Feb 18

Perseverance Rover’s First Image from Mars

February 18, 2021
This is the first image NASA’s Perseverance rover sent back after touching down on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. The view, from one of Perseverance’s Hazard Cameras, is partially obscured by a dust cover.
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
Subsequent missions, currently under consideration by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.
For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020

Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Jan 24

Yup…I’ve lost my mind! By Mark Brown

2020 Perseverance Rover snow sculpture (front) image credit: Mark Brown

Yup…I’ve lost my mind. Most people will go out and build a snowman or an igloo. Not me. I decided to build a Snow Rover – or a likeness to the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover that will land on Mars on February 18. 
I had no idea how much interest this was going to generate. I nearly broke my Twitter account yesterday after I posted my images. But a lot of positive feedback has returned from my fellow NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors as well as many NASA scientists, etc. Since we are very limited on doing in person public outreach events I had to find a way to reach other people. 
I have been doing a lot of virtual Zoom presentations, but like other ambassadors, we are finding that people are getting tired of the virtual stuff. So, rather than make a snowman, I made a Mars Rover. As such for all those driving by in my neighborhood or taking their daily walks, they had something to look at and see. This was just a different form of “public outreach” for all to see and to have fun with….and yes to grab a selfie. I placed NASA fact sheet flyers and NASA stickers outside next to the rover for people to pick up. I’ve exhausted my supply. LOL

2020 Perseverance Rover snow sculpture (left) image credit: Mark Brown

It took me 3 days to build and I completed it on Monday when the rover was 30 days away from its landing….yeah, kind of planned it that way too. But I wanted to share with you so you can share with others if you choose. I know my kids said their FB accounts blew up when they posted my images. The media has even had a hayday with my images. So there is no telling how many people have seen or heard about it. My Twitter views are nearing 90K as I write this.
But that’s what I’ve been doing with my “spare” time.
Mark

2020 Perseverance Rover snow sculpture (right) image credit: Mark Brown

Dec 04

Analyzing Video Footage Of Collapse of Massive Arecibo Telescope : Scott Manley