The ground in Elysium is made of volcanic flows. That's according to the newest geologic map of Mars, above, from the U.S. Geological Survey. Elysium Planitia is a named feature on Mars, but we're guessing the area is rather drier than the mythical Elysium that Homer described as a meadowed paradise.
One year to the day after Curiosity made its incredible sky-crane landing onto Mars, Mattel has announced that Barbie will be joining the rover on the red planet. Mars Explorer Barbie wears a very close-fitting space suit with pink plastic space boots, helmet and backpack. (We hope her "one-doll mission" isn't also one-way.)
NASA's next Mars moves should focus on bringing chunks of Mars back to Earth, possibly in a hand-off between a robot and an astronaut, according to a new planning document. Involving humans in a space-based rock swap would ensure the sample is protected and Earth is protected - and it would probably make sense anyway, given the timing and budget constraints for NASA's Mars plans.
Since Mars Curiosity Rover's landing in the Red Planet's Gale Crater last month, we've seen pictures from just about every imaging instrument aboard the robotic geology lab. But today, we're seeing a different kind of image: a self-portrait of Curiosity snapped by the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, the camera fixed to the end of the rover's seven-foot robotic arm. Everything you snapped on Instagram over the weekend suddenly pales in comparison, no?
NASA has just released the best-looking photo (above) we have of the Gale Crater, the piece of the Red Planet where Mars rover Curiosity landed last night. The photo shows the rim of the crater on the horizon and a gravel field in the foreground, as seen through a fisheye lens, a part of the many cameras Curiosity has on board.