Astronomers have long attributed Mars’s global orange-brown color to oxidized iron
September 4th, 2003
Downpours on Ancient Mars? Sky and Telescope
The red planet does not lack for water in its frozen state. Great swaths of the Martian surface appear to be underlain by ice-impregnated dirt, and a fresh look at data returned by NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft concludes that the planet may have stashed even greater amounts of ice than first thought. According to investigator William V. Boynton (University of Arizona), subsurface regions surrounding Mars’s polar caps may contain at least 70 percent ice by volume
August 29th, 2003
Nasa To Host Annual Planetary Sciences Meeting
The origin of planets, the role of impacts on Mars’ weather, Jupiter’s atmosphere and recent results from the Mars Odyssey mission will be some of the topics that will be discussed at this year’s American Astronomical Society/Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting, hosted by NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.
August 26th, 2003
New Findings Could Dash Hopes For Past Oceans On Mars
After a decades-long quest, scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have at last found critical evidence the spacecraft’s infrared spectrometer instrument was built to search for: the presence of water-related carbonate minerals on the surface of Mars. However, the discovery also potentially contradicts what scientists had hoped to prove: the past existence of large bodies of liquid water on Mars, such as oceans. How this discovery relates to the possibility of ephemeral lakes on Mars is not known at this time.
August 25th, 2003
New Findings Could Dash Hopes For Past Oceans On Mars ScienceDaily
After a decades-long scientific quest, scientists analyzing data from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have at last found critical evidence the instrument was built to search for
August 22nd, 2003
Mars was ‘always cold and frozen’ New Scientist
The idea that Mars was once a warm place, awash with oceans that could harboured early life has taken a knock – new data suggests it was always cold, frozen and probably lifeless. A survey of the Red Planet’s surface has revealed only traces of carbonates, minerals that should have formed in abundant quantities if Mars once had expansive seas. On Earth, the mineral is found in limestone and chalk deposits around the world.
August 21st, 2003
Mars dust hints at a trickle of water
Traces of a mineral indicative of water have been found all over Mars
August 20th, 2003
NAU researchers find good possibility of water on Mars The Lumberjack Online
The last 21 years a NAU astronomy professor has been trying to determine if water has been, or is, present on Mars. Nadine Barlow is one of several Flagstaff scientists involved in NASA
August 19th, 2003
Earth vs. Mars: The Two Planets Weigh In
Mars is the most Earth-like other world known, and with the two planets on the verge of their closest approach in recorded history (Aug. 27), it’s time for the planets to weigh in. In this tale of the tape, we present the most pertinent and interesting facts that compare and contrast the two very different worlds.
August 7th, 2003
Mars is Melting
It’s not every day you get to watch a planetary ice cap melt, but this month you can. All you need are clear skies, a backyard telescope, and a sky map leading to Mars. Actually, you won’t need the sky map because Mars is so bright and easy to find. Just look south between midnight and dawn on any clear night this month. Mars is that eye-catching red star, outshining everything around it. It’s getting brighter every night as Earth and Mars converge for a close encounter on August 27th.