Tag Archive for 'Mars'

Star of Bethlehem May Not Have Been Star After All, Says Astrophysicist

Dec 2, 2016 by News Staff

Grant Mathews, professor of theoretical astrophysics and cosmology in the University of Notre Dame’s College of Science, believes the event that led...

Artist's impression of the Schiaparelli lander after the parachute has been deployed. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab.

Schiaparelli Crash Caused by Sensor Malfunction, ESA Experts Say

Nov 24, 2016 by News Staff

The crash of the ExoMars Schiaparelli test lander, also known as Entry, descent, and landing Demonstrator Module (EDM), last month was caused by a sensor...

This image is an artist’s concept of a view looking down on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft is pictured using its SHARAD instrument to ‘look’ under the surface of Mars. Image credit: NASA.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Finds Subsurface Water Ice in Utopia Planitia

Nov 23, 2016 by News Staff

Frozen beneath Utopia Planitia, a large plain on Mars, lies about as much water as what’s in Lake Superior, according to an international team of planetary...

Artist’s concept of ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ice-Quake Echoes Could Lift Lid on Oceans within Pluto and Europa

Nov 22, 2016 by James Romero

Measuring outer solar system ice-quakes could identify if Europa’s subsurface ocean is an oxygen-rich, leading candidates for life, or uncover the origin...

The Hellas depression. Image credit: Joseph S. Levy et al.

Concentrically-Fractured Depression on Mars Could Be Place to Look for Signs of Microbial Life

Nov 14, 2016 by News Staff

An unusual depression in the northern Hellas basin on Mars could be a new place to look for life on the planet, says a team of planetary researchers. The...

On November 1, HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter observed the impact site of Schiaparelli lander, gaining the first color view of the site since the lander’s Oct. 19 arrival. These cutouts from the observation cover three locations where parts of Schiaparelli reached the ground: the lander module itself in the upper portion, the parachute and back shell at lower left, and the heat shield at lower right. The heat shield location was outside of the area covered in color. The scale bar of 32.8 feet (10 m) applies to all three cutouts. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.

New HiRISE Image Shows Schiaparelli Crash Site in Color

Nov 4, 2016 by News Staff

The latest image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows parts of ESA’s ExoMars...

The smooth-surfaced rock at the center of this Oct. 30 image from Curiosity’s Mast Camera was examined by the rover’s ChemCam instrument and confirmed to be an iron-nickel meteorite. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Curiosity Finds Odd-Looking Iron-Nickel Meteorite on Mars

Nov 3, 2016 by News Staff

A small globular object found by NASA’s Curiosity rover at the Murray Formation of lower Mount Sharp on Mars has been identified as an iron-nickel meteorite. The...

Artist’s impression of the Schiaparelli module on the surface of Mars. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Takes Closer Look at Schiaparelli Crash Site

Oct 28, 2016 by News Staff

An image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) reveals further details of the...

NASA Finds Schiaparelli’s Crash Site

Oct 21, 2016 by News Staff

A new image from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows a bright spot that may be a parachute of ESA’s ExoMars Schiaparelli module, and a larger...

This computer-generated view depicts part of Mars at the boundary between darkness and daylight. At top right is NWA 7034. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of New Mexico / Sci-News.com.

New Secrets Revealed about Ancient Mars from ‘Black Beauty’ Meteorite

Oct 20, 2016 by James Romero

New analysis of the most famous Martian meteorite ever recovered has changed our understanding of the early volcanic history and evolution of the Red Planet....

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter at Mars. Image credit: D. Ducros / ESA.

ExoMars TGO Successfully Enters Mars Orbit, Schiaparelli Situation under Assessment

Oct 19, 2016 by News Staff

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) has entered an elliptical orbit around Mars, while contact has not yet been confirmed with the Schiaparelli lander. ESA’s...

Artist’s impression depicting the separation of the Schiaparelli module from the Trace Gas Orbiter, and heading for Mars. Image credit: D. Ducros / ESA.

ExoMars 2016 Arrival and Landing: Watch Live

Oct 19, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Artist’s impression depicting the separation of the Schiaparelli module from the Trace Gas Orbiter, and heading for Mars. Image credit: D. Ducros / ESA. ESA’s...

MAVEN obtained this image of rapid cloud formation on Mars in July 2016. Image credit: NASA / MAVEN / University of Colorado.

MAVEN Ultraviolet Images Reveal Hidden Secrets of Mars

Oct 18, 2016 by News Staff

New images from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft show the ultraviolet glow from the Red Planet’s atmosphere in detail,...

Artist’s impression visualizing the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter, with its thrusters firing, beginning its entry into Mars orbit on October 19, 2016. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab.

ExoMars-2016 Mission Approaches Red Planet

Oct 16, 2016 by News Staff

Artist’s impression visualizing the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter, with its thrusters firing, beginning its entry into Mars orbit on October 19, 2016....

Two 2001 images from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor orbiter show a dramatic change in the Red Planet’s appearance when haze raised by dust-storm activity in the south became globally distributed. At left, an image from late June 2001 shows clear conditions over much of Mars, with regional dust-storm activity occurring in the Hellas basin (bright oval feature) near the edge of the south polar cap. At right, a July 2001 image from the same perspective shows the planet almost completely enveloped. Dust extends to altitudes of more than 37 miles (60 km) during global-scale dust storms. Image credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS.

Global-Scale Dust Storm Could Hit Mars within Months, Warn NASA Researchers

Oct 10, 2016 by News Staff

A global-scale dust storm could envelop the Red Planet within the next few months, according to planetary researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory...

This image shows an artist concept of NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA’s MAVEN Probe Celebrates One Martian Year in Orbit around the Red Planet

Oct 4, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, sent to Mars to explore its upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the...

This image from Curiosity’s Mast Camera shows inclined strata at Zabriskie Plateau, about a third of a mile (0.5 km) northeast of the ‘Pahrump Hills’ outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp, the central peak within the Gale Crater on Mars. These sedimentary rocks are inclined toward the south and are also interpreted as the deposits of small deltas building out into a lake. The Mast Camera’s left-eye camera recorded the component frames of this mosaic on July 22, 2014, during the 696th Martian day of Curiosity’s work on Mars. The color has been approximately white-balanced to resemble how the scene would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Curiosity Takes Close Look at Interactions between Mars’ Crust and Atmosphere

Oct 2, 2016 by News Staff

Curiosity has found evidence that chemistry in the Martian surface material contributed dynamically to the makeup of the planet’s atmosphere over time. This...

Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 1,550 miles (2,500 km) from the surface of the planet. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 1,240 miles (2,000 km) long and up to 5 miles (8 km) deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 15.5 miles (25 km) high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Marsquakes Could Support Life Deep within the Red Planet

Sep 28, 2016 by James Romero

The combination of seismic activity and water locked away at depth within Mars could be releasing sufficient hydrogen gas to support communities of microorganisms,...

Valleys younger than better-known ancient valley networks on Mars are evident on the landscape in the northern Arabia Terra region, particularly in the area mapped here with color-coded topographical information overlaid onto a photo mosaic. The area includes a basin informally named ‘Heart Lake’ at upper left. Data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor orbiter are coded here as white and purple for lower elevations, yellow for higher elevation. The elevation information is combined with a mosaic of images from NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, covering an area about 120 miles (about 190 km) wide. The mapped area is centered near 35.91 degrees north latitude, 1 degree east longitude on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU.

Mars Had Lakes, Snowmelt-Fed Streams More Recently than Thought

Sep 16, 2016 by News Staff

ESA’s Mars Express, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor have sent back new images and data from the Red Planet that indicate...

This view from Curiosity’s Mast Camera shows a sloping hillside within the ‘Murray Buttes’ region on lower Mount Sharp. The rim of Gale Crater, where the rover has been active since landing in 2012, is visible in the distance, through the dusty haze. The image was taken on September 8, 2016, during the 1454th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Curiosity Finds Spectacular Rock Formations on Mars

Sep 14, 2016 by News Staff

A set of new photos taken by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover reveals signs of past geologic activity. This view from Curiosity’s Mast Camera shows a sloping...

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