Martian dust storms might be detectable from Earth, say researchers who suspect electrical signals from banging dust particles ought to be detectable as radio and microwave noise. If they are correct, it could reveal a lot about the atmosphere of the Red Planet and create a new and inexpensive way to monitor its climate.
February 4th, 2004
Mars Soil Image Mystifies Scientists Discovery News
New high-definition pictures of the soil in a shallow crater on Mars are raising more questions than they’re answering. At a NASA news briefing Wednesday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., experts said the new pictures, taken on Meridiani Planum by the rover Opportunity’s microscopic imager, show fine grains, almost like sand, as well as coarser grains of many different shapes, some of them round.
January 25th, 2004
Opportunity Sends 1st Mars Images Discovery News
Scientists marveled Sunday as Opportunity, the second of two roving Mars probes, transmitted its first images from the planet’s surface, putting an $820-million research program back on track. The black-and-white and color photos showed the probe resting on a plain near a rock outcropping in an area of Mars known as the Meridiani Planum, where Opportunity touched down at 9:05 p.m. PST Saturday (12:05 a.m. ET Sunday).
January 20th, 2004
Orbiter Reveals Mars Seasonal Patterns Discovery News
Two full Martian years of global Mars temperature readings, equal in time to about four Earth years, from the Mars Global Surveyor’s (MGS) onboard Thermal Emission Spectrometer are revealing a planet where global dust storms, water ice, and the distance to the sun trigger long-lasting changes in the Martian climate.
December 8th, 2003
Mars Surprisingly Magnetic in New Map Discovery News
Unprecedented mapping of the magnetism of Mars’ surface is revealing surprises and new mysteries about the Red Planet. The first surprise is that Mars’ crust is in some places ten times more magnetized than Earth’s crust. That’s despite the fact that Mars’ has virtually no global magnetic field today, said space scientist Jack Connerney of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
December 1st, 2003
Japan’s Mars Probe in Trouble Again Discovery News
Japan’s high hopes of joining the science-fest at Mars next year are rapidly evaporating, with only a slim chance the country’s troubled Nozomi spacecraft will be able to brake for orbit. Engineers have just one more week to repair a damaged electrical system needed to warm fuel for Nozomi’s thrusters. If the thrusters aren’t fired, Nozomi will not be in position to go into orbit around Mars.
November 4th, 2003
Volcanic Lake May Hold Clues to Mars Life Discovery News
A team of scientists is making its way to a lake at the top of the world where, despite blasting solar radiation and little protection from atmospheric ozone, life took hold and continues to thrive today. Licancabur, a dormant volcano rising 20,000 feet above sea level, is not your typical tourist spot. Atmospheric pressure at Licancabur’s peak is less than half that at sea level and its equatorial location between Chile and Bolivia puts it directly in the line of fire for ultraviolet blasts from the sun.
August 25th, 2003
Mars So Close, Yet So Far Discovery News
Mars may be as close to Earth as it’s been in 60,000 years, but for space exploration advocates who’ve been pining to follow up the Apollo moon missions with a human expedition to Mars, the Red Planet has never been more distant. “Right now, a Mars mission is on no one’s radar scope,” said Karl Leib, a political scientist at Wabash College, Ind., and co-author of a book on space policy. “What matters now is just getting the shuttle back into service and getting NASA back to the point where it can trust itself.”
July 15th, 2003
Earth Cruising Toward Mars Flirtation Discovery News
Earth is speeding toward a rare astral rendezvous with Mars, placing the two as close to each other as possible and giving amateur astronomers an unparalleled view of the Red Planet. The two planets are racing toward each other at a rate of about 30 kilometers every five seconds, until they are as close as they ever can be on August 27.
May 7th, 2003
New Mars Water Theory Looks at Wind Discovery News
Mars’ most celebrated watery feature may not form from water at all, but from wind, says a geologist who has found the driest, dustiest explanation yet for Martian gullies.