mars

For those who want to experience the sights of Mars (you know, without taking in the toxic fumes), the interactive 360-degree, four-billion-pixel panorama by photographer Andrew Bodrov is the most sweeping view of the Red Planet you're going to get.

Andrew stitched together over 400 photos taken by the Curiosity Rover's narrow angle camera (NAC), which has a 100mm focal length, and medium angle camera (MAC), which has a 34mm focal length. The end result is a totally immersive 90,000-by-45,000-pixel image that takes you right to the surface of Mars. Andrew creates all sorts of interactive photography for 360pano.eu, including some older photo composites from the early days of NASA's Curiosity rover.

Super-high-resolution gigapixel panoramas are nothing new — we were geeking out on photographer Toni Sandys's GigaPan image of President Obama's inaugural address a couple months ago — but this may be the most impressive panoramic image of Mars that we've seen so far.

See all four billion pixels (make sure you get the full-screen experience!) after the break.

Both mission control's emotional celebration and Mohawk Guy's big debut made the Aug. 6 landing of the Mars Curiosity rover an Internet blockbuster — but what's happened since? Today at 1p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT, the folks of the Mars Science Laboratory Project are presenting what Curiosity has found so far on its mission to investigate whether Mars could have supported life.

Watch the live feed of NASA's update on the rover's first three months and the Mars Science Laboratory Project's two-year prime mission, after the break.

Ahhh sweet success! NASA pulled off its most ambitious Mars mission ever last night when Curiosity, a rover launched from Earth in November 2011, landed safely on Mars (one of Curiosity's first photo transmissions is seen below) to begin its work searching for signs that life once existed on the planet. Now that we watched the space event of the year and can award the relieved NASA team their own gold medal, learn the basics about the Red Planet you may have missed during Curiosity's tense arrival on the planet.

• In Roman mythology, Mars is the name the Romans gave to the god of war, not the god of fire, like many may believe.
• Despite being about half the size of Earth, Mars's land mass is about the same as our planet. This is because much of Earth's surface is covered with water, not land.
• On average, Mars is about 50 million miles from Earth, although it can sometimes be closer or farther depending on the orbital paths.
• Don't forget to pack your coat; the average temperature on Mars is -81°F.
• Mars has two moons, named Phobos and Deimos: Greek for "fear" and "panic."
• Yes, there are polar ice caps on Mars — they're made of water ice, covered by carbon dioxide.

Want more Mars trivia? Head over to NASA and test your Red Planet knowledge!

Source: NASA

The world's waiting with bated breath this weekend as NASA attempts to safely land its most ambitious rover ever, Curiosity, on Mars. Launched from Earth in November 2011 and measuring 10 feet long, nine feet wide, and seven feet tall at its highest point, Curiosity is traveling to our neighboring planet to search for signs that organic life once existed on Mars. Due to Curiosity's large size, the inhospitable Martian terrain, and what NASA calls "seven minutes of terror," the challenging landing will be the space event of the year — and you can tune in without Jet Propulsion Laboratory credentials.

Get settled with one of these four options to watch the next chapter in space exploration unfold.

• Online — The foolproof way of keeping up with Curiosity as it descends upon Mars is to tune into NASA TV's web live stream.
• Cable — Many cable and satellite companies carry NASA TV to subscribers. Check with your provider for what channel you can find NASA on in your region.
• Xbox — Open your Xbox 360 dashboard and watch the streaming NASA TV broadcast of Curiosity landing on the Red Planet. With all things Mars on your mind, take your own shot at the landing and play the free Kinect Mars Rover Landing game.
• In person — Want to watch the landing in the company of fellow space geeks? Your local museum or observatory will likely be holding a screening. Check for events in your area with NASA's guide.

Discover the breathtaking risks of Curiosity's landing in NASA's video "The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror" below.

Mars Inc., candy-maker and Willy Wonka to your favorite checkout counter candy bars, has announced it will stop selling any candy over 250 calories by the end of 2013. This includes king-size editions of favorites, such as Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, M&M's, 3 Musketeers, Dove, Mars, and Galaxy.

Although there's speculation that this move is financially motivated, Mars maintains it's a movement towards a healthier eating effort: "Mars has a broad-based commitment to health and nutrition, and this includes a number of global initiatives," the company said.

It's hard to know whether this'll make a difference, considering studies show portion-controlled packs might actually make people eat more. Will you be stocking up on king-size candy?

While there are still months until the Mars Curiosity rover lands on the Red Planet, get your Martian fix with the free Mars Images app for iOS and Android devices.

The app lets you browse the latest images from the Opportunity rover, on the planet since 2004. Take a cue from David Bowie and dream of life on Mars with daily refreshes on the rover's planetary explorations.

There may not have been any human exploration of Mars this year, but there certainly were plenty of galactic milestones in the last 12 months from NASA and international space programs. From the end of the space shuttle program that once had kids dreaming of becoming astronauts to the launch of a space robot to a possible planet twin, which of these 2011 headlines was your highlight of the year's space exploration?

• End of Shuttle Era — Over the Summer, NASA marked its 135th and final space shuttle mission. After a 30-year long program, the shuttle Atlantis was the last manned American spaceship of its kind to leave Earth. NASA is turning future missions to the exploration of other planets and deep space.
• Curiosity Mars Rover Takes Off — In hopes of learning more about the Red Planet, NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory, with a rover named Curiosity on board in November. It will take about nine months before the Rover descends on our neighbor planet, where its high-tech components will analyze the Martian terrain.
• Earth-Like Planet Confirmed in the Habitable Zone — The team of NASA scientists working with the Kepler satellite confirmed the sighting of a planet in the habitable zone of a distant star. Kepler-22b, is 600 light years away from Earth, is larger in size than our planet, and orbits its sun-like star in just 290 days.
• Voyager Enters Interstellar Space — After 30 years of travel, the Voyager 1 spacecraft passed the boundaries of our solar system, inching closer to interstellar space. Launched from the US in 1977, Voyager 1 is now about 11 billion miles away from the sun.

Reminisce back to two more 2011 space events after the break.

The space shuttle program may have come to an end, but NASA is moving forward with their quests for space exploration with this week's launch of the Mars rover, Curiosity. The rover, which measures 10 feet long, nine feet wide, and seven feet tall at its highest point is searching the planet for organic, carbon-containing compounds. With the equipment on board, Curiosity can break through the planet's rocks and analyze the soil for scientists back on Earth.

At a weight of one ton, Curiosity is twice the size of previous Mars rovers and requires a special landing procedure never before done by NASA. If all goes according to plan, Curiosity will be lowered to the Martian surface via what is essentially a rocket-powered crane.

Curiosity won't land on Mars until August 2012, after a 354-million mile trek that sees it touch down on the Gale Crater, which is believed to have similar properties to our Grand Canyon. The rover's findings will directly affect future human projects on the planet, as it will feed updates on Mars's temperature, humidity, wind, and radiation levels. If Curiosity is successful, the next step in Martian exploration is a mission to bring physical samples of the planet itself to Earth for research, though this future project may meet budget cuts in Congress.

With the weather in Curiosity's favor, takeoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be Saturday, Nov. 26 at 10:02 a.m. EST. You can follow along with Curiosity's mission on the NASA website.