Image of the Day: 4/10/14

(Photo Credit: ISRO)

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has captured its first complete portrait of Mars, including a massive dust storm and the Red Planet’s southern polar ice cap.

European Space Agency considers landing sites for ExoMars mission

(The ExoMars Rover – Photo Credit: ESA/RT)

The European Space Agency are currently considering four possible landing sites for its ExoMars mission: an endeavour with Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, which will deploy a rover onto the surface of Mars to search for evidence of past or present Martian life.

After a two year trek, Curiosity finally arrives at Mount Sharp: its long-term science destination

(Photo Credit: NASA)

After 2 years and nearly 9 kilometers of driving, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover has reached its long-term destination: Mount Sharp, a mountain at the centre of the vast Gale Crater.

Opportunity rover to have memory reformatted

(Opportunity captured this view just after completing a 338-foot southward drive, in reverse – Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

An increasing frequency of computer resets on NASA’s Mars Exploration Opportunity Rover has prompted engineers to make plans to reformat the rover’s flash memory. 

Martian ‘Bonanza King’ rock deemed unsuitable for Curiosity drilling

(Curiosity preparing to test the rock – Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Evaluation of a Martian rock, scheduled to be the next drilling target for NASA’s Curiosity rover, has revealed that it was not stable enough for a safe drilling, therefore Curiosity has abandoned its fourth drilling target and will now continue travelling towards its long term science destination in the Gale Crater.

Curiosity rover prepares for fourth Martian rock drilling

(Curiosity rover snapped this image looking up the ramp at the northeastern end of the “Hidden Valley”. Drilling target “Bonanza King” is at the centre of the scene – Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has chosen its next target: a rock that looks like a pale paving stone.