Hello and welcome. Asteria is an application that utilizes NASA's
Mars Rover API to bring you visually stunning images of the Red
Planet. With Asteria, you may select any day from the Mars rover's
mission timeline and we will populate an image library of photos
taken on that day. Mars has captured the minds of individuals for
decades, so whether you are a space enthusiast, a student or
researcher, Asteria is the perfect tool to learn more about the
surface of Mars and its vastly unique geological features, and we
are very excited for you to witness them with us.
The purpose of Asteria is to provide an immersive and interactive
experience for anyone interested in the exploration of Mars. Our
webpage offers a unique perspective on the Red Planet and its
environment, allowing you to see the planet through the eyes of
NASA's Mars rovers. With its user-friendly interface and easy-to-use
functionality, Asteria is the ideal resource for anyone who wants to
explore the mysteries of the Red Planet. So come and join us on a
journey of discovery as we explore the wonders of Mars with Asteria.
Which date would you like to view rover imagery for?
Much like Earth, the landscape of Mars is characterized by a variety of features that have been shaped by geological processes over billions of years. Some of the most prominent features on Mars include impact craters (Mars holds 21% of the solar systems impact craters, second only to our moon at 31%), volcanoes such as Olympus Mons which is approximately 3x larger than Mount Everest and is visible from Earth's surface through a high-power telescopic lens. Other interesting landscape features including canyons, such as the Mariner Valley Canyon which is nearly 2,600 miles long and 4x larger than the Grand Canyon, and vast plains spanning up to 3,400 km (2100~ mi) wide also run across the Red Planet.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally-funded research and development center located in Pasadena, California. JPL is primarily responsible for the development and operation of robotic spacecraft for many of NASA's space exploration missions, including those of which have the fruits of their labor on display here. JPL's primary mission is to conduct space exploration and Earth science research, and to design, build, and operate robotic spacecraft and planetary rovers. JPL has been responsible for many of NASA's most successful missions, including the Mars Exploration Rovers you see below, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, and the Voyager missions to the outer planets. In addition to designing and building spacecraft, JPL also conducts research on a variety of scientific topics, such as astrophysics, Earth science, and climate change. JPL is home to a number of specialized facilities, including a Deep Space Network for communicating with spacecraft, a Mars Yard for testing rovers, and a Clean Room for assembling and testing spacecraft components Needless to say, JPL plays a critical role in NASA's efforts to explore our solar system and to understand its vast environments.
Perseverance
Launch Date: July 30, 2020
Weight: 2,260 lbs
Top Speed: 0.09 mph
Toolkit: 7 science instruments
Spirit and Opportunity
Launch Date: July 7, 2003
Weight: 408 lbs
Top Speed: 0.01 mph
Toolkit: 5 science instruments each
Curiosity
Launch Date: Nov. 26, 2011
Weight: 1,982 lb lbs
Top Speed: 0.09 mph
Toolkit: 10 science instruments
There are a many variables to consider before NASA's billion dollar tool can be safely launched on it's journey to Mars, and a lot of that relies on the weather. More information on specific launch criteria can be viewed here. In the list below we will display today's weather forecast at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base where the rovers are launched from so that we can see just how difficult it can be to achieve a successful take off. If any of these criteria fail the all-systems-go ready check, then any launches scheduled for the day would be postponed. However, if all of the weather checks come back green, then the mission would proceed as planned.
