The changing appearance of gullies on Mars over the last seven years suggests that liquid water flowed recently on the red planet and may still seep out in brief bursts, researchers said Wednesday.
In what is billed as “the squirting gun,” new images of known gullies on Mars show evidence of new flows and deposits, pointing to explosive events in which some form of water burst from crater walls and ran down their slopes.
“We’ve had this story of ancient water on Mars,” said researcher Kenneth Edgett, who participated in the Mars gully study, during a press briefing at NASA’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. “Today we’re talking about liquid water that is present on Mars right now.”
December 6th, 2006
Changing Mars Gullies Hint at Recent Flowing Water
December 6th, 2006
Detailed Look at the Next Mars Lander
NASA’s next mission to the red planet—the Phoenix Mars Lander—is a true wedding of technology with planetary exploration: Something old, something new…something borrowed and something blue.
Named after the resilient mythological bird, Phoenix is based upon a lander that was meant to fly in 2001, but administratively mothballed by NASA. It is also outfitted with instruments that are improved variations of gear carried onboard the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander. That vehicle went astray on touchdown nearly seven years ago, a breakdown of managerial and engineering matters—sadly setting off blues for a red planet.
Today, the flight of the Phoenix is a different story.
November 12th, 2006
NASA Loses Contact With Mars Global Surveyor
NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft has failed to check in with Earth for the fifth straight day in a row, after losing contact during a routine adjustment of its solar array.
If contact is not reestablished by Saturday, NASA might try to have another Mars-orbiting spacecraft take pictures of MGS to assess its condition.
On Nov. 2, MGS mangers sent commands for the spacecraft to adjust the position of one of its solar power arrays to better track the sun. Returning data indicated a problem with the motor that moves the array, so a backup motor and control circuitry were switched on.
No signal was received on Nov. 3 and 4, but a weak signal was received on Nov. 5, suggesting the spacecraft had switched to a safe mode and was awaiting further instructions from Earth. The signal cut out completely later that day and nothing has been heard since.
November 2nd, 2006
Antarctic Microbes Handle Mars-Like Conditions
Lab experiments with primitive microbes taken from an Antarctic lake have shown that the hardy single-celled organisms can tolerate at least the warmest of the frigid temperatures found on Mars.
And they found that these species of microorganisms “huddled” together in colder temperatures to form a chemically linked unit called a biofilm. The finding marks the first time this phenomenon has been detected in the Antarctic species of so-called extremophiles.
The findings provide more evidence for the ideas that liquid found beneath Mars’ surface could harbor microbial life and that life could exist elsewhere in the solar system and galaxy, which is generally incredibly cold.
November 2nd, 2006
Orbiter to Look for Lost-To-Mars Probes
A super-powerful camera orbiting Mars may help discover the fate of long-lost spacecraft that never phoned home after reaching the red planet.
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is now circling that puzzling world, equipped to assist in determining whether life ever arose on the red planet and characterize its climate and geology, as well as prepare for future expeditionary crews to land there.
But another sharp-shooting skill of MRO is catching sight of past probes—craft that ran into trouble and died in the line of Mars duty. That includes NASA’s gone but not forgotten Mars Polar Lander and the British-built Beagle 2.
October 28th, 2006
One Long Trip: NASA’s Spirit Rover Hits 1,000th Martian Day
NASA’s Spirit rover hit the 1,000-Martian day of its mission on the red planet Thursday, but the mission continues for the hardy robot.
To celebrate the Martian milestone, rover mission managers released the McMurdo panorama [image], a mosaic of some 1,449 individual images taken by Spirit’s panoramic camera.
“It has been a surprise and delight to see the vehicle survive as long as it has,” Jake Mapijevic, engineering team chief for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. “We had anticipated a much shorter mission.”
More than 10 times shorter, in fact.
October 9th, 2006
Red Planet Double Team: NASA Orbiter Spies Mars Rover at Victoria Crater
NASA’s newest Mars orbiter has spied the plucky rover Opportunity perched at the rim of the red planet’s massive Victoria Crater as both vehicles explore the fourth planet from the Sun.
Appearing almost as a shiny boulder, Opportunity’s lumpy outline and its camera mast shadow can easily be seen in a high-resolution image of Victoria Crater taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and released by the space agency on Friday.
“It is so good to see that rover again,” said Steve Squyres, the lead Mars Exploration Rover scientist from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, during a press briefing. “I’ve got to say that image with that little rover 200 million miles away, parked at the top of that cliff, that’s just one of the most evocative images I’ve ever seen in the planetary program…it’s just beautiful.”
September 23rd, 2006
Mars Face Makeover: Controversial Formation Observed from New Angles
NASA started it all back in 1976 with an image of an interesting mountain on Mars and a caption that described it as appearing to have eyes and nostrils.
Thirty years later, the Face on Mars still inspires myths and conspiracy theories.
New images from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter will confirm for many that the features are natural, while no doubt offering tantalizing “clues” to others of an ancient intelligent civilization at work.
The spacecraft’s High Resolution Stereo Camera provides data the researchers turn into colorized perspective views, which simulate the scene as though you were flying high over the region in an aircraft. The data was obtained in July and the images released today.
August 28th, 2006
Mars Clouds Higher Than Any On Earth
Mars is home to the highest clouds ever discovered above the surface of a planet, astronomers said today.
The European Space Agency’s orbiting Mars Express spacecraft found clouds that are between 50 and 62 miles (80 to 100 kilometers) above the red planet.
The highest clouds on Earth top out at about 52 miles (84 kilometers).
The surprising clouds are most likely made of carbon dioxide, researchers said. There were detected with a camera that senses ultraviolet and infrared light, so there is no conventional picture of them.
The clouds were spotted by observing distant stars just before they disappeared behind Mars. The stars would dim as they went behind clouds.
August 24th, 2006
40-Year-Old Mars Meteor Mystery Said Solved
On July 14, 1965, Mariner 4 swooped over Mars. It was a moment of high drama. Six other probes had already tried to reach the red planet and failed. Since the days of H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds, 1898), people had been hearing about life on Mars, and they were ready to see the canals and cities. The wait was becoming excruciating.
Finally, all was revealed. With flawless precision, Mariner 4 dipped less than 10,000 km above the planet’s surface and took 22 pictures. Mars was covered with desert sand and ancient craters. No cities. No canals. No Martians. No one would ever look at the red planet the same way again.
Most histories of the mission end right there, with Mariner 4 buzzing Mars—”the first spacecraft to visit the red planet”– and throwing cold water on a lot of good science fiction. But there’s more to the story. After the flyby, something strange happened to Mariner 4, setting the stage for a 40-year mystery…