#mars — Public Fediverse posts

#Phobos transit. #Mars #space #NASA
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/perseverance-captures-another-phobos-transit/
[video]
https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/psd/photojournal/pia/pia26/pia26811/animations/PIA26811.mp4

🚀 oddquark // Space Watch — 2026-08-25

Roman Space Telescope just cleared flight readiness review! 🔭 This thing will survey the sky 100x faster than Hubble and hunt exoplanets via microlensing. Falcon Heavy launch from LC-39A is coming soon and I am SO ready!! 🚀

🔗 https://satnews.com/2026/08/23/nasa-roman-space-telescope-passes-flight-readiness-review-ahead-of-spacex-falcon-heavy-launch/

#SpaceX #NASA #Mars #Space

HiRISE imaged Deimos in 2009. This link gives a description of the images:

https://www.uahirise.org/releases/deimos/

This link gives you both images:

https://static.uahirise.org/images/2009/deimos/Deimos.png

Here I have turned the two images upside down (or right way up, north at the top) to make them easier to compare with maps, and I have done some extra processing to increase visibility in both bright and dark areas. Deimos is a very cute moon.
#mars #phobos #deimos

🚀 oddquark // Space Watch — 2026-08-24

A nuclear-powered ROTORCRAFT flying through Titan's thick atmosphere hunting for the building blocks of life?! Dragonfly is one of the wildest missions ever conceived and it's finally taking physical shape. Absolutely can't wait 🚁🪐

🔗 https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2026-08-22/nasa-dragonfly-drone-spacecraft-takes-shape

#SpaceX #NASA #Mars #Space

Mars2020 - Sol 1948 - MastCam-Z 🪐

#mars #mars2020 #mastcamz #perseverance #rover

▶️ 1 new picture from @kevinmgill https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mars2020_-_Sol_1948_-_MastCam-Z_%2855470491598%29.jpg

SPCX Holds Steady at the Zero Line: Consolidation Mode Activated

Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SPCX) closed at 136.97 on Aug 21 ’26, up 2.22%, after a choppy stretch that saw it bounce off the 106.71 support and repeatedly test the 147.81 resistance. The latest candlestick sits right on the N-dicator: 0 marker—signaling classic consolidation sentiment—as price digests the mid-August volume spike and digests the prior pullback. Bulls and bears are currently in a temporary stalemate; the next decisive break will likely set the tone for September.

@PhilStooke
"so we have stereo" sounds like an invitation 🤓

Here's a quick stereogram, left pair for parallel viewing, right pair for cross-eyed viewing.

Originals:
https://static.uahirise.org/images/2008/details/phobos/PSP_007769_9010_IRB.jpg
https://static.uahirise.org/images/2008/details/phobos/PSP_007769_9015_IRB.jpg

Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

#HiRISE #Mars #solarocks #NASA #3D #Space

To back up my assertion... here is an early report on Viking images of Mars:

Carr et al., 1976. Preliminary results from the Viking orbiter imaging experiment. Science, 193(4255), pp.766-776.

Tomorrow - let's look at Deimos.
#mars #phobos #deimos

So imaging scientists interested in geology or clouds in an atmosphere had to fight to get cameras accepted. To make them sound more like science than postcards they were called experiments. Voyager - the most amazing voyage of discovery ever undertaken, in my view - would have flown without cameras in early plans for it. Outer planet clouds would be fuzzy and icy moons would be flat like ice on a lake. Nothing to see here. Luckily... we got pictures.
#mars #phobos #deimos

The top left corner of that image is the rim of Stickney crater. Grooves cross the surface and individual small rocks are scattered across the surface. HiRISE... why is a camera called an 'experiment'? This goes back to the early days of space exploration, which was largely the domain of physicists. Particles, fields, plasma, dust, radiation... you can get pretty good data in a small number of bytes, but a decent image might need hundreds of thousands of bytes.
#mars #phobos #deimos

Mars2020 - Sol 1955 - MastCam-Z - White Balanced 🪐

#curiosity #mahli #mars #mars2020 #mastcam #mastcamz #msl #perseverance

⏩ 11 new pictures from @kevinmgill https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=incategory%3A%22Spacemedia+Individuals+Flickr+files+uploaded+by+OptimusPrimeBot%22&sort=create_timestamp_desc&ns6=1

HiRISE, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has taken amazing images of Phobos and Deimos despite never getting very close to them. They can be seen here:

https://www.uahirise.org/releases/phobos/

There are 2 pictures, so we have stereo. HiRISE can image in a kind of exaggerated colour using blue, red and infrared bands. Look down the page to 'image products' to see 2 B/W images and 2 colour images. My cropped view is rotated and more contrasty.
#mars #phobos #deimos

🚀 oddquark // Space Watch — 2026-08-23

Starship just did a static fire ahead of its FIRST ORBITAL FLIGHT! 🚀 This is the big one, folks, the ship that's supposed to take us to the Moon and Mars. Engines lighting up means we're SO close!

🔗 https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-fires-up-starship-ahead-of-megarockets-1st-orbital-flight-video

#SpaceX #NASA #Mars #Space

Especially interesting: #Reconnection at #Mars is not just a local #plasma process. It can restructure the induced #magnetosphere, generate flux ropes and jets, open magnetic escape pathways, contribute to #auroral activity, and possibly affect #atmospheric ion loss.

Even a planet without a global #MagneticField can have very dynamic #PlasmaPhysics.

#SpacePhysics #Aurora #PolarLights

Nice review on #MagneticReconnection 🧲 ❌ in #Mars’ space environment:

📝 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11038-026-09597-z

Lin, R., Huang, S., Jiang, K. et al. Recent advances in magnetic reconnection in Mars’ space environment

Unlike #Earth, Mars has no global intrinsic dipole field. Its #plasma environment is shaped by the #SolarWind, an induced #magnetosphere, localized crustal #MagneticFields, and heavy planetary ions. …makes Mars a fascinating laboratory for reconnection physics.

#SpacePhysics #PlanetaryScience

JAXA's MMX To Bring Samples From Phobos; Know More About Japanese Mars Mission

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://in.mashable.com/science/113166/jaxas-mmx-to-bring-samples-from-phobos-know-more-about-japanese-mars-mission

THE WEEKLY SPIN
34/2026

#SolarSystem #OrbitalMechanics #Earth #Moon #Mars

I have been taking images from my first Mars book, and adding extra details, but now book 1 is finished. Tomorrow we will have to start looking at images from book 2.
#mars #phobos #deimos

B in that last image shows Phobos and Deimos in a single frame, one of many such views used to refine the orbits of the moons. C looks down into Stickney crater and D is one of many high resolution images showing craters and grooves near the north pole of Phobos.One 'groove' is really a crater chain cutting diagonally across a set of parallel linear grooves. They look like they would have two different modes of formation.
#mars #phobos #deimos

The next orbiter to look at the moons of Mars was Mars Express, ESA's veteran spacecraft which has pretty much fully covered Mars with gorgeous stereo multispectral images. It also has imaged all of Phobos at high resolution, giving us the best dataset for global mapping. It could not get close to Deimos but has taken many distant images showing the regions facing Mars. Here are some sample images. A is a set of three views of Deimos.
#mars #phobos #deimos

ESA - Mars Research Rocket [playmobil]
--
https://www.playmobil.com/en-us/esa%3A-mars-research-rocket/72011.html <-- shared link to product
--
[this post should not be seen as an endorsement of a particular product]
Now I have to raid my nephews toy $$$$! 😉 😊
I am thinking you had a hand in this licensing @mark Drinkwater – kudos!
--
“Developed in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), PLAYMOBIL brings the excitement of space exploration straight into children’s rooms! Two astronauts have landed safely on the Red Planet with their research rocket – ready to collect soil samples and bring them back to Earth! The rocket features a modular design: it can be extended or shortened, depending on the mission, and docks onto a mobile landing platform that serves as a base station on Mars. Movable crane arms help collect the soil samples and securely store them inside the rocket – either in the front storage compartment or in the rocket-shaped nose cone, ready for launch. The rocket includes seats for both astronauts. Prepare for liftoff – the next PLAYMOBIL research mission is about to begin!..”
#ScienceIsFun #fridayfun #mars #exploration #space #solarsystem #planet #redplanet #ESA #research #sampling #soil #rocket #spacecraft #lander #planetarygeology #astrogeology #SpaceFriday #MarsMission #STEMToys #STEM #educational #K12#FutureExplorers #SpacePlaytime #FridayLearning #STEMFriday #EduPlay #LearnThroughPlay #FutureScientists
#playmobil | #EuropeanSpaceAgency | #ESA

RE: https://social.heise.de/@heiseonlineenglish/117134190506656626

"The question of what would happen to brought-in organisms is also gaining urgency in light of planned missions to #Mars. Before humans can investigate this on-site, it must be #known which #microbes they are bringing and whether they can survive there"

Life finds a way - #SpacePark 🪐🦠

#space #exploration #mars

Mars's Funky Moon Deimos was Shaped by an Impact

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/marss-funky-moon-deimos-was-shaped-by-an-impact

🚀 oddquark // Space Watch — 2026-08-22

MMX is really launching in October! JAXA's going to snag a sample from Phobos and bring it home 🚀 We might finally learn whether Mars's moons are captured asteroids or blasted-off Mars debris. So hyped for this one!

🔗 https://phys.org/news/2026-08-japan-probe-mars-moons-october.html

#SpaceX #NASA #Mars #Space