Awesome Mars

Scientists recently discovered what appears to be water deep in the outer crust of Mars. xkcd’s What If? imagines what might happen if we gave the red planet a leg up in the moisture department and dumped all of Earth’s water on its surface. While most of it would probably freeze, there’s a chance it could cause temperatures to rise and stay liquid.

Luke Wilson stars in this original animated series about a graphic designer who moves all the way to Mars only to find out his job has been eliminated. Based on Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey’s award-winning short film, it’s a story of corporate bureaucracy and one man’s journey to rediscover himself. Coming to Max 4.20.23.

With an average temperature of -81ºF and frequent dust storms, Mars doesn’t sound like the most relaxing place. But this desktop Mars Zen Garden will help you maintain a tranquil state of mind. It comes with a 10″ diameter resin tray, red sand, four lava rocks, a tiny astronaut, rover, and a copper-finish rake for making patterns.

Prep for life on Mars (or chilly Fall days on Earth) with Vollebak’s unique hoodie. The double-layered piece will keep you toasty, and its textured design is truly out of this world with a 3D-knitted pattern inspired by the surface of Mars, spacesuits, and inflatable structures. The robot that knits them looks straight out of Westworld.

Interstellar teamed up with NASA and Col&MacArthur to create this stunning watch inspired by the Mars Perseverance mission. Its 3D dial is based on the Martian surface, and a window showcases a small amount of Martian dust from a meteorite that crashed on Earth. Space geeks will spot numerous Easter Eggs in the design.

Since landing in 2021, NASA’s Mars Perseverence Rover has sent back fascinating images and data from the red planet. Jared Owen offers up an in-depth look at how the rover was launched, the scientific equipment it carries, and how it was engineered to survive the journey and the harsh conditions on Mars.

NASA and the University of Arizona’s HiRISE camera system aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been capturing some extraordinary images. Seán Doran combined and enhanced a series of these images into a spectacular fly-over that showcases the textures of the dunes on the planet’s surface.

After successfully landing its Perseverance Rover on Mars, NASA has released video of the descent and touchdown of the vehicle on the planet’s surface. Cameras were mounted on the rover, the descent stage, and the protective aeroshell, capturing views of the planet below, upward towards the spacecraft and the rover’s parachute.

Watchmaker UNDONE teamed up with Looney Tunes to create a pair of watches inspired by the cartoon classic Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century. The black PVD-coated stainless steel watches feature half-x-ray images of the eponymous duck, along with fan-favorite Marvin the Martian. Each watch is limited to just 150 pieces.

The Mars Curiosity Rover has been roaming the surface of Mars since 2012. Using AI tech, Curiosityandbeyond upscaled and colorized a series of images captured by the rover over the course of a year. We can’t wait to see what kind of images and data the Perseverence Rover sends home after it lands in early 2021.

Filmmaker Seán Doran poured through mountains of images and data captured by the HiRISE camera system on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to create this incredibly detailed black-and-white rendering of the planet’s surface, showing off details of Mars’ cratered and rocky surface like we’ve never seen it before.

At the end of November 2019, NASA’s Curiosity rover captured a series of over 1,000 images which were used to create its highest-resolution panorama of Mars yet. The telephoto version without the rover in the image has over 1.8 Billion pixels for you to zoom in on, while the medium angle one with the rover has 650 million pixels.

Traveling to and colonizing Mars seems like a very daunting task, but as Aperture points out, humans have been able to influence the climate and landscape on Earth, so why couldn’t we do it there? His video looks at the big changes that would have to happen to make the planet habitable.

Despite our fascination with Mars, the red planet isn’t exactly the most hospitable place. Kurzgesagt looks at some of the many challenges we’d face if we ever wanted to colonize Mars. Humans can’t breathe there, it’s freezing cold, and Martian dust is poisonous.

Redditor barryabrams figured out a way to accurately replicate Mars’ rusted red color: with actual rust. He sprayed sheet metal with hydrogen peroxide to instantly induce oxidation. Then he screen printed Mars’ topography in black over the rust.

See what NASA’s Curiosity Rover has seen over the last five years trucking along the surface of Mars, as it meandered its way across the Gale Crater. The map on the right of the video provides an overhead view of its trek, collecting data along a 6.1 mile-long path.