Mars Videos & Animations
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Mars 2020 Target: Jezero Crater
December 13, 2018
This flyover was produced from NASA images taken from orbit. The blue circle indicates the area the rover will likely land. The arcing hills in the center, about 1600 feet high, and are the rim of Jezero Crater. The goal of Mars 2020 is to learn whether life ever existed on Mars. It's too cold and dry for life to exist on the Martian surface today. But after Jezero Crater formed billions of years ago, water filled it to form a deep lake about the same size as Lake Tahoe. Eventually, as Mars' climate changed, Lake Jezero dried up. And surface water disappeared from the planet. An ancient lake is a fantastic place to pursue our goal of looking for possible Martian life. On Earth, lakes are filled with living creatures. Evidence of that life is often preserved in the mud and sand deposited on the bottom of the lake. So we use the rover's instruments to explore the rocks of the ancient lake bed. Here we can see evidence of the former lake. A canyon cutting through the crater rim was carved by a river. As the water entered the lake it slowed and dropped the sand and mud it was carrying to form the fan-shaped delta. The white line is a path the rover might follow in its first two years, called the prime mission. During this period we use the rover science instruments to analyze the lake sediments. After we explore the delta, we hope to investigate the shoreline of the former lake. To get there we have to traverse around a sea of modern sand dunes. From this perspective you can see former shorelines curving around a headland. We can picture waves in Lake Jezero beating on a sandy beach. And finally we will press on to the crater rim. Jezero Crater formed when a large object collided with Mars, excavating rocks from deep in the Martian crust, exposing them in the rim for us to study. These rocks would have been hot shortly after the impact and may have hosted hot springs. Deposits from these springs would be another target in our search for possible ancient life on Mars.
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Mars in a Minute: (French) Comment choisir un site d'atterrissage?
November 20, 2018
Donc, vous voulez étudier Mars avec un atterrisseur ou un rover, mais où l’envoyer exactement? Apprenez comment les scientifiques et ingénieurs abordent cette question dans cette vidéo de 60 secondes du centre Jet Propulsion Laboratory de la NASA. French translation of "How Do You Choose a Landing Site?" Provided by InSight science team members from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris.
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Mars in a Minute: (French) Comment atterrir sur Mars?
November 16, 2018
Faire atterrir une sonde sur Mars est l’une des choses les plus complexes à réaliser. Cette vidéo de 60 secondes explique comment cela est possible, et illustre les trois systèmes d'atterrissage utilisés sur la planète rouge. French translation of "How Do You Land on Mars?" Provided by InSight science team members from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris.
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Testing a Parachute for Mars
October 26, 2018
On Sept. 7 NASA's ASPIRE project broke a record when its rocket-launched parachute deployed in 4-10ths of a second - the fastest inflation of this size chute in history.
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Mars in a Minute: How Do You Choose a Landing Site?
October 15, 2018
So, you want to study Mars with a lander or rover - but where exactly do you send it? Learn how scientists and engineers tackle this question in this 60-second video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Painting Cars for Mars
October 09, 2018
What does NASA do to get a rover ready for Mars? JPL's paint shop does a thousand different paint jobs a year. And while every piece of spacecraft that comes through the shop is important, one headed for the Red Planet adds a little extra oomph. For more about the Mars 2020 mission, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020.
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Mars Report: May 2018
May 24, 2018
What's the latest news from Mars? NASA's InSight lander and MarCO CubeSats are on their way to the Red Planet, a tiny helicopter will hitch a ride with the Mars 2020 rover mission, and Curiosity's drill is back in business! For more Mars exploration updates, visit https://mars.nasa.gov .
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NASA Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstration
May 11, 2018
The Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration that will fly as a secondary payload with the Mars 2020 mission. It will demonstrate the potential of aerial flight on Mars, which may enable more ambitious missions in the future.
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Mars Report: February 2018
February 26, 2018
NASA's Curiosity finds crystals, Opportunity celebrates her 5,000th day on Mars and the MarCO smallsats get solar arrays.
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Engineering for Mars: Mars 2020 Mission
December 07, 2017
Peer over the shoulders of NASA engineers as they build hardware for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. This 360 video transports you to the historic Spacecraft Assembly Facility at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Engineer Emily Howard narrates as you walk around the cruise stage, which will fly the 2020 rover to the Red Planet, and the descent stage, which will lower the rover to the Martian surface. Note: Not all browsers support viewing 360 videos. For more information on the mission, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020
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NASA Begins Building its Next Mars Rover Mission
November 28, 2017
In just a couple of years, NASA's newest rover will be flying to Mars. The Mars 2020 mission will use the next generation of science and landing technology to collect rock samples for possible return by a future mission.
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NASA’s Mars 2020 Supersonic Parachute: Test Flight #1
November 14, 2017
The first flight of an advanced supersonic parachute system for Mars 2020-NASA's next Mars rover. The test took place on Oct. 4, 2017, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. At the moment of full inflation, the parachute is going 1.8 times the speed of sound or nearly 1,300 miles an hour, and generating nearly 35,000 pounds of drag force-drag that would be necessary to help slow a payload down as it was entering the Martian atmosphere. This is the first of several tests in support of NASA's Mars 2020 mission. For more information, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 .
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Mars 2020 Rover Model Video
November 29, 2016
This artist's concept video shows NASA's Mars 2020 rover raising its head (its mast) and reaching out its robotic arm.
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50 Years of Mars Exploration
August 20, 2015
2015 marks 50 years of successful NASA missions to Mars starting with Mariner 4 in 1965. Since then, a total of 15 robotic missions led by various NASA centers have laid the groundwork for future human missions to the Red Planet. The journey to Mars continues with additional robotic missions planned for 2016 and 2020, and human missions in the 2030s.
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Proposed 2020 Mars Rover Science Goals
July 09, 2013
A team of scientists and engineers gives proposals for NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission.
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Mars in a Minute: What Happens When the Sun Blocks our Signal?
March 20, 2013
How can you communicate with Mars spacecraft when the Sun is in the way? Learn more about 'solar conjunction' in this 60-second video.
