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:

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:

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:

Open link in new tab to view the infographic in its original resolution.

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.

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" :)

Mars colony by Dotted Yeti

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

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:

Utilities:

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.

Cutaway schematic of SpaceX Starship interior by Tom Dixon

British product design student Tom Dixon, in collaboration with the local Starship photographer Austin Barnard, has created a cutaway schematic of SpaceX's cargo Starship interior structure, as it can be observed at SpaceX's Starship production and testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

Some more speculative Starship interiors for crewed flights by SpaceX fans:

• Starship interior concept for 20 to 40 passengers by Paul King + VR tour
• Starship interior concept for 100 passengers by Joseph Lantz
• Animation of Starship interior concept by DeepSpaceCourier
• Starship interior concept for 64 passengers by Erik Corshammar & YouTuber 'smallstars'
• Cutaway diagram of Lunar Starship by Rocket Posters
• Starship interior concept for 100 passengers by Rick Kiessig & Michel Lamontagne
• Starship interior concept by Jim Murphy
• Speculative internal structure of Starship by William Falconer-Beach
• Speculative internal layout of Starship by Michel Lamontagne
• Cutaway diagram of Starship by Julian Schindler
• Cutaway diagram of Big Falcon Ship by Nick Oberg

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.

Merry Christmas from Santa Claus on Mars!

Merry Christmas from Santa Claus on Mars! Retro art (1976) via Bridgeman Images.