Skip to main content

Secondary menu

User menu

  • Join
  • OR
  • Log In

MNN - Mother Nature Network

Wednesday, May 22, 2013
SPECIAL FEATURES:
  • Leaderboard
  • Nest
  • TreeHugger
  • Photos
  • Blogs
  • SB 2013
  • Joy of Less

Search form

Social links

Main menu

  • Earth Matters
    • Browse all »
    • Animals
    • Weather
    • Energy
    • Politics
    • Space
    • Translating Uncle Sam
    • Wilderness & Resources
  • Health
    • Browse all »
    • Allergies
    • Fitness & Well-Being
    • Healthy Spaces
  • Lifestyle
    • Browse all »
    • Arts & Culture
    • Travel
    • Natural Beauty & Fashion
    • Recycling
    • Responsible Living
  • Green Tech
    • Browse all »
    • Computers
    • Gadgets & Electronics
    • Research & Innovations
    • Transportation
  • Eco-Biz & Money
    • Browse all »
    • Green Workplace
    • Personal Finance
    • Sustainable Business Practices
  • Food & Drink
    • Browse all »
    • Beverages
    • Healthy Eating
    • Recipes
  • Your Home
    • Browse all »
    • At Home
    • Organic Farming & Gardening
    • Remodeling & Design
  • Family
    • Browse all »
    • Babies & Pregnancy
    • Family Activities
    • Pets
    • Protection & Safety

Breadcrumb Navigation

MNN.COM › Earth Matters › Translating Uncle Sam
    x
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Bookmark and ShareShare
  • Earn Points
    What's this?
Interactive: Explore the surface of Mars
As NASA begins its post-shuttle era and the International Space Station nears retirement, Mars is fast emerging as the next frontier in space travel. Tour 12 of the red planet's most intriguing places with this interactive guide from MNN.

By

Russell McLendon
Wed, Oct 12 2011 at 9:04 AM
 5

Related Topics:

Environmental Science, NASA, Mars
 
Mars isn't just a hot field of study these days — it's red hot.
 
With NASA's space shuttle program now retired, and the International Space Station set to follow suit in 2020, Mars has quickly emerged as the Next Big Thing in human space travel. Not only is it Earth's closest sibling and a logical next step in exploring the solar system, but thanks to unmanned orbiters and rovers, it has also recently begun spilling its secrets like never before.
 
A flurry of new research points to water on Mars, suggesting the red planet was once — and may still be — hospitable to life. The long journey from Earth to Mars isn't very hospitable, though, so it will likely be decades before any human sets foot there. Still, several space agencies are already planning such a trip, with lots of small steps leading up to that giant leap.
 
This fall, for example, NASA plans to launch "Curiosity" (pictured below), its biggest and most sophisticated Mars rover yet. Barring any delays, Curiosity should land on the red planet in August 2012, where it will carry out NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission — an ambitious project to "assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life." On top of that, NASA hopes MSL will also "serve as an entree to the next decade of Mars exploration."
 
RED ROVER: An artist's concept of the Curiosity rover. (Image: MSL/NASA)
 
As that next decade unfolds, the distance between Earth and Mars will likely seem to shrink. Humans have known about the red planet for at least 3,000 years — ever since ancient Egyptians dubbed it "Horus of the Horizon" — but only now are scientists finally on the cusp of answering questions that have been piling up for centuries.
 
In addition to NASA's Curiosity rover, China plans to launch its first Mars probe this November, a micro-satellite named Yinghuo-1 that will study the mysterious history of Mars' surface water. An international team of researchers is also nearing the end of a 520-day simulated mission to Mars, called Mars500, in which six people (three Russians, two Europeans and one Chinese) have been living in an enclosed capsule on Earth since June 3, 2010. The project will conclude on Nov. 4, and the head of the European Space Agency recently said it sets the stage for Europe and Russia to "carry out the first flight to Mars together," although no timetable has been set.
 
The U.S. aims to put people on Mars sometime in the 2030s, shortly after its goal of conducting a manned flight to an asteroid by 2025. Both missions mark uncharted territory for any space agency, since no human has ever traveled farther than the moon, and they both carry huge risks. In the meantime, Curiosity is set to join Opportunity, an aging NASA rover that's been on the Martian surface for seven years, while three orbiters — NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and 2001 Mars Odyssey, and the ESA's Mars Express — survey the planet from above.
 
For anyone nosy about Earth's closest neighbor, all this should make for an exciting couple of decades. And to help you prepare for Mars mania, MNN offers the interactive graphic above, which highlights 12 key areas on the planet's surface. From Gale Crater (where Curiosity will land in 2012) and Newton Crater (where scientists have found what looks like liquid water), to alien wastelands like Vastitas Borealis and Arabia Terra, the graphic introduces obscure places that could soon be household names.
 
For a look at how Curiosity will arrive on Mars, and what it'll do once it gets there, check out this dramatic animation produced by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
 
 
Also on MNN:
  • 8 jaw-dropping images of Mars
  • The gastronomic challenges of sending a man to Mars
  • Life on Mars? Fossil find shows it's possible
  • Water on Mars: Scientists find strongest evidence yet
 
To stay up to date on all Mars-related news and info, check out MNN's Mars HQ.
 
MNN homepage photo: NASA 

You might also like:

Join the conversation

Comments: 5
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
Log in or
create an account
  • Sign in using this account:
jaxbass's picture
JaxBass Nov 14 2012 at 2:36 PM
What an exciting time for space discovery... Besides a select few places on Earth (like most of Papua New Guinea), Space is truly the last unexplored frontier. I think it's truly incredible and fascinating how small we are in the grand scheme of life, the universe and everything and how little we know of it. Let's hope Obama can successfully traverse over the fiscal cliff and won't screw over NASA when he delegates how much funding to give to each governmental agency. As a great action figure once
.... More
said, "To infinity and beyond!"
|
  • Log in or register to post comments
  • Report This Post 
anonymous
Geology Lovell Oct 14 2011 at 12:36 PM
Over 30 years ago I discovered that Earth has a way that it stores images of People and events and more which are now images from the worlds past and I also found how to get these images from the worlds past that must go all the way back in time to the beginning . I have worked on and with this discovery every day since I found it. I can get images every day all day long every day of people doing their thing . I get images of people in wagons , Riding horses, Burying treasures, Working fields Indians
.... More
taking a scalp, Animals objects even a single coin in the desert or many coins on a hillside that was once buried and landslides carried it down the hill. I have got images of old planes hitting a mountain. And in New Mexico I saw images of ships on mountains and a man standing on deck that seems to be looking over the horizon wearing an old 133th century helmet I think it was 13th cent. ----------Skipping a lot of information----------I decided to see if this would work the same on other planets and you will not understand how I do it with Satellite images or Photographic images but it can and does work ----I decided to look at NASA's and Hubble images and any I can get and First choice was Mars and I looked and looked and not finding enough to prove anything so I moved on to -----Titan and with a very limited amount of good pictures I found very good pictures of very Human looking Male and Female people and an animal that looked something like a deer. These pictures are very good and since the images are so good there might still be life on Titan. -------Back to Mars-------Recently I found images of Humans on Mars near their entrance to underground so since I never saw much on the surface of Mars before except at entrances I suggest they do live under ground and the Recent pictures from our explorer Oppertunity I found all around the so called Crater area images of people and even objects that have the look of tools and equipment . THEY DO LIVE UNDERGROUND ! I sure hope they are still alive and will come out to investigate and find our rover. I am very sure I sound nuts/crazy but I am the one that has found it and I could sure teach NASA much more than a thing or two about studying their pictures of planets and space. NASA is just great except they are missing the boat on this very important discovery of mine. Their people that study images needs to learn my discovery and the only way is in person otherwise they are wasting our money looking for life when the information is at my fingertips. So yes now I know there has been very human looking people on Mars and also on Titan. How much you think the first pictures of people on another planet are worth ? It is most important that they learn what I discovered in person it is too hard to convince them of anything or teach them unless it is in person. Now how can we get them to see this in person ? How do I get Scientist to look into this ? With this discovery I can get images of areas like the Nazca lines in Peru, and Images around Stonehenge that will go a long way in helping us understand about them. What about images form Mt.Moses etc.
|
  • Log in or register to post comments
  • Report This Post 
anonymous
Guest Nov 01 2011 at 10:11 AM

oh boy, then why don't you show us?

|
  • Log in or register to post comments
  • Report This Post 
anonymous
bwmmiller Oct 13 2011 at 7:32 AM

Perhaps, after the Golden Age that spawned NASA returns to America, but not now, we cannot afford it!

|
  • Log in or register to post comments
  • Report This Post 
anonymous
Guest Oct 14 2011 at 1:50 PM
does anyone remember how obama enacted a "budget freeze" which lasted only long enough for him to ruin NASA's plans to go to mars? apparently we can afford to have 5 or 6 construction workers stand around watching while 1 person works on a pothole, but not afford to fund technologies which could give us a major advantage over the next decades. ignorant people will try to claim that the space program has given us nothing, but if you own a computer which can fit into your house, have ever used velcro,
.... More
ever watched a modern television with a satellite link up, etc, you have gained from NASA's work. also, can someone please explain why we are dependent on the russians' ancient technology to go into space when people are saying the shuttle program is antiquated?
|
  • Log in or register to post comments
  • Report This Post 

ADD YOUR COMMENT

Log in or register to post comments

EDITORS' PICKS

tease snake

line

tease book destinations

line

tease rebound cities

Advertisement

TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON

  1. Tornado survivor finds dog during live TV interview
  2. 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
  3. Why we turn to dogs when disaster strikes
  4. 5 of the best-looking cars ever
  5. Superfoods: 11 berries to improve your health
  6. From Portland, a DIY coffee maker for your Mason jar collection
  7. Bride finds self-esteem by taking a diet from her mirror
  8. 13 natural remedies for the ant invasion
  9. Rebounding from adversity: 7 cities that have survived tragedy
  10. 10 false facts most people think are true
+ Add this to my site

NEWSLETTER

Mother Nature. Delivered
Advertisement
Advertisement
Google Profile

Footer menu

  • Quick Links
    • Joy of Less
    • About Us
    • Advisory Board
    • Editors' Blog
    • Press
    • Privacy
    • Sitemap
    • Terms of Service
  • MNN Tools
    • Advice
    • Blogs
    • Day in History
    • Eco-glossary
    • Infographics
    • Lists
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Connect
    • The Nest
    • Contact Us
    • Mixed Greens
    • Newsletters
    • RSS
    • Social
    • TreeHugger
    • Mobile
  • Channels
    • Earth Matters
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Green Tech
    • Eco-Biz & Money
    • Your Home
    • Family
    • State Reports
  • Follow MNN
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Tumblr
    • Google+
    • StumbleUpon

Copyright © 2013 MNN Holdings, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Website by GLICK INTERACTIVE | Powered by CIRRACORE

SPONSORS