Candidate sites for SpaceX Starship Mars landings revealed

[on September 2 info & map updated with additional two possible landing sites]

Robert Zimmerman from BehindTheBlack.com has found several images labelled as "Candidate Landing Site for SpaceX Starship [..]" in the latest data release from University of Arizona's HiRISE camera (aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). It means that with help from NASA SpaceX is already quietly evaluating the best place where to land first Starships on Mars. Here are direct links to HiRISE image of: Site 1, Site 2, Site 3, Site 4, Site 5 (in Arcadia Planitia) & Site 6 (in Phlegra Montes).

For several years it hasn't been a secret SpaceX is considering four Martian regions for landings: Deuteronilus Mensae, Phlegra Montes, Utopia Planitia and southern Arcadia Planitia. But even in 2017 southern Arcadia Planitia looked "more promising", according to Paul Wooster, Principal Mars Development Engineer at SpaceX. So by now SpaceX may very well be down to evaluating more precise landing sites in that region.

All the candidate landing sites (except #6 in Phlegra Montes) are located on the border between Amazonis Planitia and Arcadia Planitia. According to latest data, Arcadia Planitia is one of the few regions where abundant shallow ice is present at relatively low latitudes. There is strong evidence that this location holds buried ice glaciers. So it has two critical elements looked by SpaceX for its Mars Base Alpha: solar energy and water. Those are critical not only for life support but also for refueling Starships. It's also in low altitude meaning a bit higher air pressure than in higher areas on Mars; that is beneficial for radiation protection and creates more atmospheric drag during the landing.

We made a map of all of the candidate sites:

Mission to Phobos by Ludovic Celle

Picture of the Day 30/7/2019 - Spacecraft approaching the largest and closest of the two [asteroid size] Martian moons - Phobos - by French graphic artist Ludovic Celle. More of his Mars art here.

SpaceX. Raising the bar!

"Do it", as Elon Musk bluntly replied to the bragging of Boeing's CEO about "beating Elon Musk to Mars" 😁

These days SpaceX is the leading NewSpace company developing innovative and cost-effective rocket/space technologies and beating all the "space dinosaurs" in the field. Its ultimate goal is to colonize Mars. In the spirit of this reality Instagram user starjet_pilot has made this retro style poster (recalling the iconic photography of US soldiers raising the flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal) of starmen raising the flag of SpaceX on Mars with the Starship in the background.

Map of shallow subsurface water distribution on Mars

On March 10 ESA has revealed the first results from ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter orbiting Mars since October 2016. Among the data there is the best map of shallow subsurface water distribution on Mars ever created. The map is made by orbiter's neutron detector FREND mapping the distribution of hydrogen in the uppermost metre of the planet’s surface. Hydrogen indicates the presence of water, being one of the constituents of the water molecule; it can also indicate water absorbed into the surface, or minerals that were formed in the presence of water.

• Blue areas - more water
• Orange areas - less water

NASA's InSight lander on Mars by Charlie Burgess

Yesterday NASA's InSight lander successfully landed on Mars at Elysium Planitia; to celebrate the landing British digital artist Charlie Burgess has created this picture of the probe. More of his art here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Concept art for The Martian by Steve Burg

Steve Burg did part of the concept art for sci-fi blockbuster The Martian (2015); his main focus was the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). Here are some of his images (open link in new tab to view image in full HD resolution):

Images from Escape from Mars (1999) TV movie

Escape from Mars (1999) is a TV movie about first human mission to Mars in 2016. Five astronauts are flying with spaceship very similar to the Space Shuttle and the mission is financed by a private corporation setting profit-oriented goals. During the voyage and on Mars they encounter near-catastrophic events but in the end find bacterial life on Mars. Escape from Mars is a low-budget TV movie, having poor special effects and weak camera job, but the acting and script is decent. Here are some images from the movie:

Lockheed Martin's Mars Base Camp concept

In a few hours at 2017 International Astronautical Conference American aerospace, advanced technologies and defense company Lockheed Martin will give an update to its Mars Base Camp concept. If accepted by NASA the Mars Base Camp would be a manned "Mars-orbiting science laboratory where astronauts can perform real-time scientific exploration, analyze Martian rock and soil samples, and confirm the ideal place to land humans on the surface in the 2030s." The proposed mission would send humans to Mars orbit by 2028 and is "designed to be led by NASA and its international and commercial partners."

Recently Lockheed Martin has released some concept images for the mission (open link in new tab to view in full resolution):

Lockheed Martin's Mars lander concept

To compete with SpaceX for a viable manned Mars mission concept aerospace heavyweight Lockheed Martin has presented a Mars lander. It would act as a manned shuttle between proposed Mars Base Camp orbital station and Martian surface.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Map of possible landing sites for Red Dragon and Mars2020/ExoMars missions

Jake Robins from WeMartians Podcast has created a map of possible landing sites for SpaceX's first Red Dragon lander and NASA's Mars 2020 / ESA&Roscosmos's ExoMars rovers.

• Red X = crashed/failed landings 
• Green circle = successful landings 
• Yellow ? mark = candidate sites for Mars2020/ExoMars 
• Space "X" = candidate sites for Red Dragon

It is presumed that the most possible landing site for SpaceX's first Red Dragon lander is southern Arcadia Planitia. We will see.

NatGeo's "Mars" TV series: full episodes of season 1

Watch the full season 1 episodes of National Geographic Channel's "Mars" TV series without the geographic restrictions here. The fictional documentary series are depicting the first human mission to Mars, the subsequent building of the first human base on Mars in a lava tube and the further steps for colonization of Mars till the end of 21st century.

Content from season 2:
► Full episodes  ► Only drama part  ► HD images  ► Trailer & images from it  ► Cover art

Images from: ► Episode 1 ► Episode 2 ► Episode 3 ► Episode 4 ► Episode 5 ► Episode 6

Episode 01 - Novo Mundo ( s01e01 )

Those located in US can watch episode 1 in HD quality at NatGeo's site.

HD images from NatGeo's "Mars" TV series

Here are some HD images from National Geographic Channel's upcoming "Mars" TV series which will be broadcasted worldwide starting on November 14th. The fictional documentary series will depict the first human mission to Mars, the subsequent building of the first human base on Mars in a lava tube and the further steps for colonization of Mars till the end of 21st century.

Here are also a bunch of trailers and video clips from the upcoming series.              Open link in new tab to view in full resolution:

Red Dragon landing on Mars by Chris Monson

Picture of the Day 15/9/16 - Concept art for SpaceX's Red Dragon landing on Mars by computer designer Chris Monson.
More of his art here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Soviet cosmonauts on Mars by Klaus Bürgle

Picture of the Day 16/8/16 - Soviet cosmonauts on Mars by German sci-fi artist Klaus Bürgle. More of his retro futuristic art here.

HD images from Journey to Space documentary

Journey to Space is a 2015 3D documentary which "unveils a new era of unprecedented deep space exploration" presented by Boeing and Toyota. In the ending it features a good animation of NASA's Journey to Mars mission. Here are some HD quality screens of it.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Mars Colonial Transporter concept by Richard Heidmann

Picture of the Day 31/7/16 - Concept art for SpaceX's Mars Colonial Transporter by Richard Heidmann from the French chapter of The Mars Society (Association Planète Mars). You can also read his speculations of the possible MCP mission architecture details here.

As the day the SpaceX CEO Elon Musk intends to unveil (at the International Astronautical Congress 26-30 September 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico) details of its 'Mars Colonial Transporter' (MCT) mission architecture is nearing, we will mostly dedicate our 'Picture of the Day' awards to the fan concept art of the MCT.

Astronauts exploring Mars by Balazs Agoston

Picture of the Day 10/7/16 - Astronauts exploring Mars by Balazs Agoston from Hungary. More of his concept art here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Soviet lander on Phobos by Maciej Rebisz

Picture of the Day 30/5/16 - Soviet lander on Phobos by Polish sci-fi artist Maciej Rebisz. More of his art here and here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Video: NASA's Journey to Mars

In recent months NASA has released some exciting videos visualizing its "Journey to Mars". What is more important - they represent a conceptual shift from Apollo's style approach [every expedition to it's own location] to a more longsighted approach - every expedition to the same one location. At the workshop in October, 2015 NASA officials revealed that "human exploration of Mars is not planned as a single mission, but a series of three to five expeditions, each with a crew of four to six, lasting about 500 Martian days each. All would land in the same exploration zone, or EZ. The plan includes the construction of a surface field station to be located in the center of the exploration." It means that NASA's "Journey to Mars" mission concept has become more friendly to a goal of a permanent human colony on Mars.

NASA's base on Mars after a few decades:

Concept art for The Martian movie

The official Facebook page of The Martian has posted some concept art pictures for the movie. Here they are (click for original resolution):