Friday, February 19, 2021

Landing site of Perseverance Mars 2020 rover

On February 18th NASA successfully landed its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on Mars in Jezero Crater (Western Isidis Planitia). As you may wonder where it is, we placed Perseverance's landing location on the map of Mars by National Geographic Society:

Perseverance Mars 2020 rover landing location
Open link in new tab to view the map in full resolution.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has created an animated flyover of the Martian surface explaining why Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide ancient lake-delta system, is the best place for Perseverance to find and collect promising samples for a possible future return to Earth. The animation also reveals the route Perseverance will travel in the first years after landing:

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing in infographics

Tomorrow, on February 18, NASA will land its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on Mars in Jezero Crater (Western Isidis Planitia). Its mission is to collect samples for later retrieval and it is accompanied by a small reconnaissance drone-helicopter Ingenuity - the first such craft on Mars. We will be able to watch NASA's broadcast of the landing here (starting on 19:15 UTC).

Here is an excellent infographic of Perseverance's landing sequence by Australian space illustrator Tony Bela:
NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing sequence infographic by Tony Bela
Open link in new tab to view the infographic in its original resolution.

Friday, February 12, 2021

Spaceport on Phobos by Thomas Peters

Picture of the Day 12/02/2021 - Spaceport on Phobos, the closest of two natural Martian moons, by graphic designer and illustrator Thomas Peters (Drell-7). More of his space art here.

Spaceport on Phobos by Thomas Peters (Drell-7)

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Family watching news on terraformed Mars

Family watching news in their room at a human colony on partially terraformed Mars - a concept artwork by Portuguese fantasy artist Tiago da Silva (Grafik) created for upcoming computer game Terraformers. It is a Mars colonization strategy game currently being developed by indie game developer Asteroid Lab.

Note the news ticker below the main story in TV displaying: Carl Sagan National Museum opens new exhibit, "The first missions - Elon Musk" :)

Family watching news on terraformed Mars by Tiago da Silva for Terraformers game

Friday, February 5, 2021

Mars colony by Dotted Yeti

Picture of the Day 05/02/2021 - Radially built human colony on Mars by Dotted Yeti.

Mars colony by Dotted Yeti

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Animation of SpaceX Starship interior concept by DeepSpaceCourier

Two brothers from DeepSpaceCourier have created an animation of their concept for SpaceX's Starship interior. The animation takes through each level of the Starship showing it from 1st person perspective.

Common room:
SpaceX's Starship interior concept by DeepSpaceCourier - Common room
Utilities:
SpaceX's Starship interior concept by DeepSpaceCourier - Utilities

Friday, January 15, 2021

Steel factory on Mars by Dmitrii Ustinov

Picture of the Day 15/01/2021 - Mars is about twice as rich in iron as Earth is; in fact its distinctive red color is due to iron oxides on its surface. So making steel shouldn't be a problem. Here is an artwork of a steel factory (mill) on Mars producing raw steel blocks by Russian artist Dmitrii Ustinov. More of his art here.

Steel factory on Mars by Dmitrii Ustinov

Monday, December 28, 2020

SpaceX Starship Super Heavy launch complex by Dale Rutherford

Picture of the Day 28/12/2020 - SpaceX's launch complex with several launch towers for Starship Super Heavies by Scottish photographer & designer Dale Rutherford. More of his art here.

SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy launch complex by Dale Rutherford

Thursday, December 24, 2020