Among the thousands of visitors to Mt. Etna this year, one group came not just to look at one of most famous volcanoes on Earth. Dozens of scientists trekked up Etna together this fall to observe what Etna has in common with Mars. Researchers interested in what makes the red planet tick can’t study the planet in person-at least not yet. To help them interpret what they see in Mars images and other remote sensing data–and to test their instruments and procedures–they turn to Earth.
November 5th, 2002
Ghosts of Impacts Past: Ancient Hidden Craters on Mars Revealed
A father-daughter science team has found what they say are the oldest known impact craters on Mars, ghostly structures that could only be discerned with special software and the latest elevation data. Images obtained by SPACE.com reveal hints of circular outlines and subtle depressions that appear to be craters created during tremendous asteroid or comet impacts that pummeled the Red Planet
October 23rd, 2002
Mars Water Debate Rages Discovery News
There’s no end in sight for the debate over whether Mars was once wet, warm and Earth-like, or forever a frigid world where water never had a chance to thaw and flow. In the latest foray, Mars researchers Sarah T. Stewart of the California Institute of Technology and Francis Nimmo of NASA Ames Research Center argue not only that the gullies running down crater walls must have been created by water, but that the alternative theory
October 16th, 2002
New findings liken Mars orbit to Earth U-WIRE
Professor John Mustard and colleagues discovered that a climate change theory for Earth applies on Mars as well. Mustard
October 2nd, 2002
Mars Climate Clues Found in Slice of Ice
When scientists first examined the layered structure of Mars’ northern ice cap, somewhat crudely detected by the Mariner 9 orbiter in the early 1970s, they speculated the bands were composed of alternating tiers of ice and dust accumulated over years. Researchers have now used more recent data collected by the Mars Global Surveyor to make measurements of the layers down to fractions of inches using the high resolution Mars Orbiter Camera aboard the Mars Global Surveyor. What they’re learning about the layers of Martian history may tell them something about what controls the climate of the Red Planet.
September 28th, 2002
Polygonal Patterned Ground: Surface Similarities Between Mars and Earth SpaceRef.com
On Earth, periglacial is a term that refers to regions and processes where cold climate contributes to the evolution of landforms and landscapes. Common in periglacial environments on Earth, such as the arctic of northern Canada, Siberia, and Alaska, is a phenomenon called patterned ground. The “patterns” in patterned ground often take the form of large polygons, each bounded by either troughs or ridges made up of rock particles different in size from those seen in the interior of the polygon.
September 25th, 2002
Mars climate change is in the stars Ananova
Fluctuations in climate on Mars can be traced to variations in the planet’s astronomical behaviour. French scientists have found a correlation between layers of ice at the Red Planet’s poles and dramatic climate oscillations caused by orbital variation.
September 25th, 2002
Martian ‘wobbles’ shift climate
Mars undergoes periodic “wobbles” on its axis and variations in its orbit that, like the Earth, may cause it to endure ice ages, say scientists. The evidence comes from high-resolution images of the planet’s northern polar ice cap, a dome of water-ice mixed with dust that is up to 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) thick.
September 25th, 2002
Poles hint at past climate on Mars PhysicsWeb
Astronomers have found the first direct evidence that the structure of the polar caps on Mars is linked to climate changes driven by fluctuations in the planet’s motion. A team led by Jacques Laskar of the CNRS Institute of Celestial Mechanics in France established the link by inspecting new high-resolution images. The researchers believe that the polar caps could reveal as much about the history of Mars as the terrestrial ice caps have told us about the history of the Earth (J Laskar et al 2002 Nature 419 375).
June 21st, 2002
Flood on Mars Carved Instant Grand Canyon, Researchers Say
Water roaring out of an overfilled lake carved an instant Grand Canyon _ a valley more than mile (1.6 kilometers) deep _ on the surface of Mars some 3.5 billion years ago, according to a new analysis of pictures taken by spacecraft. Researchers at the National Air and Space Museum said the flood of water originated from a huge lake _ large enough to flood both Texas and California _ that overflowed into a nearby impact crater. When that crater filled up, said geologist Ross Irwin, the water eroded away a ridge-like barrier and was sent rampaging across a plain. Within a short time, a deep and wide gully called Ma’adim Vallis was carved from the Martian surface.