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According to the conclusions of a new study from experts in the United States, it would appear that Medusae Fossae Formation on the surface of Mars has a volcanic origin. How this landscape feature formed has puzzled planetary scientists for years.
The structure is basically a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) deposit loc... |
25 May 2012
09:14 GMT |
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Scientists based at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington have recently established that complex, carbon-based chemistry can take place on the surface of the Red Planet. Whether or not this continues to happen to this day is still unclear.
The investigation was based on a number of meteorites that arri... |
25 May 2012
04:10 GMT |
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Exploring the Red Planet using standard robots is a fairly tricky task, primarily because of terrain limitations. By definition, rovers are very sensitive pieces of high-tech equipment, and they need to be looked after all the time. But what if a new machine would actually thrive in harsh terrain?
This is a scenario... |
24 May 2012
05:48 GMT |
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Eons ago, Mars underwent a period in which asteroid strikes were commonplace. Astronomers now propose that the large number of collisions may have been one of the primary factors that drove temperatures on the planet through the roof, eventually leading to a runaway global warming effect.
Understanding what happened... |
24 May 2012
03:54 GMT |
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Taking advantage of a very low Sun angle at its current location, the NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity snapped an impressive view of Endeavour Crater, its target for the past three years.
Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, waited for just the right time ... |
23 May 2012
04:12 GMT |
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Officials at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in Greenbelt, Maryland, announce the completion of two magnetometers that will go on the American space agency's Mars Atmosphere And Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft.
The purpose of the two flux gate magnetometers will be to measure the intensity o... |
22 May 2012
03:39 GMT |
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Since landing on the surface of the Red Planet, on January 25, 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity has traveled more than 21.4 miles (34.4 kilometers). NASA has just released this image indicating the course of the robot's journey over the past 8 years.
The data included in this image cover 2951... |
16 May 2012
10:28 GMT |
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The hydrocarbon methane is known to be extremely sensitive to chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Therefore, explaining how the gas manages to endure above Mars without any apparent source to replenish it has proven to be difficult for experts. They now plan a new study to solve this mystery.
The investigation wil... |
16 May 2012
05:44 GMT |
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NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists announce that the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity is currently producing increased amounts of energy from its solar panels, after the end of the fifth winter it spent on the Red Planet. The robot has recently taken its first drive in many months.
The explorati... |
10 May 2012
03:59 GMT |
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Mission controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory say that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed surprising dune motion patterns on the Red Planet. Sand masses were found to move in similar patterns to those on Earth, even though the atmospheres surrounding the two planets are very different from one a... |
10 May 2012
03:29 GMT |
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New images relayed back to Earth by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express orbiter suggest that a region called Acidalia Planitia was partially sculpted by the actions of liquid water.
The area lies in the northern lowlands of Mars, in a giant basin that the ESA spacecraft has been studying for a while.... |
4 May 2012
09:00 GMT |
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A team of experts has recently embarked on a very complex study dealing with the Red Planet. What they want to discover is whether or not the planet's atmospheric density was larger in its distant past than it is now. At this point, its atmospheric density is just 1 percent that of Earth's.
Planetary scie... |
4 May 2012
08:03 GMT |
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The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is currently less than 65 days away from reaching the Red Planet, mission managers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, announced.
The spacecraft comprises an aeroshell, the rover Curiosity and the Sky Crane system. The latter will be in charge of lowerin... |
3 May 2012
09:07 GMT |
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Officials from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, have recently announced that the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity has less than 100 days to go before it finally reaches its destination. The spacecraft is scheduled to land on the Red Planet in August.
The milestone was reached on A... |
30 April 2012
03:14 GMT |
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A long-term study of the Martian underground, conducted using the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express orbiter, has revealed the makeup of lava flows and densities underneath some of the largest volcanoes on the Red Planet.
The analysis is essential for improving our understanding of how the neighboring w... |
27 April 2012
04:23 GMT |
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Perfect environment for microbial life most likely existed on the surface of the Red Planet billions of years ago. A new study indicates that widespread glass fields throughout Mars' northern hemisphere may have been hot spots for life before the world lost its surface water.
According to geologists, glass san... |
26 April 2012
05:26 GMT |
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Astrobiologists really want to find life on Mars. A group of 20 experts, led by Washington State University scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch propose a new mission to the Red Planet, with the express purpose of searching for signs of past and/or present lifeforms. The mission, dubbed Biological Oxidant and Life Detectio... |
25 April 2012
05:24 GMT |
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Hawthorne, California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) plans to become one of the first companies in the world to be involved in moving our species to other worlds. In short, SpaceX plans to save humanity by making us a multi-planetary species.
The corporation is scheduled to launch its Dra... |
23 April 2012
07:50 GMT |
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Astronomers figured out that Mars is an ever-changing world some time ago, but each time they see something appear or disappear from its surface, they are equally baffled and thrilled. Such was the case when they recently browsed a series of images that covered the same location, but two years apart.
The photos wer... |
20 April 2012
05:07 GMT |
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Officials at the Littleton, Colorado-based Lockheed Martin Corporation have recently announced that the propellant tank for NASA's upcoming Mars-bound orbiter has just been integrated with the rest of the spacecraft platform.
The company is the main contractor on this project, which is being managed by the NAS... |
17 April 2012
04:37 GMT |
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A structure discovered on the Red Planet, and believed to be a monolith left behind by alien civilizations, may in fact be nothing more than a rectangular boulder, scientists from the Arizona State University (ASU) say.
The rock was first discovered several years ago, by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's (MRO) ... |
12 April 2012
09:17 GMT |
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A new study conducted on images sent back by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express orbiter hints at the possibility that microbial life on the Red Planet may endure inside landscape features called pit-chains.
As seen to the left, these structures can be found on the flanks of some of the solar system&... |
9 April 2012
02:52 GMT |
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This animation posted by experts at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, shows a very narrow, very tall twister making its way across the dust-covered Amazonis Planitia region, on our neighboring planet's northern hemisphere.
The short video clip was put together from extrapolations the ... |
5 April 2012
11:25 GMT |
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A class of mysterious geological features on the surface of the Red Planet, which have been defying explanation for years, has finally revealed its nature to researchers at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the Planetary Science Institute (PSI).
The joint team proposed a new hypothesis, which explains how Inte... |
5 April 2012
10:57 GMT |
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A very tall, very narrow dust devil was recently imaged as it was making its way over the Martian landscape, from high above the planet's surface. Even though it reached an altitude of about 20 kilometers (12 miles), the dust devil was not more than 70 meters wide at any point.
The formation was imaged from ab... |
5 April 2012
03:50 GMT |
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Having launched on November 26, 2011, the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity is currently halfway to its destination. Current plans call for it to land on Mars on August 5, 2012. Mission controllers say that all parameters aboard the spacecraft are nominal.
Curiosity is still encapsulated in it aeros... |
2 April 2012
09:10 GMT |
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According to the results of a new scientific investigation, it would appear that volcanism was once one of the most important sources of sediments on the Red Planet. Researchers were recently able to identify widespread fields made out of glass on the surface of Mars.
The findings also suggest that, even under hype... |
29 March 2012
16:31 GMT |
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The international, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Project Science Group announces that the central feature in the Gale Crater on the Red Planet has just been named Mount Sharp, in honor of planetary sciences founder Robert P. Sharp (1911-2004).
The expert helped educate a large number of the scientists currently lead... |
29 March 2012
03:00 GMT |
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The (full) image above shows patches of Martian ices, produced during the winter. Experts managing the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) experiment aboard the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) wanted to image them recently, but got a surprise instead.
The extremely accurate instrument was bloc... |
23 March 2012
11:32 GMT |
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Talk about resilient robots! Even with its solar panels covered in dust, Opportunity is still surveying the Martian surface happily, while at the same time breaking milestone after milestone. The rover is currently getting ready for its fifth winter on the Red Planet.
This panoramic mosaic of the rover was taken us... |
22 March 2012
10:47 GMT |
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Scientists analyzing data from the NASA Cassini spacecraft announce the discovery of traces of avalanches on the surface of the icy Saturnine moon Iapetus. They explain that the phenomenon is not at all unusual throughout the solar system. Previous studies found similar occurrences on Mars.
However, discovering tha... |
22 March 2012
04:14 GMT |
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According to an announcement officials at the American space agency made on Tuesday, March 20, NASA is currently trying to determine whether it may be possible to use the International Space Station as a microgravity lab for simulating a manned trip to the Red Planet.
Under President Obama's orders, the organi... |
21 March 2012
19:01 GMT |
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In the distant past, Mars was a wet planet, featuring lakes and an ocean on its northern hemisphere. A recent study discovered that about a third of these former lakes contain mud and clay deposits of the type of house fossilized lifeforms here on Earth. The work is critically-important because it indicates location... |
14 March 2012
06:35 GMT |
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Officials from the American space agency have just revealed a new image of the Martian surface. Unlike other that only showed sand dunes and canyons, this one shows an actual tornado making its way across the rugged landscape. As seen from above, the weather event looks like a horizontal “S,” snaking it... |
8 March 2012
02:51 GMT |
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Experts at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California have just completed a full dress rehearsal of what the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity will look and behave like when it lands on the Red Plant.
The event is scheduled to take place this August, after the mission launched in ... |
7 March 2012
09:32 GMT |
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Scientists from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SAO) and Technical University Berlin (TUB) recently released a series of updated working models covering the properties of the gravitational field surrounding Mars' largest and closest moon, Phobos.
Like the second Martian moon, called Deimos, Phobos is ex... |
5 March 2012
04:20 GMT |
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When scientists managing the Hawaii Space Exploration Analogue & Simulation (HI-SEAS) experiment put out a call for participants in a four-month bogus space missions, they did not expect to receive more than 700 applications. Researchers want to simulate the conditions aboard a spacecraft for 120 days, in a bid to de... |
3 March 2012
06:31 GMT |
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A multi-band camera aboard the the NASA Mars Odyssey orbiter recently turned 10 in Martian orbit. The instrument began scientific operations around the Red Planet on February 19, 2002, and has been producing invaluable science ever since. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) can snap photos in both visible ... |
3 March 2012
03:22 GMT |
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Astronomers are currently considering the possibility that a massive asteroid impact that occurred sometime in the distant past was responsible for destroying Mars' magnetic field. Theoreticians are currently trying to determine whether such a scenario is even possible.
There are several massive craters on the... |
2 March 2012
05:44 GMT |
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According to an announcement made by experts at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, a Mars exploration mission previously called GEMS is now called InSight.
The former GEophysical Monitoring Station has now been dubbed the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and... |
29 February 2012
02:11 GMT |
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The fact that Mars was geologically active in the distant past is no secret to anyone. In fact, all rocky planets in our solar system probably were. But the latest data sent back by a NASA spacecraft indicate that quakes occurred on the Red Planet only a few million years ago.
This came as a surprise to experts anal... |
21 February 2012
16:31 GMT |
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A new discovery made in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on the planet, shows the numerous microorganisms can endure even in the harshest conditions. An international collaboration of experts was recently able to find a significant concentration of life just beneath the desert surface.
At first glance, the soil... |
18 February 2012
04:52 GMT |
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Officials at the American space agency have just released an interactive feature that showcases the most important plants NASA has, in terms of space exploration and manned spaceflight. You can see it here. A simpler version (in .pdf format) is available here.
Everything from the development of the Orion Multi-Purp... |
15 February 2012
06:01 GMT |
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High-risk, high-reward missions to the Red Planet will no longer be possible with the new budget proposed for the American space agency, analysts say. Spacecraft such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) are currently placed on hold indefinitely.
NASA will only get $1.2 billion for its planetary science programs, w... |
14 February 2012
16:01 GMT |
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A computer glitch was responsible for the failure of the Phobos-Grunt sample-return mission to the Martian moon Phobos, a report by Russian investigators explains. The document finally settles the debate as to what actually happened to the Russian Federal Space Agency's (RosCosmos) probe.
Other reasons that we... |
13 February 2012
03:11 GMT |
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The computer processor aboard the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) experienced a small glitch about three days after the mission launched. Now, scientists say that they were able to figure out what went wrong, and correct the error. The event is unlikely to cause any damages or delays to the mission.
The MSL is a ... |
10 February 2012
03:59 GMT |
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European ministers proposed the ExoMars mission to the Red Planet back in 2005, and the European Space Agency (ESA) wanted to include NASA in it as well. Though the American space agency accepted at first, it now looks like it will retire from this ambitious scientific endeavor.
An official announcement has not yet ... |
8 February 2012
03:49 GMT |
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If lifeforms ever had a chance to develop on the Red Planet, they may all be dead now, due to the fact that the planet has been plagued by intense drought for at least 600 million years. This actually makes a lot of sense, even when considering that water-ice still exists at Mars' poles.
At this point, the sur... |
6 February 2012
09:50 GMT |
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Recent investigations of the Sytris Major region on Mars have revealed an impressive area of formerly-intense volcanic activity. The calderas have been inactive for billions of years, but they do remind investigators of a time when our neighboring planet was very geologically active.
When it first formed, Mars also... |
4 February 2012
04:55 GMT |
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The wreckage of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft haven't yet even settled at the bottom of the ocean, but officials at the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) are already revealing new plans to send a spacecraft to the diminutive Martian moon.
It's hard to say what drives the Russians in this quest, since ... |
1 February 2012
05:52 GMT |
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