About NASA * NASA's Impacts * Centers and Facilities * Directorates * Organizations * People of NASA * Careers * Internships * Our History * Doing Business with NASA * Get Involved * Contact Espanol * Ciencia * Aeronautica * Ciencias Terrestres * Sistema Solar * Universo News & Events * All NASA News * Video Series on NASA+ * Podcasts * Blogs * Newsletters * Social Media * Media Resources * Upcoming Launches & Landings * Virtual Events Multimedia * Images * NASA TV * Sounds and Ringtones * Interactives * NASA Apps * Podcasts * e-Books * STEM Multimedia Highlights Engineer examining telescope mirror. 5 min read NASA's Webb Telescope Improves Simulation Software article 1 week ago This enhanced image of the Jovian moon Ganymede was obtained by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft during the mission's June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon on Juno's 34th pass close to Jupiter. 4 min read Salts and Organics Observed on Ganymede's Surface by NASA's Juno article 1 week ago President William J. "Bill" Clinton introduces the STS-95 crew 8 min read 25 Years Ago: STS-95, John Glenn Returns to Space article 1 week ago Highlights Frank Rubio, un hombre de pelo y ojos oscuros y con lentes, sonrAe y tiene los brazos cruzados. Va vestido con un polo oscuro y pantalones khaki. DetrA!s suyo se ve la atmA3sfera de la Tierra a travA(c)s de las ventanas de observaciA3n de la cAopula. 5 min read Mision record de astronauta ayuda a planificar viajes al espacio profundo article 2 months ago This image shows mixing at the interface of two shear-driven systems in a ground analog of hardware for Ring-Sheared Drop-IBP, which tests computer models for the behavior of high-concentration protein fluids. 4 min read Space Station Science Highlights: Week of May 15, 2023 article 6 months ago image of an astronaut taking photos inside the cupola of the space station with views of Earth in backdrop 5 min read Earth Observation From the Space Station article 5 months ago Highlights Engineers joined the two main components of NISAR in an ISRO clean room in Bengaluru, India, in June, 2023. The payload arrived from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in March, 2023, while the bus was built at the ISRO facility. 4 min read Powerful NASA-ISRO Earth Observing Satellite Coming Together in India article 4 months ago Thanks to a wet winter, California saw tremendous gains in the amount of water in the San Joaquin, Sacramento, and Tulare river basins (outlined in yellow) from October 2022 to March 2023, GRACE-FO data shows. 4 min read US-German Satellites Show California Water Gains After Record Winter article 5 months ago Highlights [lunar-pathfinder] 2 min read NASA Delivers First Flight Hardware to ESA for Lunar Pathfinder article 4 months ago NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas of "Marker Band Valley" at two times of day on April 8. 3 min read NASA's Curiosity Captures Martian Morning, Afternoon in New 'Postcard' article 5 months ago NASA scientists have made the first observation of a polar cyclone on Uranus. 3 min read NASA Scientists Make First Observation of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus article 6 months ago Featured View of Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system after DART impact. Webb's view, hued in red, shows a bright center and darker streaks emanating outward from it. 4 min read Webb, DART Missions Win AIAA 2023 Premier Awards article 6 months ago A planet covered with volcanic outbursts and spots of water takes up most of the left-hand foreground. In the distance, against the black background, is a faint blue planet. 5 min read NASA's Spitzer, TESS Find Potentially Volcano-Covered Earth-Size World article 6 months ago Highlights A new award from NASA will support ICON in developing construction technology that could be used on the Moon and Mars. 6 min read Going Beyond the Challenge for New and Continued Success article 2 hours ago Image representing a round star colorized with bands of purple and red against a black background with white stars 8 min read Reaching New Frontiers in Science Supported by Public Participation article 3 hours ago Artist concept of NASA's Quiet SuperSonic Technology jet in flight. 6 min read Advancing Technology for Aeronautics article 3 hours ago Highlights Joby Aviation's electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is pictured at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California. 3 min read Government and Industry Collaboration Leads to First Air Taxi Delivery article 1 month ago Joe Piotrowski, Jr. smiles in front of NASA Armstrongs Airborne Science aircraft. 2 min read Joe Piotrowski, Jr.: One Engineer's (Flight) Path to Airborne Science article 2 months ago Children walk around the Darkstar prop made for the Top Gun: Maverick. The prop was on display at the 2022 Aerospace Valley Open House, Air Show, & STEM Expo in Edwards, California. 3 min read Forget Movie Magic, NASA Armstrong has the Real Thing article 2 months ago Highlights Two people wearing blue hooded parkas, waist deep in snow, manipulate tubes holding snow samples. equipment lies on the snow surface near them and in the background a line of dark trees 5 min read NASA Tech Lets Scientists See Snow-Water Through the Trees article 2 months ago A wide shot of a silvery piece of space hardware about the size of a car sitting on a silver platform. Three techs in white head-to-toe suits are pushing it from behind through a very large, arched doorway that leads to a dark room lined with dim lights. 3 min read Primary Instrument for NASA's Roman Completed, Begins Tests article 2 months ago A white device that looks like a TV remote with a big, red button is held a few inches above two green, potted plants in a cardboard frame. 5 min read STELLA: NASA's DIY Educational Gadget for Measuring Plant Health article 2 months ago Featured Students from the AIAA Orange Country Section team of Irvine, California, display their rocket to news media and the public during Rocket Fair - an annual showcase event of NASA's Student Launch competition April 2023. 3 min read NASA Announces Teams for 2024 Student Launch Challenge article 1 month ago Highlights A new award from NASA will support ICON in developing construction technology that could be used on the Moon and Mars. 6 min read Going Beyond the Challenge for New and Continued Success article 2 hours ago Image representing a round star colorized with bands of purple and red against a black background with white stars 8 min read Reaching New Frontiers in Science Supported by Public Participation article 3 hours ago Artist concept of NASA's Quiet SuperSonic Technology jet in flight. 6 min read Advancing Technology for Aeronautics article 3 hours ago Featured NASA astronaut Frank Rubio uses a tool in his right hand as he activates a space biology experiment that is studying how weightlessness affects genetic expression in microbes. 5 min read Ciencia destacada del ano en el espacio del astronauta Frank Rubio article 2 months ago Frank Rubio, un hombre de pelo y ojos oscuros y con lentes, sonrAe y tiene los brazos cruzados. Va vestido con un polo oscuro y pantalones khaki. DetrA!s suyo se ve la atmA3sfera de la Tierra a travA(c)s de las ventanas de observaciA3n de la cAopula. 5 min read Mision record de astronauta ayuda a planificar viajes al espacio profundo article 2 months ago monnikin 4 min read Pruebas de la NASA con maniqui de Artemis I aportan informacion para futuras misiones tripuladas article 3 months ago 5 min read NASA's Curiosity Rover Clocks 4,000 Days on Mars Jet Propulsion Laboratory Nov 06, 2023 Article * * * * Contents * Time-Tested Rover * More About the Mission * News Media Contacts [1-pia26047-curiositys-navcams-view-the-are-around-sequoia] NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this 360-degree panorama using its black-and-white navigation cameras, or Navcams, at a location where it collected a sample from a rock nicknamed "Sequoia." The panorama was captured on Oct. 21 and 26, 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech The mission team is making sure the robotic scientist, now in its fourth extended mission, is staying strong, despite wear and tear from its 11-year journey. Four thousand Martian days after setting its wheels in Gale Crater on Aug. 5, 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover remains busy conducting exciting science. The rover recently drilled its 39th sample then dropped the pulverized rock into its belly for detailed analysis. To study whether ancient Mars had the conditions to support microbial life, the rover has been gradually ascending the base of 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp, whose layers formed in different periods of Martian history and offer a record of how the planet's climate changed over time. The latest sample was collected from a target nicknamed "Sequoia" (all of the mission's current science targets are named after locations in California's Sierra Nevada). Scientists hope the sample will reveal more about how the climate and habitability of Mars evolved as this region became enriched in sulfates -minerals that likely formed in salty water that was evaporating as Mars first began drying up billions of years ago. Eventually, Mars' liquid water disappeared for good. [e1-pia26048-curiosity-views-sequioa-using-its-mastcam] NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used the drill on the end of its robotic arm to collect a sample from a rock nicknamed "Sequoia" on Oct. 17, 2023, the 3,980th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover's Mastcam captured this image. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS "The types of sulfate and carbonate minerals that Curiosity's instruments have identified in the last year help us understand what Mars was like so long ago. We've been anticipating these results for decades, and now Sequoia will tell us even more," said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads the mission. Deciphering the clues to Mars' ancient climate requires detective work. In a recent paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, team members used data from Curiosity's Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument to discover a magnesium sulfate mineral called starkeyite, which is associated with especially dry climates like Mars' modern climate. The team believes that after sulfate minerals first formed in salty water that was evaporating billions of years ago, these minerals transformed into starkeyite as the climate continued drying to its present state. Findings like this refine scientists' understanding of how the Mars of today came to be. Time-Tested Rover Despite having driven almost 20 miles (32 kilometers) through a punishingly cold environment bathed in dust and radiation since 2012, Curiosity remains strong. Engineers are currently working to resolve an issue with one of the rover's main "eyes" - the 34 mm focal length left camera of the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, instrument. In addition to providing color images of the rover's surroundings, each of Mastcam's two cameras helps scientists determine from afar the composition of rocks by the wavelengths of light, or spectra, they reflect in different colors. [e2-pia26047-curiositys-navcams-view-the-are-around-sequoia-figure-b-pj-only] This anaglyph version of Curiosity's panorama taken at "Sequoia" can be viewed in 3D using red-blue glasses. NASA/JPL-Caltech To do that, Mastcam relies on filters arranged on a wheel that rotates under each camera's lens. Since Sept. 19, the left camera's filter wheel has been stuck between filter positions, the effects of which can be seen on the mission's raw, or unprocessed, images. The mission continues to gradually nudge the filter wheel back toward its standard setting. If unable to nudge it back all the way, the mission would rely on the higher resolution 100 mm focal length right Mastcam as the primary color-imaging system. As a result, how the team scouts for science targets and rover routes would be affected: The right camera needs to take nine times more images than the left to cover the same area. The teams also would have a degraded ability to observe the detailed color spectra of rocks from afar. Along with efforts to nudge the filter back, mission engineers continue to closely monitor the performance of the rover's nuclear power source and expect it will provide enough energy to operate for many more years. They have also found ways to overcome challenges from wear on the rover's drill system and robotic-arm joints. Software updates have fixed bugs and added new capabilities to Curiosity, too, making long drives easier for the rover and reducing wheel wear that comes from steering (an earlier addition of a traction-control algorithm also helps reduce wheel wear from driving over sharp rocks). Meanwhile, the team is preparing for a break of several weeks in November. Mars is about to disappear behind the Sun, a phenomenon known as solar conjunction. Plasma from the Sun can interact with radio waves, potentially interfering with commands during this time. Engineers are leaving Curiosity with a to-do list from Nov. 6 to 28, after which period communications can safely resume. More About the Mission Curiosity was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam. For more about Curiosity, visit: http://mars.nasa.gov/msl https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html News Media Contacts Andrew Good Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-2433 andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov Karen Fox / Alana Johnson NASA Headquarters, Washington 301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov 2023-160 Share * * * * Details Last Updated Nov 07, 2023 Related Terms * Curiosity (Rover) * Jet Propulsion Laboratory * Mars * Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) * The Solar System Explore More [image002] 2 min read Calling all Eclipse Enthusiasts: Become a NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassador! By Vivian White, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Are you an astronomy enthusiast or undergraduate... 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Article 4 hours ago [pdco-michael-collins] 3 min read DART Team Earns Smithsonian Michael Collins Trophy for Successful Planetary Defense Test Mission Article 6 hours ago NASA Logo The National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery. * About NASA's Mission Join Us * Home * News & Events * Multimedia * NASA TV * Missions * Humans in Space * Earth & Climate * The Solar System * The Universe * Science * Aeronautics * Technology * Learning Resources * About NASA * NASA en Espanol Follow NASA * * * * * * More NASA Social Accounts * NASA Newsletters * Sitemap * For Media * Privacy Policy * FOIA * No FEAR Act * Office of the IG * Budget & Annual Reports * Agency Financial Reports * Contact NASA * Accessibility * Page Last Updated: Nov 07, 2023 * Page Editor: Naomi Hartono * Responsible NASA Official: Brian Dunbar