The strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was much wetter than it is now has been unearthed by NASA’s Spirit rover.
A patch of Martian soil kicked up and analyzed by Spirit appears to be rich in silica, which suggests it would have required water to produce.
Chemical analysis performed by the rover’s robotic arm-mounted science instruments measured a composition of about 90 percent pure silica — a material commonly found in quartz on Earth — for the bit of Martian dirt, said mission scientists, who first heard of the find during a teleconference.
“You could hear people gasp in astonishment,” said Steve Squyres, principal investigator for NASA’s twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. “This is a remarkable discovery.”
NASA Rover Finds Surprising Evidence for Mars’ Watery Past
Unwanted Life Forms Abound in Sick Spacecraft
Spacecraft start out clean – as close to germ-free as humans can make them. But after years of use, unused spaces within the walls can become home to unwanted life forms.
When NASA joined the Russian space program in its evaluation of the microbial activity aboard the Mir spacecraft, they made some interesting discoveries. NASA’s plan was to obtain information that would be useful during long-duration missions.
Mir had suffered several power outages during its fifteen years in low earth orbit; temperature and humidity had gone well beyond normal levels. In 1998, NASA astronauts were collecting samples from air and surfaces. Imagine their surprise when they opened an obscure service panel in Mir’s Kvant-2 Module and discovered a free-floating mass of water.
A Family Expedition to the Red Planet
Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto, National Space Society Projects and Events Coordinator for Chapters is on a mission. A mock mission to Mars, that is. Veronica Ann, along with her children, manned the MDRS, Mars Desert Research Station analogue, in Utah. Veronica Ann, who is also the founder and current President of the Phoenix Chapter of NSS, served as commander (CDR) during the mission and took time from her busy schedule on Mars to send reports to other Spacers around the globe. “By the F.L.A.M.E. (Family Living Analysis on Mars Expedition) Crew’s efforts we hope to give a renewed enthusiasm for human exploration. With a predetermined destination we embark on a voyage in which we hope to inspire our children and others to reach as far as they can, for exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery. Exploration challenges us. Have you felt challenged lately? If not, what can you do to be a part of the wonders of space exploration?”
Dust Storms Fuel Global Warming on Mars
Shifting dust storms on Mars might be contributing to global warming there that is shrinking the planet’s southern polar ice caps, scientists say.
Computer simulations similar to those used to predict weather here on Earth show that the bright, windblown dust and sand particles affects Mars’ albedo—the amount of sunlight reflected from the planet’s surface.
The research, detailed in the April 5 issue of the journal Nature, suggests these albedo variations play an important role in the climate of Mars. It could also potentially explain how global dust storms are triggered on the red planet.
Europe to Join 500-Day Mock Mission to Mars
The European Space Agency (ESA) will partner with Russian researchers to lock a crew of six people in metal tubes for a simulated trip to Mars.
Known as Mars500, the simulated space mission will take place in an isolation facility in Russia, allowing organizers to study the difficulties presented by such a lengthy spaceflight. The participants, selected from a pool of volunteers, will attempt to re-create all elements of an actual mission, including launch, an outboard journey, a research trip to the planet’s surface, and the return trip—all of which will take 500 days.
Locked inside the research station, the crew will have to deal with limitations such as a carefully portioned food supply, 20-minute delays in communication, and simulated emergencies, with the further possibility of real medical emergencies arising.
Possible New Mars Caves Targets in Search for Life
A Mars-orbiting satellite recently spotted seven dark spots near the planet’s equator that scientists think could be entrances to underground caves.
The football-field sized holes were observed by Mars Odyssey’s Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) and have been dubbed the seven sisters –Dena, Chloe, Wendy, Annie, Abbey, Nikki and Jeanne–after loved ones of the researchers who found them. The potential caves were spotted near a massive Martian volcano, Arisa Mons. Their openings range from about 330 to 820 feet (100 to 250 meters) wide, and one of them, Dena, is thought to extend nearly 430 feet (130 meters) beneath the planet’s surface.
The researchers hope the discovery will lead to more focused spelunking on Mars.
Giant Pool of Water Ice at Mars’ South Pole
Mars is unlikely to sport beachfront property anytime soon, but the planet has enough water ice at its south pole to blanket the entire planet in more than 30 feet of water if everything thawed out.
With a radar technique, astronomers have penetrated for the first time about 2.5 miles (nearly four kilometers) beneath the south pole’s frozen surface. The data showed that nearly pure water ice lies beneath.
Discovered in the early 1970s, layered deposits of ice and dust cap the North and South Poles of Mars. Until now, the deposits have been difficult to study closely with existing telescopes and satellites. The current advance comes from a probe of the deposits using an instrument aboard the Mars Express orbiter.
Night Clouds Warm Red Planet
Nighttime clouds detected for the first time on Mars help to keep the planet’s surface warm after sunset when temperatures drop, a new study suggests.
The nocturnal clouds are five times thicker than their daytime counterparts and hover close to the ground, almost like a fog.
The study, conducted by researchers at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is detailed in the Feb. 1 issue of Geophysical Research Letters.
Phoenix Lander Readied For Mars Exploration
NASA’s next mission to Mars—the Phoenix lander—is undergoing readiness testing in preparation for an early August launch window.
For the first time since NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970’s, the plan calls for Phoenix to safely settle down on Mars using a set of onboard rocket thrusters—no airbags this time as successfully used by NASA’s last three red planet landings.
When Phoenix touches down within the northern polar plains of Mars, it will be ready for research duties. This stationary probe is armed with a robotic scoop to dig and scratch into the martian surface for answers regarding the history of water on Mars and the planet’s potential as an extraterrestrial address for life.
Mars’ Missing Air Might Just be Hiding
Rather than having had its air knocked out into space, Mars might just be holding its breath.
New findings suggests the missing atmosphere of Mars might be locked up in hidden reservoirs on the planet, rather than having been chafed away by billions of years’ worth of solar winds as previously thought.
Combining two years of observations by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, researchers determined that Mars is currently losing only about 20 grams of air per second into space.
Extrapolating this measurement back over 3.5 billion years, they estimate that only a small fraction, 0.2 to 4 millibars, of carbon dioxide and a few centimeters of water could have been lost to solar winds during that timeframe.