Category Archives: Mars

When NASAs Perseverance rover touches down in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, it will carry with it an experiment that will attempt to transform atmospheric carbon dioxide into precious oxygen. Future crewed missions to the Red Planet could use large amounts of converted oxygen to create fuel with which to launch return rockets from the surface of Mars.

Launching materials into space is a phenomenally difficult and expensive endeavor, with a price tag of roughly US$10,000 per pound of cargo launched in to orbit. To save on costs and make the ambitious goal of exploring Mars more realistic, NASA and its partners are exploring ways that future astronauts can utilize resources native to the Red Planet to survive and, eventually, return to Earth.

One of the most vital resources that astronauts will need to explore Mars is oxygen. This precious gas is needed for a range of purposes. Most obviously the human crew will need fresh oxygen to breathe, but it is also a key ingredient needed to synthesize the rocket fuel needed to power a rocket on the return trip to Earth.

NASAs Perseverance rover is set to test the feasibility of producing oxygen on the Red Planet after descending to the Martian surface, with the use of its Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument.

The Martian atmosphere is incredibly thin relative to Earths atmospheric shield, and is comprised of 95 percent carbon dioxide.

The toaster-sized instrument is designed to suck the plentiful supply of CO2 from the atmosphere using an air pump, and electrochemically separate the greenhouse gas into its constituent parts, with each molecule yielding two atoms of oxygen and one of carbon. The results of the experiment would then be analyzed to gauge the purity and amount of oxygen produced.

"MOXIE is designed to make about six to 10 grams of oxygen per hour just about enough for a small dog to breathe," said Asad Aboobaker, a MOXIE systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. "A full-scale system geared to make (propellant for the flight home) would need to scale up oxygen production by about 200 times what MOXIE will create."

This process runs at a high temperature 1,470 F (800 C) to be precise requiring the instrument to be constructed from heat-resistant materials including 3D-printed alloy elements that help distribute the excess heat. The box-shaped experiment is also coated in gold to protect the rest of the rover from the infrared radiation being generated during the oxygen creation process.

Perseverances science team is expected to run MOXIE 10 times over the course of a two-year period in order to test how efficiently the experiment is able to harvest oxygen from the atmosphere in varying Martian seasons.

Scientists are currently working to create a full-sized MOXIE oxygen extractor, which is set to be far larger than the Perseverance experiment, and could weigh around 2,200 lb (1,000 kg).

Source: NASA

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Perseverance rover to create oxygen on the surface of Mars - New Atlas

You won't want to miss this all-terrain deal. The Sphero RVR, a programmable and drivable robot, is available for 18% off on Amazon right now.

You can drive the RVR right out of the box, but it comes into its own when you start to tinker. Download the Sphero Edu app on your smartphone and you'll be able to program it to follow your instructions and interact or adapt with the environment using its color and light sensors as well as IR, accelerometer and gyroscope.

Sphero RVR: All-Terrain Programmable Coding Robot: $249.99 $204.07 at Amazon

Drive away with an incredible discount on the Sphero RVR, which encourages beginning and intermediate coders to take their hacking skills on the road.View Deal

The Spero RVR robot allows budding coders to literally take control of its motions and sensors using Draw & Drive, Scratch blocks or JavaScript. It also can be hacked using advanced SDK and API libraries for those who have more coding skill, so it's great for different levels of coders. Best yet, you can build on its basic functionality using Raspberry Pi, Arduino or other third-party hardware.

This item is perfect for encouraging STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in kids, preteens and teens and for adults, it may encourage you to play a little in your spare time. Safe driving!

Sphero RVR is just one of a fleet of programmable robots made by the company, but Amazon ranks it as the top choice in Sphero products. It's also a great conversation piece to teach kids about autonomous driving and embracing our robotic future.

Be sure to check out Space.com's Best Space Gifts, as well as our Best Black Friday telescope deals.

Sphero RVR: $249.99 $204.07 at Amazon

The Sphero RVR can be used right out of the box, but also helps teach coding from beginners to intermediate and even advanced coders.View Deal

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Imagine controlling a Mars rover with the Sphero RVR, the All-Terrain Programmable Coding Robot - Space.com

A waxing gibbous moon over Warsaw, Poland, on July 30.

Take a break from Thanksgiving prep Wednesday night and head outside for a stargazing break. You'll get a look at an exceptionally bright view of Mars as it buddies up with the moon in a pairing that's at least as good as mashed potatoes and gravy.

"The summer and fall of 2020 have been exciting times to see bright Mars and the moon together each month," astronomy educator and former planetarium director Jeffrey Hunt says. He's written about the view on his site,When the Curves Line Up. "The moon passes the planet each month, but because of Mars' proximity to Earth, we won't see Mars this bright again until 2033 and 2035."

From the lab to your inbox. Get the latest science stories from CNET every week.

Hunt advises stargazers in most climates to grab a coat, and a pair of binoculars to help with the view. Head outside about an hour after sunset in your time zone, he says, and look for the bright gibbous moon. Mars will appear about five degrees above it.

You don't need to rush outside just at sunset, as the pairing of Mars and the moon is is nearly an all-night affair, Hunt says. The celestial bodies are visible most of the night, from shortly after sunset until about 3 a.m. CT the next morning, about four hours before (your) local sunrise, he adds.

Look for Mars above the bright gibbous moon.

The sky will deliver a mythology lesson, too.

"Mars is in front of the stars of Pisces, while the lunar orb is in front of the stars of Cetus, the sea monster," Hunt says. "The stars of the creature likely represent the sea creature in the famous Perseus myth."

We Earthlings do seem to have a special fascination with the red planet -- just look at the fandom for the 2015 Matt Damon movie The Martian, based on Andy Weir's 2011 best-seller. And the NASA Curiosity rover continues to root out new details about the planet, including recent data including signs of possible megafloods. NASA's Perseverance roverwill investigate the planet further once it lands in February 2021.

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See the moon and a super bright Mars cozy up on Thanksgiving eve tonight - CNET

3D-printed rocket startup Relativity Space has closed $500 million in Series D funding (making official the earlier reported raise), the company announced today. This funding was led by Tiger Global Management, and included participation by a host of new investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Iconiq Capital, General Catalyst and more. This brings the companys total raised so far to nearly $700 million, as the startup is poised to launch its first-ever fully 3D-printed orbital rocket next year.

LA-based Relativity had a big 2020, completing work on a new 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Long Beach. Its rocket construction technology, which is grounded in its development and use of the largest metal 3D printers in existence, suffered relatively few setbacks due to COVID-19-related shutdowns and work stoppages as it involves relatively few actual people on the factory floor managing the 3D printing process, which is handled in large part by autonomous robotic systems and software developed by the company.

Relativity also locked in a first official contract from the U.S. government this year, to launch a new experimental cryogenic fluid management system on behalf of client Lockheed Martin, as part of NASAs suite of Tipping Point contracts to fund the development of new technologies for space exploration. It also put into service its third-generation Stargate 3D metal printers the largest on Earth, as mentioned.

The companys ambitions are big, so this new large funding round should provide it with fuel to grow even more aggressively in 2021. Its got new planned initiatives underway, both terrestrial and space-related, but CEO and founder Tim Ellis specifically referred to Mars and sustainable operations on the red planet as one possible application of Relativitys tech down the road.

In prior conversations, Ellis has alluded to the potential for Relativitys printers when applied to other large-scale metal manufacturing noting that the cost curve as it stands makes most sense for rocketry, but could apply to other industries easily as the technology matures. Whether on Mars or on Earth, large-scale 3D printing definitely has a promising future, and it looks like Relativity is well-positioned to take advantage.

Well be talking to Ellis at our forthcoming TC Sessions: Space event, so well ask him more about this round and his companys aspirations, too.

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Relativity Space raises $500 million as it sets sights on the industrialization of Mars - TechCrunch

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A new satellite launched into orbit last weekend with the goal of collecting data on global sea levels.

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite launched Saturday from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The satellite is roughly the size of a pickup truck and it hitched a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The satellite will take observations and monitor global sea level for the next several years. The data it collects will also be useful in improving the accuracy of weather forecasts.

Back on Earth, well be able to see the moon pass by Mars mid-week. Look up and southeast at nightfall to see the moon. Once youve spotted the moon, it will be easy to find Mars, which is very bright. It will be left of the moon Tuesday, just above the moon Wednesday and to the upper right of the moon Thursday.

The full moon will arrive early in the morning on Nov. 30. This full moon, the last of fall, is known as the Beaver Moon, the Frosty Moon and the Mourning Moon. It will rise in the east around sunset and set in the west around sunrise.

This full moon will also bring a penumbral eclipse. A penumbral eclipse is usually subtle but if you have good eyesight, you may be able to see a little bit of shading on the moon. About 82% of the moon will appear a shade darker. The best time to look is the eclipses peak around 4:45 a.m. Nov. 30.

The next time we see the full moon, it will be both meteorological and astronomical winter.

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Watching the Skies: Moon passes by bright Mars - WOODTV.com

In this annotated illustration, the location of the Perseverance rovers entry, descent, and landing microphone is shown. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The first to be rigged with microphones, the agencys latest Mars rover picked up the subtle sounds of its own inner workings during interplanetary flight.

A microphone aboard NASAs Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has recorded the sounds of the spacecraft as it hurtles through interplanetary space. While another mic aboard the rover is intended specifically to listen for the laser zaps of the SuperCam instrument, this one is devoted to capturing some or all of the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence from the firing of the mortar that releases the parachute to the Mars landing engines kicking in to the rover wheels crunching down onto the surface.

Data for the 60-second audio file was collected on October 19 during an in-flight checkout of the camera and microphone system that will pick up some of the landing drama at Mars Jezero Crater early next year.

You can listen to the sound file here:

The subdued whirring you hear is from the rovers heat rejection fluid pump. Located at the rear-starboard side of the Perseverance, the pump is part of the rovers thermal system, which will help maintain operational temperatures for vehicle components on even the coldest of winter nights. It does its job by circulating fluid through a heat exchanger mounted adjacent to the always-toasty Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator and then into a network of tubes spread throughout the rovers chassis.

With apologies to the person who came up with the slogan for Alien, I guess you could say that in space no one may be able to hear you scream, but they can hear your heat rejection fluid pump, said Dave Gruel, lead engineer for Mars 2020s EDL Camera and Microphone subsystem. The microphone we included to hear what its like to land on Mars was actually able to pick up Perseverances thermal system operating in the vacuum of space through mechanical vibration.

In this annotated illustration, the location of the Perseverance rovers entry, descent, and landing microphone is shown. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

As any fan of cinematic sci-fi knows, the vacuum of space is a less-than-optimal environment for auditory transmissions. But that doesnt mean sound cant find another way. Sound waves can travel through solid objects. When these mechanical vibrations are registered by an electrical component, they sometimes are turned into an electrical signal. (Anyone listening to music through in-ear headphones may have encountered this phenomenon as a rustling or thumping noise when the headphone cord brushes up against a surface.)

The sound file was processed by DPA Microphones of Alleroed, Denmark, which manufactured the EDL microphone hardware flying on Mars 2020.

As great as it is to pick up a little audio on spacecraft operations in-flight, the sound file has a more important meaning, Gruel added. It means that our system is working and ready to try to record some of the sound and fury of a Mars landing.

An electrical cable can be seen snaking its way along insulation material in this in-flight image of the interior of the Mars 2020 spacecraft on its way to the Red Planet. The picture was assembled using three images taken by the Perseverance rovers rear left Hazcam during a systems check on October 19, 2020. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The EDL microphone was not tailor-made for this mission or space exploration and the team does not know quite what to expect from their sound files of landing day.

Getting sound from landing is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have, said Gruel. If it doesnt happen, it will not impede the rovers mission of discovery at Jezero Crater one bit. If even a portion of the landing sequence is captured on audio, that would be awesome.

Humanitys most sophisticated rover is traveling to the Red Planet with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Together, they will enter the Martian atmosphere on Feb. 18, 2021, at 12:47 p.m. PST (3:47 p.m. EST) and will touchdown at Jezero Crater 410 seconds later.

A key objective of Perseverances mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planets geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent missions, currently under consideration by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASAs Artemis lunar exploration plans.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

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Hear Subtle Sounds NASA's Perseverance Picked Up As It Travels Through Deep Space on the Way to Mars - SciTechDaily

The night skies will this week be dominated by a a waxing gibbous moon, though the full moon "Beaver ... [+] Moon" at the end of the week will also be a penumbral lunar eclipse.

Each Monday I pick out the northern hemispheres celestial highlights (mid-northern latitudes) for the week ahead, but be sure to check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more.

With a Last Quarter Moon waxing towards Sundays full Beaver Moon lunar eclipse, theres a rather bleached night sky this week.

However, with the Moon getting close to Mars, plenty of planets on show and Thanksgiving in North America perhaps affording some time to stargaze, its a great week to get outside and enjoy the fall night sky.

How to find the Moon near Mars on Wednesday, November 25, 2020.

An 83%-lit waxing gibbous Moon will be in conjunction with Mars today. The two will be just 5 from each other right after sunset in Europe and during the day in North America, though still close as darkness falls. Look southeast as soon as it gets dark and you should see them shining together.

How to find the planets and the Solar System's ecliptic on Thursday, November 26, 2020.

Tonight it will be possible to see the eclipticthe flat plane of the Solar System and the Suns path through the skyjust by looking south right after dark. Imagine a giant curved line going from east (where the Sun rises) to west (where the Sun has just set) and on your left (in the southeast) youll see a 90%-li Moon and Mars, and on your right (in the southwest) youll see bright Jupiter and, very slightly higher in the sky, dimmer Saturn. The Moon orbits Earth along a path thats 5 inclined to the ecliptic, so frequently appears close to the planets in our night sky.

As the Moon orbits Earth in a slight ellipse, there are two points every month where its closest to Earth (perigee) and furthest away (apogee). The latter occurs today with our 94%-lit satellite 405,891 km from Earth. It makes the coming full Beaver Moon the opposite of a supermoona micro moon.

How to see an almost Full Moon split the Pleiades and the Hyades open clusters of stars in the ... [+] constellation of Taurus.

The two most famous open clusters in the night skythe neighboring Pleiades and the Hyades in the constellation of Taurusare today split by the full Beaver Micro Moon.

Although the full Moon peaks at 100% illumination at 09:30 Universal Time on Monday, November 30, thats irrelevant for the observer. The time to look at any full Moon is at moonrise or moonset where you are at the closest dusk or dawn. So get in place on Sunday with a good view of the eastern horizon to see the Beaver Moon rising.Then wait around for it to get dark to see the Pleiades and Taurus nearby, which youll most easily see with binoculars.

In the early hours of Monday, November 30, theres a second rather special second time to view the full Moon as a rare Beaver Moon Eclipse occurs.

A full moon during a penumbral lunar eclipse.

Visible from the Americas, Australia and Asia, the Beaver Moon will pass through Earths outer shadow (penumbra) at 07:32 Universal Time, causing a slight penumbral lunar eclipse that will see 83% of the Moon visibly darken at 9:42 Universal Timejust 12 minutes after being 100% full. Thats 04:42 EDT and 01:42 PDT, so an early start will be required in North America. If youre up that early, be sure to watch the moonset in the west, which will arguably be just as beautiful a sight, if not more so.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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A Beaver Moon Eclipse Meets Mars And The Seven Sister Stars: What You Can See In The Night Sky This Week - Forbes

Analysis of an ancient meteorite from Mars suggests that the mineral zircon may be abundant on the surface of the red planet.

By determining the age and hafnium isotope composition of zircons, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have shown that a population of these crystals were sourced from the deep interior of Mars. If the researchers are correct, it means that the young zircons contain information about the deep, inaccessible interior of Mars, which provides insights into the internal structure of the planet.

Zircon are incredibly durable crystals that can be dated and preserve information that tell us about their origins. Having access to so many zircons is like opening a time window into the geologic history of the planet. Professor Martin Bizzarro

The uranium-bearing mineral zircon is an abundant constituent of Earths continental crust, providing information about the age and origin of the continents and large geological features such as mountain chains and giant volcanoes. But unlike Earth, Marss crust is not evolved and is compositionally similar to the crust found under the Earths oceans, where zircon is rare. Therefore, zircon is not expected to be a common mineral on Mars.

We were quite surprised and excited when we found so many zircons in this Martian meteorite. Zircon are incredibly durable crystals that can be dated and preserve information that tell us about their origins. Having access to so many zircons is like opening a time window into the geologic history of the planet, describes Professor Martin Bizzarro from the GLOBE Institute, who led the study.

The team investigated the ancient Martian meteorite NWA 7533 (Figure 1), dubbed Black Beauty, which was discovered in the desert of Morocco in 2011. After crushing 15 grams of this rock, they extracted about 60 zircons. By age-dating the zircons, they found that the majority of crystals date back to about 4.5 billion years ago, namely the very beginning of the planets life. But they also made an unexpected discovery: some zircons defined much younger ages, ranging from about 1500 million years down to 300 million years.

Figure 1: The NWA 7533 zircon-rich meteorite containing fragments of the ancient crust of Mars. Credit: University of Copenhagen/Deng et al.

These young ages were a great surprise, says Bizzarro. The Black Beauty meteorite is believed to come from the southern hemisphere of Mars, which does not have any young volcanic terrains. The only possible source for these young zircons is the Tharsis volcanic province located in the northern hemisphere of the planet, which contains large volcanoes that were recently active, Martin Bizzarro adds.

The Tharsis bulge on Mars is an enormous volcanic province that hosts the largest volcanoes in the Solar System, which are up to 21 km high. Scientists believe that this volcanic province is the expression of very deep magmatism that erupts on the planets surface. The analogy on Earth is the Hawaiian volcanic chain of islands, which is also believed to reflect deep-seated volcanic activity. But because of plate tectonics, the Pacific Plate is constantly moving such that, instead of accumulating at one single location, a chain of progressively younger volcanic islands has formed. Since Mars does not have plate tectonics, the volcanoes pile up at one single location and as a result grow to gigantic sizes.

Having samples of the deep interior of Mars is key. This means that we can now use these zircons to probe the origin of the volatile elements on Mars, including its water, and see how it compares with Earth and other planets in the Solar System. Mafalda Costa

If Bizzarros team is correct, it means that the young zircons may contain information about the deep, inaccessible interior of Mars. This is the first time that scientists have direct access to the deep interior of the red planet via these samples, which may allow them to uncover the internal structure and composition of Mars.

Having samples of the deep interior of Mars is key. This means that we can now use these zircons to probe the origin of the volatile elements on Mars, including its water, and see how it compares with Earth and other planets in the Solar System, explains Mafalda Costa, first other of the new study.

But to understand the nature of the deep Martian interior, the researchers turned to the analysis of the isotopic composition of the element hafnium in the same zircons.

Because hafnium is a major elemental constituent of zircon, it retains a memory of where the zircon formed, says Martin Bizzarro. We found that the hafnium isotope composition of the young zircons is unlike any of the known Martian meteorites, which indicates that the young zircons come from a primitive reservoir that we did not know existed in the interior of Mars, he adds.

Figure 2: Unravelling the internal structure of Mars. An upwelling plume of primitive material rises from the deep mantle, feeding a volcanoes at the planets surface. Credit: University of Copenhagen

The hafnium isotope composition of the young zircons is similar to the most primitive objects in the Solar System, that is chondrite meteorites. These chondrite meteorites are samples of asteroids that have never been modified since their formation. This implies that the deep interior of Mars has essentially not been modified since the formation of the planet (Figure 2). The existence of such a primitive reservoir is ex meteorites are samples of asteroids that have never been modified since their formation. This implies that the deep interior of Mars has essentially not been modified since the formation of the planet (Figure 2). The existence of such a primitive reservoir is expected for a planet lacking plate tectonics. In contrast to Earth, where material formed at surface is continuously recycled into the interior by plate tectonics, the deep interior of Mars has remained unchanged since the birth of the planet and, as such, preserves its initial composition.

Finally, the discovery that zircon may be abundant on the Martian surface may guide the future robotic exploration of the planet, especially in the framework of returning samples to Earth.

Our study makes clear that a return mission targeted at acquiring zircon-bearing samples will be of high scientific value towards understanding the geologic history of Mars, concludes Martin Bizzarro.

Reference: The internal structure and geodynamics of Mars inferred from a 4.2 Gyr zircon record by Maria M. Costa, Ninna K. Jensen, Laura C. Bouvier, James N. Connelly, Takashi Mikouchi, Matthew S. A. Horstwood, Jussi-Petteri Suuronen, Frdric Moynier, Zhengbin Deng, Arnaud Agranier, Laure A. J. Martin, Tim E. Johnson, Alexander A. Nemchin and Martin Bizzarro, 16 November 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2016326117

The study was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation, the Danish National Research Foundation and European Research Council.

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Elusive Internal Structure of Mars Revealed by Ancient Zircon Minerals From the Red Planet - SciTechDaily

A few days after "Just the Way You Are"crooner Bruno Mars dropped a witty Grammy-related post on social media,fans have begun askinghim when he would release his next music.

Bruno Mars, iconic for his stage presence and retro-style showmanship, has been missing in action inthe music sphere. Many fans wonder when they can hear another smashing hit from the pop sensation.

So avid followers of Mars were surprised a few days ago when he posted on his Instagram a humorous remark after many artists became upset over the 2021 Grammy nominations.

FANS ASKING FOR NEW MUSIC

The 35-year-old multi-genre singer shared a selfie of himself in a printed white shirt and sunglasses. He smiled while pointing at the camera and said:

"If you don't release music, you can't lose any Grammys. #ThinkAboutIt."

After Mars trolled and poked fun at the awarding body, his legion of amused fans laughed at his post while others commented that they are missing his presence on stage as well as his music.

Following the hilarious remarks, some fans asked in the comment section whether Mars has plans on making new music, as they sorely missed The Lazy Song hitmaker.

One fan wrote, "But seriously tho...when are you releasing your music?"Another fan chimed in and wrote that Mars should come back, with matching three one crying and three laughing emojis.

WHAT TRIGGERED MARS

Mars post came after The Weeknd posted atweet on November 25accusingthe Grammys ascorrupt. The Weeknd did not get any nomination, even though his latest song, "Blinding Lights"was among the biggest songs of the year.

The Canadian singer, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, demanded that the Grammys become transparent to him, his fans, and the music industry.

Nicki Minaj, who sided with The Weeknd, also shared that Grammys didnt give her the best new artist award in 2012, althoughher songs at that time were chart-topping. They awarded folk band Bon Iver instead.

A DISNEY FUTURE COLLABORATION?

As fans await Mars'sreturn to the spotlight, the "24K Magic" singer, who has kept his hands busy on his new rum brand, "SelvaRey," has remained tight-lipped about his next move.

But in February this year, Disney had inkeda deal with Mars in developing a music-themed theatrical narrative that would feature the two-time Super Bowl halftime performer. However, the details of this venture remain unknown.

Mars has been one of the sought-after singers in the industry. He has won 11 Grammy Awards in 27 nominations andhas sold over 200 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Aside from Mars long-standing career in the music industry, he also has a long-lasting relationship with model Jessica Caban. The romantic pair has been together since 2012.

Many admired how Bruno kept his relationship private with the Puerto Rican model over the years. Though they are a high-profile couple, the singer opened up that he rarely talked about her during interviews.

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Fans Question Bruno Mars about Where He Had Been after He Trolls Artists over Grammy Snubs - AmoMama

LE MARS, Iowa (KTIV) -- People in Le Mars, Iowa, came out for a drive in movie Friday to kick off of Hometown Christmas.

The event is just the first of a fun-filled weekend full of holiday events.

Cars lined up in the Total Motors parking lot to watch the Christmas movie, 'Elf.'

They were given goodie bags with popcorn, candy canes and cookies, as they arrived.

Leaders with Total Motors say it was a great way to kick off the weekend.

"It's a lot of fun to be able to utilize our space here to be able to give people in our community that opportunity to enjoy it with their friends and family and be able to be in a safe environment," said Mitch Christoffel, Total Motors GM.

And Christoffel says there's much more planned throughout the weekend.

"A lot of good stuff going on between, like I said, the Lighting of the Christmas Tree. The Browns are actually going to be performing. Some of the businesses downtown have unique stuff going on. They've got breakfast with Santa. So, there's a whole skew of different events that you can really get involved with," said Christoffel.

Although they had hoped to have a bigger festival, for the safety of all those who wanted to participate, events have been modified, like watching the lighting of the Christmas tree virtually, because of the pandemic.

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Drive-In movie kicks of Hometown Christmas weekend in Le Mars, IA - KTIV