Mars 2020 Update: A Chopper Is Riding With America's Next Rover To The Red Planet...

NASA / JPL - CalTech

Mars Helicopter to Fly on NASA’s Next Red Planet Rover Mission (Press Release)

NASA is sending a helicopter to Mars.

The Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft, will travel with the agency’s Mars 2020 rover mission, currently scheduled to launch in July 2020, to demonstrate the viability and potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on the Red Planet.

“NASA has a proud history of firsts,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “The idea of a helicopter flying the skies of another planet is thrilling. The Mars Helicopter holds much promise for our future science, discovery, and exploration missions to Mars.”

U.S. Rep. John Culberson of Texas echoed Bridenstine’s appreciation of the impact of American firsts on the future of exploration and discovery.

“It’s fitting that the United States of America is the first nation in history to fly the first heavier-than-air craft on another world,” Culberson said. “This exciting and visionary achievement will inspire young people all over the United States to become scientists and engineers, paving the way for even greater discoveries in the future.”

Started in August 2013 as a technology development project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Mars Helicopter had to prove that big things could come in small packages. The result of the team’s four years of design, testing and redesign weighs in at little under four pounds (1.8 kilograms). Its fuselage is about the size of a softball, and its twin, counter-rotating blades will bite into the thin Martian atmosphere at almost 3,000 rpm – about 10 times the rate of a helicopter on Earth.

“Exploring the Red Planet with NASA’s Mars Helicopter exemplifies a successful marriage of science and technology innovation and is a unique opportunity to advance Mars exploration for the future,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency headquarters in Washington. “After the Wright Brothers proved 117 years ago that powered, sustained, and controlled flight was possible here on Earth, another group of American pioneers may prove the same can be done on another world.”

The helicopter also contains built-in capabilities needed for operation at Mars, including solar cells to charge its lithium-ion batteries, and a heating mechanism to keep it warm through the cold Martian nights. But before the helicopter can fly at Mars it has to get there. It will do so attached to the belly pan of the Mars 2020 rover.

“The altitude record for a helicopter flying here on Earth is about 40,000 feet. The atmosphere of Mars is only one percent that of Earth, so when our helicopter is on the Martian surface, it’s already at the Earth equivalent of 100,000 feet up,” said Mimi Aung, Mars Helicopter project manager at JPL. “To make it fly at that low atmospheric density, we had to scrutinize everything, make it as light as possible while being as strong and as powerful as it can possibly be.”

Once the rover is on the planet’s surface, a suitable location will be found to deploy the helicopter down from the vehicle and place it onto the ground. The rover then will be driven away from the helicopter to a safe distance from which it will relay commands. After its batteries are charged and a myriad of tests are performed, controllers on Earth will command the Mars Helicopter to take its first autonomous flight into history.

“We don’t have a pilot and Earth will be several light minutes away, so there is no way to joystick this mission in real time,” said Aung. “Instead, we have an autonomous capability that will be able to receive and interpret commands from the ground, and then fly the mission on its own.”

The full 30-day flight test campaign will include up to five flights of incrementally farther flight distances, up to a few hundred meters, and longer durations as long as 90 seconds, over a period. On its first flight, the helicopter will make a short vertical climb to 10 feet (3 meters), where it will hover for about 30 seconds.

As a technology demonstration, the Mars Helicopter is considered a high-risk, high-reward project. If it does not work, the Mars 2020 mission will not be impacted. If it does work, helicopters may have a real future as low-flying scouts and aerial vehicles to access locations not reachable by ground travel.

“The ability to see clearly what lies beyond the next hill is crucial for future explorers,” said Zurbuchen. “We already have great views of Mars from the surface as well as from orbit. With the added dimension of a bird’s-eye view from a ‘marscopter,’ we can only imagine what future missions will achieve.”

Mars 2020 will launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and is expected to reach Mars in February 2021.

The rover will conduct geological assessments of its landing site on Mars, determine the habitability of the environment, search for signs of ancient Martian life, and assess natural resources and hazards for future human explorers. Scientists will use the instruments aboard the rover to identify and collect samples of rock and soil, encase them in sealed tubes, and leave them on the planet’s surface for potential return to Earth on a future Mars mission.

The Mars 2020 Project at JPL in Pasadena, California, manages rover development for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

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InSight Update #2: "WALL-E" And "EVE" Are En Route To Mars As Well!

NASA / JPL - Caltech

NASA's First Deep-Space CubeSats Say: 'Polo!' (Press Release)

NASA has received radio signals indicating that the first-ever CubeSats headed to deep space are alive and well. The first signal was received at 12:15 p.m. PST (3:15 p.m. EST) today; the second at 1:58 p.m. PST (4:58 p.m. EST). Engineers will now be performing a series of checks before both CubeSats enter their cruise to deep space.

Mars Cube One, or MarCO, is a pair of briefcase-sized spacecraft that launched along with NASA's InSight Mars lander at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT) today from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California. InSight is a scientific mission that will probe the Red Planet's deep interior for the first time; the name stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport.

The twin MarCO CubeSats are on their own separate mission: rather than collecting science, they will follow the InSight lander on its cruise to Mars, testing out miniature spacecraft technology along the way.

Both were programmed to unfold their solar panels soon after launch, followed by several opportunities to radio back their health.

"Both MarCO-A and B say 'Polo!' It's a sign that the little sats are alive and well," said Andy Klesh, chief engineer for the MarCO mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which built the twin spacecraft.

The computers inside each MarCO CubeSat haven't been turned on since being tested at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in mid-March, where they were prepared for launch by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems of Irvine, California. Each spacecraft had to do a lot of things right by itself for the team to hear a signal: batteries had to retain enough charge for the spacecraft to deploy their solar arrays, stabilize their attitude, turn toward the Sun and turn on their radios.

A couple of weeks will be spent assessing how the MarCO CubeSats are performing. If they survive the radiation of space and function as planned, they'll fly over the Red Planet during InSight's entry, descent and landing in November. They each have a special antenna to relay InSight's vital signs during the infamous "Seven Minutes of Terror," the crucial phase which has claimed the majority of humanity's probes sent to land on the Red Planet.

CubeSats are a kind of boxy satellite invented to teach engineering students how to build spacecraft. Today, they offer access to space for private companies and research institutions. They're just one kind of "SmallSat," which includes a broad range organized by weight class. CubeSats are generally under 33 pounds (15 kilograms), and can weigh as little as about five pounds (2.5 kilograms). They're distinctively modular, which makes it easier to buy "plug-in" parts rather than custom-design every part of the spacecraft.

NASA is taking the opportunity to test several experimental systems with MarCO. Their radios, folding high-gain antennas, attitude control and propulsion systems are all included to prove new technologies in deep space.

"We're nervous but excited," said Joel Krajewski of JPL, MarCO's project manager. "A lot of work went into designing and testing these components so that they could survive the trip to Mars and relay data during InSight's landing. But our broader goal is to learn more about how to adapt CubeSat technologies for future deep-space missions."

When InSight arrives on Mars in November, it won't rely on MarCO for sending landing data back to Earth. That job will go to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, as well as several Earth-based astronomy telescopes. But the MarCO mission could help prove the potential for CubeSats as a kind of bring-your-own "black box" for future NASA missions.

MarCO was built by JPL, which manages InSight and MarCO for NASA. It was funded by both JPL and NASA's Science Mission Directorate. A number of commercial suppliers provided unique technologies for MarCO.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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NASA TV / United Launch Alliance

America's Newest Mars Lander Is Now En Route to Elysium Planitia on the Red Planet!

NASA / Cory Huston

NASA, ULA Launch Mission to Study How Mars Was Made (Press Release)

NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission is on a 300-million-mile trip to Mars to study for the first time what lies deep beneath the surface of the Red Planet. InSight launched at 7:05 a.m. EDT (4:05 am PDT) Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

“The United States continues to lead the way to Mars with this next exciting mission to study the Red Planet’s core and geological processes,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I want to congratulate all the teams from NASA and our international partners who made this accomplishment possible. As we continue to gain momentum in our work to send astronauts back to the Moon and on to Mars, missions like InSight are going to prove invaluable.”

First reports indicate the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket that carried InSight into space was seen as far south as Carlsbad, California, and as far east as Oracle, Arizona. One person recorded video of the launch from a private aircraft flying along the California coast.

Riding the Centaur second stage of the rocket, the spacecraft reached orbit 13 minutes and 16 seconds after launch. Seventy-nine minutes later, the Centaur ignited a second time, sending InSight on a trajectory towards the Red Planet. InSight separated from the Centaur 14 minutes later – 93 minutes after launch – and contacted the spacecraft via NASA’s Deep Space Network at 8:41 a.m. EDT (5:41 PDT).

“The Kennedy Space Center and ULA teams gave us a great ride today and started InSight on our six-and-a-half-month journey to Mars,” said Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “We’ve received positive indication the InSight spacecraft is in good health and we are all excited to be going to Mars once again to do groundbreaking science.”

With its successful launch, NASA’s InSight team now is focusing on the six-month voyage. During the cruise phase of the mission, engineers will check out the spacecraft’s subsystems and science instruments, making sure its solar arrays and antenna are oriented properly, tracking its trajectory and performing maneuvers to keep it on course.

InSight is scheduled to land on the Red Planet around 3 p.m. EST Nov. 26, where it will conduct science operations until Nov. 24, 2020, which equates to one year and 40 days on Mars, or nearly two Earth years.

“Scientists have been dreaming about doing seismology on Mars for years. In my case, I had that dream 40 years ago as a graduate student, and now that shared dream has been lofted through the clouds and into reality,” said Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at JPL.

The InSight lander will probe and collect data on marsquakes, heat flow from the planet’s interior and the way the planet wobbles, to help scientists understand what makes Mars tick and the processes that shaped the four rocky planets of our inner solar system.

“InSight will not only teach us about Mars, it will enhance our understanding of formation of other rocky worlds like Earth and the Moon, and thousands of planets around other stars,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency headquarters in Washington. "InSight connects science and technology with a diverse team of JPL-led international and commercial partners."

Previous missions to Mars investigated the surface history of the Red Planet by examining features like canyons, volcanoes, rocks and soil, but no one has attempted to investigate the planet's earliest evolution, which can only be found by looking far below the surface.

“InSight will help us unlock the mysteries of Mars in a new way, by not just studying the surface of the planet, but by looking deep inside to help us learn about the earliest building blocks of the planet,” said JPL Director Michael Watkins.

JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The InSight spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch service acquisition, integration, analysis, and launch management. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is NASA's launch service provider.

A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument, with significant contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Göttingen, Germany. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument.

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NASA TV / United Launch Alliance


NASA

InSight Update: T-Minus 2 Days Till Launch!

NASA / JPL

NASA's First Mission to Study the Interior of Mars Awaits May 5 Launch (News Release)

All systems are go for NASA's next launch to the Red Planet.

The early-morning liftoff on Saturday of the Mars InSight lander will mark the first time in history an interplanetary launch will originate from the West Coast. InSight will launch from the U.S. Air Force Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 3E. The two-hour launch window will open on May 5 at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT).

InSight, for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. InSight will study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all rocky planets formed, including Earth and its Moon. The lander's instruments include a seismometer to detect marsquakes, and a probe that will monitor the flow of heat from the planet's interior.

The ULA rocket will carry the spacecraft over the Channel Islands just off the California Coast and continue climbing out over the Pacific, shadowing the coastline south beyond Baja California. InSight's Atlas will reach orbit about 13 minutes after launch, when the rocket is about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) northwest of Isabella Island, Ecuador.

"For those Southern Californians who are interested in rockets or space exploration, or have insomnia, we hope to put on a great show this Saturday," said Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "But for those who want to sleep in on Saturday, there will be another opportunity to engage with this historic mission. We will be landing on Mars in the western Elysium Planitia region on Monday, Nov. 26, around noon Pacific time. You will be able to watch a live stream of this landing while working on your holiday shopping."

Getting a Mars mission flying requires a great many milestones. Among those still to come are the official start of the countdown to launch -- which comes on Friday, May 4 at 10:14 p.m. PDT (Saturday, May 5, 1:14 a.m. EDT). A little over an hour later, at about 11:30 p.m. PDT (May 5, 2:30 a.m. EDT), the 260-foot-tall (80-meter) Mobile Service Tower -- a structure that has been protecting the Atlas V launch vehicle and its InSight payload during their vertical assembly -- will begin a 20-minute long, 250-foot (about 80-meter) roll away from the Atlas. Four hours and 25 minutes later, the launch window will open.

"I've been to several rocket launches, but it is a whole different vibe when there is something you've been working on for years sitting in the nose cone waiting to get hurled beyond our atmosphere," said Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at JPL. "But as exciting as launch day will be, it's just a first step in a journey that should tell us not only why Mars formed the way it did, but how planets take shape in general."

InSight's launch period is May 5 through June 8, 2018, with multiple launch opportunities over windows of approximately two hours each date. Launch opportunities are set five minutes apart during each date's window. Whichever date the launch occurs, InSight's landing on Mars is planned for Nov. 26, 2018, around noon PST (3 p.m. EST).

JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The InSight spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida provides launch management. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is NASA's launch service provider of the Atlas 5 rocket. A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. In particular, CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument, with significant contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Solar Systems Research (MPS). DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

LA to Vegas...

So what's the word on this show's chances of being renewed for a second season? I watched the season (hopefully not series) finale of LA to Vegas yesterday, and needless to say, I wanna see more wacky exploits by these Jackpot Airline (no, it's not a real airline) employees. It's hilarious to see Peter Stormare (of Armageddon, Prison Break and John Wick 2 fame) once again sporting a Russian accent but not being a homicidal criminal on this sitcom. And ditto with Dylan McDermott—who went from being a traitorous former Secret Service agent in the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen to playing Jackpot Airlines' goofy pilot Captain Dave. Olivia Macklin is Nichole...a beautiful Vegas stripper with a heart of gold (like Vivica A. Fox in 1996's Independence Day), while Kim Matula and Nathan Lee Graham portray Ronnie and Bernard, the crazy duo who keep life aboard their Jackpot airliner from descending into chaos during the flights from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and vice versa. And to round out the cast: Amir Talai plays Captain Dave's bumbling co-pilot Alan, and Ed Weeks portrays Colin; a divorced father of one who should finally get things goin' with Ronnie if LA to Vegas sees another season.

So yea, while LA to Vegas has ways to go before it replaces The Big Bang Theory as my all-time favorite sitcom (unless TBBT does end after Season 12 as rumored), it's a hilarious TV show that I try not to miss on Tuesday nights. I might also be biased here; I worked as a background actor on the show at Fox Studios last fall! You can see me as the blur wearing a dark-gray short-sleeved shirt and jeans (and carrying that large black bag) in the screenshots below. They're from episode 1.5: The Fellowship of the Bear, which aired on February 6. Anyways, did I mention that Nichole is so beautiful? Just thought I'd say it again. Happy Hump Day.

Photos of the Day: A Hawk on the Rooftop...

Just thought I'd begin this month by posting these photos that I took of a hawk perched on the rooftop of my neighbor's house last Saturday evening. Such a majestic bird (of prey). These pics would've been a bit more interesting if the hawk actually responded to the northern mockingbird that was trying to get it to leave. Prey vs. predator... Let's see Mother Nature in action!

These images were taken with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera. That is all.

Photos of the Day: Giada at The Grove...

Last Tuesday, I went to The Grove near Beverly Hills to attend a discussion and book signing by Giada De Laurentiis...the food connoisseur who writes, owns a few restaurants and also hosted her own TV show, Giada at Home, on the Food Network. Laurentiis was so nice and outgoing in person! During a discussion of her newest publication Giada's Italy, she also answered questions by attendees about such things as to whether her young daughter Jade wanted to be a chef like her [she doesn't, but Jade enjoys cooking and likes holding a knife in her hand to chop things (it was a lot funnier when her mom explained it)], and why Giada doesn't write cocktail books (they don't sell as well as regular cookbooks do). Laurentiis also answered a fan's question about what was the best place to visit in Italy (I forgot what she said), and that the best Italian restaurant to dine at in New York City is Antica Pesa. Very cool.



There are so many enticing recipes in Giada's Italy. Crab arancini. Pappa al pomodoro. Positano pizzas. Creamy sweet corn with pancetta. Lots of dishes in Laurentiis' book that I wanna grub on. Of course, I'd have to be careful with the ones whose ingredients may be high in oxalate (this is Italian food, so that's gonna be challenging)— Lousy kidney stone issue. Anyways, this is my Blog entry to end the month of April on... Happy Monday!

Back in the Day: My HALO Tandem Skydive...

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci



Five years ago today, I conducted a HALO jump above Whiteville, Tennessee...from an altitude of 29,190 feet. Here are a couple of photos from my webpage that's devoted to this awesome jump; you can check out the rest of the images in the link provided below. Chances are I'll re-post these pics again in 2023—to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of my HALO tandem skydive! Carry on.

LINK: Click here for more images from my HALO tandem skydive















"Sometimes you have to go up so high to realize just how small you really are."
-Felix Baumgartner (October 14, 2012)

InSight Update: T-Minus 1 Week Till Launch!

USAF 30th Space Wing / Aaron Taubman

Just thought I'd share these pics of NASA's InSight Mars lander as it was recently encapsulated by the payload fairing of the Atlas V rocket that will send it to the Red Planet on May 5 (at 4:05 AM, Pacific Daylight Time). I'm trying to decide if I'm going to get up hours before dawn and watch the launch on NASA TV (for full coverage of lift-off through spacecraft separation), or drive to a local park and see if I can spot the rocket soaring into space from Los Angeles County. In case you're wondering, InSight will be the first interplanetary spacecraft to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base 100+ miles from where I live here in Southern California...as opposed to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Awesome.


USAF 30th Space Wing


USAF 30th Space Wing


USAF 30th Space Wing / Daniel Herrera


USAF 30th Space Wing / Leif Heimbold


USAF 30th Space Wing / Leif Heimbold

Photos of the Day: A Brief Visit to Mexico...

Just thought I'd share these pics that I took one month ago today...when the ship I traveled on during an 11-day cruise, the Norwegian Jade, made a 7 to 8-hour stop at Costa Maya on the eastern coast of Mexico. I took these images before and after I visited the Mayan ruins in Chacchoben on the same day (you can see the photos in the link below). Costa Maya was the sixth and final port that the Norwegian Jade docked at before we returned to Miami on March 23. As you can see, this is a beautiful locale... Cancun is a 4 to 5-hour trip from this resort. (I have no intention of going to Cancun.) Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

PS: Six of these ten photos were taken with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera. Guess which ones?

LINK: Additional photos I took on my cruise to Central America