WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — Following a thorough evaluation, NASA has extended the planetary science missions of eight of its spacecraft due to their scientific productivity and potential to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the solar system and beyond.

The missions – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover), InSight lander, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, OSIRIS-REx, and New Horizons – have been selected for continuation, assuming their spacecraft remain healthy. Most of the missions will be extended for three years; however, OSIRIS-REx will be continued for nine years in order to reach a new destination, and InSight will be continued until the end of 2022, unless the spacecraft’s electrical power allows for longer operations.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — With only about 50 million miles (80 million kilometers) left to go in its 293-million-mile (471-million-kilometer) journey, NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is nearing its new planetary home. The spacecraft has begun its approach to the Red Planet and in 43 days, on Feb. 18, 2021, Perseverance will blaze through Mars’ atmosphere at about 12,100 mph (19,500 kph), touching down gently on the surface about seven minutes later.

Technicians at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, prepare the heat shield for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), critical hardware to place the Curiosity rover on the red planet last August. This view shows the inner surface of the (MSL) heat shield, where technicians are installing electronics of an instrument for collecting data about temperature and pressure during descent through the (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — As the New Year unfolds, NASA is looking forward as well as reflecting upon recent payoffs in its portfolio of space technology investments.

“Last year was an amazing year for space technology,” said Michael Gazarik, Director of NASA’s Space Technology Program (STP). “We are developing, testing, and flying technologies in over 800 projects. The technologies we need for tomorrow, we’re building them today.”

(more…)

Video streaming by Ustream President Barack Obama called the Mars Curiosity team at JPL this morning to congratulate them on a successful landing.

PRESS RELEASE

Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has completed production and testing of the heatshield for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The heatshield is half of the large and sophisticated two-part aeroshell that will encapsulate and protect the Curiosity rover during its deep space cruise to Mars, and from the intense heat and friction that will be generated as the system descends through the Martian atmosphere.

(more…)

Clara Ma signs Curiosity in the JPL clean room. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA MISSION UPDATE

Twelve-year-old Clara Ma flew from Kansas to JPL to meet and sign the next rover that will zoom millions of miles to Mars. The trip is Clara’s prize for winning an essay contest in which she named the rover “Curiosity.”

(more…)

Sorry, Colbert – No Mars Rover For You
Popular Science

NASA wants your vote on what to name its SUV-sized Mars Science Laboratory that remains parked on Earth until 2011 — but Stephen Colbert won’t get the chance to add this piece of space hardware as a new namesake.

(more…)

Mars Mission Has Some Seeing Red
The Washington Post

This is the Mars Science Laboratory, the space agency’s next big mission to the most Earth-like planet in the solar system. But it’s been a magnet for controversy, and a reminder that the robotic exploration of other worlds is never a snap, especially when engineers decide to get ambitious.

(more…)

Statement from Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society:

“Mars exploration has always had its ups and downs, but if history has taught us one thing it is that every setback has been ultimately followed by astounding new accomplishments. MSL will be worth waiting for.”

(more…)