Tag Archive for 'Mars'

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...

In this image of Phobos, red arrows indicate a chain of small craters whose origin researchers were able to trace back to a primary impact at a large crater known as Grildrig. Image credit: M. Nayak & E. Asphaug / ESA / Mars Express.

Researchers Solve Mystery of Anomalous Grooves on Phobos

Sep 2, 2016 by News Staff

Anomalous grooves on Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons, are the result of debris ejected by impacts eventually falling back onto the surface...

Map showing distribution of inverted channels (black lines) and valley networks (white lines) in Arabia Terra, Mars. Many of the inverted channels (e.g., southwest region of study area) are not associated with valley networks. Background image is Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter gridded topographic map. Image credit: J.M. Davis et al.

Planetary Researchers Find Evidence of Ancient River Systems in Mars’ Arabia Terra

Aug 23, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists led by University College London researcher Joel Davis has identified over 10,500 miles (17,000 km) of ancient river...

‘Morse code’ dunes on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

‘Morse Code’ Dunes Spotted on Mars

Jul 12, 2016 by News Staff

The latest images released by NASA’s HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) team show ‘Morse code’ dunes on the Martian surface. ‘Morse...

Two sizes of ripples are evident in this December 13, 2015, view of a top of a Martian sand dune, from Curiosity. Sand dunes and the smaller type of ripples also exist on Earth. The larger ripples -- roughly 10 feet (3 m) apart -- are a type not seen on our planet nor previously recognized as a distinct type on Mars. Scale bar - 2 m (79 inches). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Scientists Discover New Type of Sand Dune — on Mars

Jul 1, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of planetary scientists led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has discovered a type of dune on Mars intermediate...

ExoMars acquired its first image of Mars on June 13. The line-of-sight distance to the planet was 25.5 million miles (41 million km). The Tharsis region of Mars, home to the planet’s largest volcanoes, faces the spacecraft in this view. Image credit: ESA / Roscosmos / ExoMars / CaSSIS / UniBE.

ExoMars Orbiter Beams Back Its First Image of Mars

Jun 16, 2016 by Natali Anderson

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) has snapped its first photo of the Red Planet. ExoMars acquired its first image of Mars on June 13. The line-of-sight...

This image, produced with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows spiral features that were used in interpreting the climate signal of ice age advancement and retreat. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU-Berlin / Ralf Jaumann.

Planetary Scientists Find Evidence for Recent Ice Age on Mars

May 26, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers using data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have found evidence of an ice age recorded in the Red Planet’s polar caps. This image,...

Hubble photo of Mars taken when the planet was 50 million miles (80 million km) from Earth on May 12. The photo reveals details as small as 20 - 30 miles (32.2 - 48.3 km) across. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / J. Bell, ASU / M. Wolff, Space Science Institute.

Hubble Team Releases Stunning New Image of Mars

May 20, 2016 by News Staff

On May 12, 2016, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this incredible photo of Mars, when the planet...

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Mega-Tsunamis Resurfaced Shorelines of Early Mars’ Ocean, Researchers Say

May 19, 2016 by News Staff

Massive meteorite impacts triggered two mega-tsunamis in the early Martian ocean 3.4 billion years ago, according to scientists writing in the journal...

SOFIA/GREAT spectrum of oxygen [OI] superimposed on an image of Mars from NASA’ MAVEN mission. The amount of atomic oxygen computed from SOFIA data is about half the amount expected. Image credit: NASA / DLR / USRA / DSI / MPIfR / GREAT Consortium / MPIfS / Rezac et al / MAVEN.

NASA’s SOFIA Observatory Detects Atomic Oxygen in Upper Atmosphere of Mars

May 10, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the largest airborne observatory in the world, has detected atomic oxygen in the upper...

This image of an impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars was taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 30, 2015. The crater is approximately 3,300 feet (1-km) wide and appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta. The steep inner slopes are carved by gullies and include possible recurring slope lineae on the equator-facing slopes. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / Alfred McEwen.

Mars’ Recurring Slope Lineae May Be Formed by Boiling Water

May 3, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Seasonal dark streaks on Mars — called recurring slope lineae by planetary researchers — could be the result of water boiling whilst flowing...

Beagle-2 landing site: original image (upper panel) and SRR from 5 input images (lower). The bright object in the upper centre portion is shown in the next figure. Map co-ordinates come from NASA’s HiRISE camera and are not in a global reference system. Image credit: Yu Tao & Jan-Peter Muller, University College London.

Novel Super-Resolution Restoration Technique Shows Mars in Incredible Detail

Apr 26, 2016 by News Staff

The Martian surface — including the location of ESA’s Beagle-2 lander, and the ancient lakebeds discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover —...

Comet, Asteroid Impacts 4 Billion Years Ago Likely Enhanced Life-Supporting Habitat on Mars

Apr 6, 2016 by News Staff

The bombardment of the Red Planet about 4 billion years ago (Noachian period) by giant comets and asteroids likely enhanced climate conditions enough to...

This view of the Martian gravity map shows the Tharsis volcanoes and surrounding flexure: the white areas in the center are higher-gravity regions produced by the massive Tharsis volcanoes, and the surrounding blue areas are lower-gravity regions that may be cracks in the crust. Image credit: MIT / UMBC-CRESST / GSFC.

NASA Scientists Release Map of Mars’ Gravity

Mar 22, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr. Antonio Genova of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has released a detailed new map of Mars’ gravity. This view of...

Artist’s impression visualizing the ExoMars 2016 TGO, with its thrusters firing, beginning its entry into Mars orbit. Image credit: ESA / ATG medialab.

ExoMars 2016 Blasts Off from Baikonur

Mar 14, 2016 by News Staff

The ExoMars 2016 mission blasted off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Proton-M rocket at 02:31 a.m. PDT (05:31 a.m. EDT, 09:31 a.m. GMT,...

Mars’ moon Phobos as observed by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / CU /LASP.

Phobos in Ultraviolet: Latest Photo from NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft

Mar 1, 2016 by News Staff

This false-color image of Phobos, the larger and inner of the two natural satellites of Mars, was taken by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument...

This image from Hubble shows the Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier 104 or NGC 4594), an unbarred spiral galaxy located about 29 million light-years away. Image credit: NASA / Hubble Heritage Team.

Astrobiologists Say Extraterrestrials May All Be Extinct

Jan 22, 2016 by News Staff

According to Australian National University astrobiologists Charley Lineweaver and Aditya Chopra, life on other planets would likely be brief and become...

Ritchey Crater on Mars has impact melt deposits containing clay minerals. The clay minerals found within these deposits are very likely to have formed after the impact event. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / Brown University.

New Research Finds Evidence for More Recent Clay Formation on Mars

Dec 14, 2015 by News Staff

Clay deposits in impact craters on Mars have often been assumed to have been formed in the earliest Martian epoch – the Noachian period – over...

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