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Mars comes closer to Earth more than any other planet save Venus at its nearest—56 million km is the closest distance between Mars and Earth, whereas the closest Venus comes to Earth is 40 million km. Mars comes closest to Earth every other year, around the time of its opposition, when Earth is sweeping between the Sun and Mars. Extra-close ...
Sun–Earth L 1: ESA, NASA: Orbiting near L 1 since 1996. Operational as of 2020. [27] WIND: Sun–Earth L 1: NASA: Arrived at L 1 in 2004 with fuel for 60 years. Operational as of 2019. [28] Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Sun–Earth L 2: NASA: Arrived at L 2 in 2001. Mission ended 2010, [29] then sent to solar orbit outside L 2. [30]
In 2011, after the retirement of the Space Shuttle, NASA announced its intentions to invest money into developing three technologies vital to deep space exploration. The "must-have technologies" include a deep space atomic clock, a large solar sail and a more advanced laser communications system to improve communication, navigation, and ...
Design Reference Mission 3.0 [11] was a continuation of the 1997 study performed by the NASA Mars Exploration Team, with the report published in June 1998 as an addendum to the 1997 study. The stated purpose of the Reference Mission was to stimulate further thought and development of alternative approaches: "It is intended to identify and ...
In the summer of 2001, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) requested mission concepts and proposals from industry-led teams (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and TRW). [17] The science requirements included at least 500 grams (18 oz) of samples, rover mobility to obtain samples at least 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the landing spot, and drilling to obtain one sample from a depth of 2 metres (6 ft 7 in).
Bradbury Landing is the August 6, 2012, landing site within Gale crater on planet Mars of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover. On August 22, 2012, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, NASA named the site for author Ray Bradbury , who had died on June 5, 2012.
[15] They presented a notional mass budget for a concept that would launch a 9.5-metric-ton payload from Earth, including a Mars orbiter for Earth return, and a lander having a 400-kg rover and a "Mars return vehicle" that would mass over 2 metric tons. A 20-kg sample canister would arrive at Earth containing 5 kg of samples including ...
The Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES) was a proposal by NASA's Langley Research Center to build a robotic, rocket-powered airplane that would fly one mile above the surface of Mars, [1] in order to investigate the atmosphere, surface, and sub-surface of the planet.