Tag Archive for 'Mars'

Curiosity Finds Methane, Organic Molecules on Mars

Dec 17, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover has detected methane in the Martian atmosphere around it and several organic molecules in a rock sample from its landing...

$This two-dimensional X-ray diffraction pattern for the John Klein mudstone sample reveals the presence of more than a dozen minerals. Image credit: Bish, D. et al.$

X-Ray Diffraction Helps Identify Dozen Martian Minerals

Dec 9, 2014 by News Staff

An international team of scientists led by Dr David Bish of Indiana University has analyzed recent data from the CheMin, a miniaturized X-ray diffraction...

Gale crater is 155 km in diameter and now holds a layered mountain rising about 5 km above the crater floor. This illustration depicts a lake of water partially filling the crater. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / UA / Sci-News.com.

Curiosity Finds Strong Evidence of Ancient Lake on Mars

Dec 9, 2014 by News Staff

Mount Sharp – a mountain on Mars and the primary target of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity – was built by sediments deposited in a large...

The circular mound spotted by NASA scientists is in Athabasca Valles, north-central Elysium Planitia, Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.

Strange Circular Mound in Athabasca Valles on Mars Puzzles NASA Scientists

Dec 5, 2014 by News Staff

NASA scientists using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have captured an image of...

Hellas Chaos stretches roughly 200 km north–south and for about 500 km in an east–west direction. It shows a variety of landforms, from large impact craters containing wind-blown dunes or flat-topped mesas, to ridges and troughs with rough knobs of material protruding from the surface. The region is also dusted with carbon dioxide frost. North is to the right and west is at the top. The image was captured by Mars Express on 23 January 2014. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Mars Express Focuses on Frost-Covered Hellas Chaos

Dec 3, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists using the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft have captured a stunning new image of Hellas Chaos, a large region...

This is an artist’s impression of habitable Mars (Daein Ballard / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Volcanic Eruptions May Have Triggered Episodic Water Flow on Ancient Mars

Nov 18, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists from Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and Brown University suggest that water flow and warm temperatures on early Mars were likely related...

This is an artist's concept of the meteor storm bombardment on Mars.

Comet Siding Spring Triggered Meteor Storm on Mars, Say Scientists

Nov 8, 2014 by News Staff

If there were Martians, they likely would have witnessed thousands of shooting stars from a comet known officially as Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, says...

NASA’s Mars Fleet, Hubble Return Images of Comet Siding Spring

Oct 27, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Mars Rover Opportunity and two Mars orbiters – the MAVEN and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – have captured...

HI-SEAS team members will stay in a dome on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Image credit: Sian Proctor / University of Hawaii at Manoa.

NASA’s HI-SEAS Team Training in Hawaii for Manned Mars Mission

Oct 21, 2014 by News Staff

Six astronaut-like members of NASA’s Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) team have embarked on the longest dedicated space travel...

This image shows Comet 2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, as captured by Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J.-Y. Li, Planetary Science Institute.

NASA’s Mars Fleet Studies Comet Siding Spring

Oct 20, 2014 by News Staff

Three NASA Mars orbiters – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN orbiter – and two Mars rovers are part of a campaign to study Comet...

Comet Siding Spring 2013 A1 to Pass Mars Today

Oct 19, 2014 by News Staff

On 19 October 2014, Comet Siding Spring will come within about 139,500 km of Mars – less than half the distance between Earth and our moon and less...

Mars; the center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Scientists Find Evidence for Ancient Glaciers on Mars

Oct 7, 2014 by News Staff

Data from two instruments aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have led to the discovery of a rare acid-sulfate mineral deposit on Mars, providing...

This new global geologic map of Mars depicts the most thorough representation of the planet’s surface; colors show distribution of 44 map units; for example, greens represent mainly lowland and basin units; yellow is relatively young impact material; reds and purples are volcanic units; blues are polar units; and earth tones are apron, transition, and highland units. Image credit: Tanaka, K.L. et al.

Scientists Create New Geologic Map of Mars

Sep 26, 2014 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr Kenneth Tanaka of the U.S. Geological Survey has produced a new global geologic map of Mars that records the distribution...

The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument aboard MAVEN obtained these images just 8 hours after arrival. Image credit: NASA / Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics / University of Colorado.

MAVEN Takes its First Images of Mars

Sep 25, 2014 by News Staff

NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft – the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the upper atmosphere of Mars – has returned its first pictures...

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

NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Mars

Sep 22, 2014 by News Staff

On September 21, 2014, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of the Red Planet after completing...

Cell-Like Structure Found within 1.3-Billion-Year-Old Martian Meteorite

Sep 17, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom and Greece led by Dr Elias Chatzitheodoridis of the National Technical University of Athens has found a mysterious...

Paleosols found inside Gale Crater on Mars are evidence of habitable environments, but have yielded no conclusive evidence of life. Image credit: Gregory J. Retallack.

U.S. Geologist Discovers Earth-Like Soils on Mars

Aug 22, 2014 by News Staff

Paleosols (ancient fossilized soils) filling the Yellowknife Bay geologic formation within the 3.7-billion-year-old Gale Crater on Mars are strong evidence...

Unlike an ordinary daytime photo, this nighttime image of Martian surface shows how warm various surface areas are: brighter tones mean warmer temperatures, which indicate areas with rockier surface materials; darker areas indicate cooler and dustier terrain. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Arizona State University.

Scientists Create Map of Martian Surface Properties

Jul 18, 2014 by News Staff

A group of planetary scientists using data from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) onboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has created the most...

This artist's concept shows the LDSD test vehicle. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Tests Flying Saucer-Shaped Vehicle for Future Mars Landing

Jun 30, 2014 by News Staff

After several weather delays, engineers from NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project have successfully tested a flying saucer-shaped spacecraft...

View looking north at the Ice River Spring. Located in the polar desert of northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, this spring carves a gully remarkable similar to those observed on Mars. Image credit: Stephen Grasby.

Canadian Scientists Discover Northernmost Perennial Spring

Jun 17, 2014 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Canada has announced the discovery of the Earth’s highest latitude perennial spring, located in the polar desert of the Canadian...

«‹20 212223 24 ›»