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Mars Report: August 2018

August 20, 2018

What’s the latest news from Mars? A global dust storm is starting to settle, but still obscures the Martian surface; Curiosity turns six and drills a new rock sample; InSight is more than halfway to Mars and has tested its instruments and cameras.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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This image, acquired on May 15, 2018, by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows relatively bright mounds scattered throughout darker and diverse surfaces in Chryse Planitia.
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This image shows relatively bright mounds, hundreds of meters in size, scattered throughout darker and diverse surfaces in Chryse Planitia. The largest shows a central pit, similar to the collapsed craters in some Earth volcanoes.
Pitted Cones: Possible Methane Sources?
Interact with this 3D model of InSight.
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3D model of InSight
InSight Lander, 3D Model
This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows details of rock texture and color in an area where the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT) brushed away dust that ...
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This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows details of rock texture and color in an area where the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT) brushed away dust that was on the rock.
Zapped, Martian Rock (Annotated)
Preparing for a Mars Radar Test
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Preparing for a Mars Radar Test
Preparing for a Mars Radar Test
Using footage filmed at JPL when Spirit touched down on Jan. 3, 2004, as well an animation depicting the rover's arrival at the Red Planet, this video celebrates the 20th anniversary of Mars Explor...
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Image of representation of Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars.
Celebrating Spirit & Opportunity's 20th Anniversary Landing on Mars
Lucus Planum is a part of the enigmatic Medusa Fossae Formation, a broad, soft, and easily eroded deposit. Here this deposit is thin and considerably rougher than elsewhere, implying that it is hea...
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Lucus Planum is a part of the enigmatic Medusa Fossae Formation, a broad, soft, and easily eroded deposit.
Channel in Lucus Planum (3-D)
This image shows the calibration target for the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover.
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This image shows the calibration target for the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover.
Readying ChemCam
This video (part 2 of a 4 part series) shows engineers testing a new parachute in the largest wind tunnel on Earth for the Curiosity rover, prior to its landing on Mars in August 2012.
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The Martians: Testing Curiosity's Parachute - Part 2
The Martians: Testing Curiosity's Parachute - Part 2
This HiRISE image shows a group of cones, shield-like features, and round mounds.
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This HiRISE image shows a group of cones, shield-like features, and round mounds.
Small Mounds in Chryse Planitia (3-D)
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this sequence of views of the sun setting at the close of the mission's 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location in Gale Crater.
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this sequence of views of the sun setting at the close of the mission's 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location in Gale Crater.
Sunset Sequence in Mars' Gale Crater
At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians using an overhead crane, move the aeroshell, a component of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), ...
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At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians using an overhead crane, move the aeroshell, a component of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), back to a work stand after a spin and balance test.
Preparing the Aeroshell
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie on May 12, 2019 (the 2,405th Martian day, or sol, of the mission). To the lower-left of the rover are its two recent drill holes, at targets called "Abe...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie on May 12, 2019
Curiosity's Selfie at 'Aberlady' and 'Kilmarie'
This annotated composite image shows the path NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took through a dense section of boulders. It was acquired on June 29, 2023, the 838th day, or sol, of the mission, by on...
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This annotated composite image shows the path NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took through a dense section of boulders.
Perseverance's AutoNav Leads the Way
This image shows where NASA's Curiosity rover aimed two different instruments to study a pyramid-shaped rock known as "Jake Matijevic."
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This image shows where NASA's Curiosity rover aimed two different instruments to study a pyramid-shaped rock known as "Jake Matijevic."
Target: Jake Matijevic Rock (Annotated)
The lower portion of a mountain inside Gale crater on Mars contains layers that may be examined by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory.
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The lower portion of a mountain inside Gale crater on Mars contains layers that may be examined by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory.
Attractions in Layers of Mountain Inside Gale Crater
This panorama from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was taken on Dec. 19 (Sol 2265). The rover's last drill location on Vera Rubin Ridge is visible, as well as the clay regi...
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This panorama from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was taken on Dec. 19 (Sol 2265). The rover's last drill location on Vera Rubin Ridge is visible, as well as the clay region it will spend the next year exploring.
Curiosity's 360 Panorama of 'Rock Hall'
An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space.
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An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space.
MarCOs Cruise in Deep Space
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this view of various rock types at waypoint called "the Kimberley" shortly after arriving at the location on April 2, 2014. The site offers a diversity of rock ...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this view of various rock types at waypoint called "the Kimberley" shortly after arriving at the location on April 2, 2014. The site offers a diversity of rock types exposed close together in a decipherable geological relationship to each other.
Curiosity's View From Arrival Point at 'The Kimberley' Waypoint
This color image was acquired by the Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on the 25th day of the mission, or Sol 24 (June 19, 2008).
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track on Mars
Ice on Mars -- Now it's Gone
This graphic shows how navigators steering NASA's Mars Science Laboratory capsule - with the Curiosity rover tucked inside - are aiming for a pinpoint location above Mars. They liken it to threadin...
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This graphic shows how navigators steering NASA's Mars Science Laboratory capsule - with the Curiosity rover tucked inside - are aiming for a pinpoint location above Mars. They liken it to threading the eye of a needle.
Eye of the Needle
The Mast Unit for Mars 2020's SuperCam, shown being tested here, will use a laser to vaporize and study rock material on the Red Planet's surface.
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The Mast Unit for Mars 2020's SuperCam, shown being tested here, will use a laser to vaporize and study rock material on the Red Planet's surface.
SuperCam's Mast Unit Being Tested at Los Alamos National Laboratory
The Mars 2020 rover undergoes an "eye" exam after several cameras were installed. The rover carries everything from wide-angle landscape cameras to narrow-angle high-resolution zoom lens cameras. T...
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The Mars 2020 rover undergoes an "eye" exam after several cameras were installed. The rover carries everything from wide-angle landscape cameras to narrow-angle high-resolution zoom lens cameras. The image was taken on July 23, 2019, in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
A Clean Room With a View
This image shows the location (green) where scientists estimate NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars within Gale Crater, based on images from the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI).
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Narrowing in on Curiosity's Landing Site
Narrowing in on Curiosity's Landing Site
Anniversary artwork of NASA Viking 1 and Viking 2 Orbiters and Landers. Infographic text: Viking. Celebrating 40 Years. 1976-2016. #viking40
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Anniversary artwork of NASA Viking 1 and Viking 2 Orbiters and Landers. Infographic text: Viking. Celebrating 40 Years. 1976-2016. #viking40
Viking 40 Year Anniversary Artwork: Medal
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory participate in a training exercise in February 2020. They reviewed images and data sent by a field team in the Nevada desert, discussing where to send...
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A group of scientists in a conference room
Scientists Training for Mars Rover Operations

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