Earth microbes trying to make it to Mars must survive sterilization in NASA’s clean rooms, harsh cosmic rays during months of space travel, and the Red Planet’s unforgiving surface environment. But any bacteria that successfully hitchhike aboard the wheels of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission in 2012 might manage to scratch out a brief existence [...]
Opportunity is continuing the in-situ (contact) investigation of rocks around the rim of Endeavour crater. On Sol 2697 (Aug. 25, 2011), the rover bumped a mere 0.15 meters (about 6 inches) to reposition at the large ejecta block, named “Tinsdale 2.” This allowed Opportunity to reach targets on the top of the blocky rock.
ESA’s Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars’ past, wetter climate.
The initial work of NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity at its new location on Mars shows surface compositional differences from anything the robot has studied in its first 7.5 years of exploration.
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Project continues to press ahead with launch preparation activities, planning to use additional time before encapsulating the rover in the launch vehicle’s nose cone.
The existence of an ancient, frigid ocean on Mars that was surrounded by glaciers could explain the unusual minerals found making up the northern lowlands of the Red Planet, a new study suggests.
A green thumb and a little flair as a gourmet chef may be among the key skills for the first men and women who travel to the Red Planet later this century, according to a scientist who reported here on preparations for the first manned missions to Mars.
A wet Mars is just a memory, but where did the water go? Geological observations suggest rivers and seas dotted the martian surface 3.5 billion years ago. The amount of water has been equated to a planet-wide ocean half-a-kilometer deep or more. For the planet to have stayed warm enough for liquid water, scientists assume [...]
The first nuclear power plant being considered for production of electricity for manned or unmanned bases on the Moon, Mars and other planets may really look like it came from outer space, according to a leader of the project who spoke here today at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society [...]
The soil on Mars may be more capable of supporting life than previously thought, a new study suggests.
