The water-linked gray iron mineral that was the main reason the Opportunity Mars rover was sent to Meridiani Planum may have been a mirage, say researchers. The rare large-grained, shiny-gray form of rust called gray hematite
April 2nd, 2004
Methane found in Mars atmosphere SFGate.com
Scientist offers a few theories for presence of gas exuded by life forms. Mars scientists in Europe and the United States have detected tantalizing signs of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere, and cannot yet explain why it’s there.
April 2nd, 2004
Water on Mars Physics Today
Mars is cold enough that its meager water content appears to exist today simply in frozen and gas phases. But as recent evidence suggests, that may not have always been the case.
March 29th, 2004
Scientists Unsure if Methane at Mars Points to Biology or Geology
A trio of research teams independently probing the Martian atmosphere for signs of methane have found it, a combined discovery that opens the door for a host of theories as to how the colorless, odorless gas got there. Among the most tantalizing, if not very likely, of scenarios, scientists say, is the possibility that the Mars methane could be the byproduct of some form of microbial life. But a safer bet, they say, centers on the geology of Mars, including anything from volcanic activity to long-ago impacts of methane-carrying comets.
March 29th, 2004
Methane found on Mars Nature
Methane has been spotted in the atmosphere of Mars by several researchers, reigniting speculations about the possibility of life on the red planet. On Earth, methane is a common by-product of the metabolism of single-celled organisms. So its presence in the martian atmosphere could be a sign of bacteria still living on the planet. But that isn’t the only possible explanation, says Vittorio Formisano of the Institute of Physics of Interplanetary Space in Rome, who helped to confirm the finding. The methane could be produced by purely geological processes, such as volcanic activity.
March 26th, 2004
Methane find on Mars may be sign of life The Independent
A strong signal of life on Mars has been detected by scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration (Nasa) and the European Space Agency. Each group has independently discovered tantalising evidence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Methane, a waste product of living organisms on Earth, could also be a by-product of alien microbes living under the surface of the Red Planet.
March 25th, 2004
Martian Mystery Explained The University of Arizona
The spiral troughs of Mars’ polar ice caps have been called the most enigmatic landforms in the solar system. The deep canyons spiraling out from Red Planet
March 23rd, 2004
Mars Rover Finds Evidence of Ancient Sea The Washington Post
The site where a NASA robot found the first hard evidence that water once existed on Mars is apparently the remains of an ancient shoreline of a salty sea, scientists reported today. A detailed analysis of rocks in the shallow crater where the rover has been studying the Red Planet’s geology indicates the formations were shaped by gently flowing salt water, indicating the area was probably once the coastline of an ocean, scientists said.
March 20th, 2004
Did an impact basin make a water “reservoir” on Mars? Astronomy.com
According to an analysis by a team of planetary scientists headed by James Dohm (University of Arizona), a large, underground aquifer lies within the remains of an ancient impact basin in Arabia Terra on Mars. Specifically, the team proposes that the Arabia basin spanned 1,800 miles (3,000 km) in diameter, and that it formed sometime before about 3.5 billion years ago. As essentially a big hole in the ground, such a place would have attracted and trapped a lot of water and sediments during much of Mars’s history. The team has combined data from spacecraft in Mars orbit with geophysical arguments to build what is admittedly a circumstantial case.
March 17th, 2004
‘Blueberries’ are answer to key Mars puzzle New Scientist
The Mars rover Opportunity has now solved the key puzzle it was sent to the Meridiani Planum to figure out: where is the hematite that was spotted in the area by the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter? The answer is in the “blueberries”, the tiny mineral spheres that litter the rover’s landing site.