Scientists have found evidence that large amounts of water-ice hide within massive sand dunes on Mars. One of the dunes, called Kaiser Dune, which spans 6.5km and rises 475m above the Martian surface, is among the largest in the Solar System. The icy dunes could be a valuable resource for any future manned missions to the planet, said Dr Mary Bourke.
September 9th, 2005
Ice belt ‘encircled Mars equator’
Europe’s Mars Express probe may have found evidence for a band of ice that once spanned the Martian equator. A frozen sea and patterns of glacial activity on the planet may be a relic of this ancient belt of ice, says a top scientist. The ice may have formed just before five million years ago due to a change in the tilt of Mars.
February 21st, 2005
Mars pictures reveal frozen sea
A huge, frozen sea lies just below the surface of Mars, a team of European scientists has announced.
Their assessment is based on pictures of the planet’s near-equatorial Elysium region that show plated and rutted features across an area 800 by 900km.
December 9th, 2004
Russian call for Mars volunteers
Russian scientists are selecting volunteers to be locked in a capsule for 500 days to test plans for a trip to Mars. The mock mission is designed to simulate the tough conditions of a space trip to the Red Planet. A team of six men will be physically cut off from the outside world to test equipment intended to make them self-sufficient for long periods.
November 3rd, 2004
Scientists lift veil on Beagle 3
The team behind the Beagle 2 mission to Mars has unveiled its design for the successor to the British spacecraft. At a London meeting, Colin Pillinger, lead scientist on the previous venture, outlined plans for putting a new robotic lab on the Red Planet. Scientists hope to launch two landing craft from an orbiter that could fly in 2009 as part of Europe’s Aurora programme of space exploration.
October 20th, 2004
Plasma beam for 90-day Mars visit
Advocates of a propulsion idea for spacecraft claim that it would enable a 90-day round trip to Mars.
Using current technology, it would take astronauts about 2.5 years to travel to Mars, conduct their mission and return to Earth, US scientists estimate. It would use a space station to fire a beam of magnetised particles at a solar sail mounted on a spacecraft.
October 1st, 2004
UK aims to be major space player
The UK is almost certainly going back to Mars and is set to become a major player in Europe’s efforts to explore the Solar System.
Science minister Lord Sainsbury says the country will pay the
September 22nd, 2004
Rock bugs resist polar extremes
It seems wherever scientists look on Earth they can usually find some kind of lifeform eking out an existence. And microbe colonies discovered living under rocks in the Arctic and Antarctic are just the latest example. Their high-latitude polar habitats are among the most extreme on the planet, with damaging levels of ultraviolet light as well as sub-zero temperatures.
September 20th, 2004
New Mars data gives life clue
New data showing that patterns of water and methane in Mars’ atmosphere overlap may have important implications for the idea that the planet could harbour life. The finding comes from the Mars Express probe in orbit around the Red Planet. If microbes are making methane seen in Mars’ atmosphere, they would rely on water, so the association between the two has excited some researchers.
September 19th, 2004
Body clocks ‘hinder’ space travel
Researchers think the human body clock could hinder space exploration. Russell Foster’s team at Imperial College London, UK, is looking at how astronauts would cope away from Earth. Whilst the human body is used to a 24-hour cycle, the day on Mars is an extra 39 minutes long, which could prove difficult for humans to adapt to.