Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 12, 2010 - A new discovery of hydrothermally altered carbonate-bearing rocks on Mars points toward habitable environments deep in the Martian crust, a Planetary Science Institute researcher said.
Washington (AFP) Oct 12, 2010 - NASA chief Charles Bolden will make an official visit to China October 16-21, a spokesman for the US space agency said Tuesday.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Oct 11, 2010 - Various orbiters, landers and rovers that have explored Mars in the past three decades have revealed tantalizing evidence of the conditions for life, from frozen water at the planet's North Pole to methane plumes in the atmosphere. For atmospheric scientist Joel Levine, the evidence has made the case for flying an airplane over Mars stronger than ever.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 11, 2010 - The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite has completed assembly at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and is nearly ready for a December delivery to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., where it will be joined to the Curiosity rover.
Denver CO (SPX) Oct 06, 2010 - NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) project passed its Mission Confirmation Review on Oct. 4. As a result, NASA has given approval for the development and 2013 launch of the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] is the industry partner for the mission and will design and build the spacecraft and perform flight operations.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 06, 2010 - This is an image of the meteorite that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity found and examined in September 2010. Opportunity's cameras first revealed the meteorite in images taken on Sol 2363 (Sept. 16, 2010), the 2,363rd Martian day of the rover's mission on Mars. This view was taken with the panoramic camera on Sol 2371 (Sept. 24, 2010).
Washington (AFP) Oct 5, 2010 - The US space agency NASA announced Tuesday it has given the green light to a mission to Mars aimed at investigating the mystery of how the red planet lost its atmosphere.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 30, 2010 - What will the Martian atmosphere be like when the next Mars rover descends through it for landing in August of 2012? An instrument studying the Martian atmosphere from orbit has begun a four-week campaign to characterize daily atmosphere changes, one Mars year before the arrival of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity. A Mars year equals 687 Earth days.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 30, 2010 - This mosaic of images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows surroundings of the rover's location following an 81-meter (266-foot) drive during the 2,363rd Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (Sept. 16, 2010).
Rome, Italy (SPX) Sep 24, 2010 - The Herschel Space Observatory is providing its first results on Mars. An accurate globally-averaged temperature profile of the Martian atmosphere may cause scientists to revise their models about atmospheric circulation on Mars. The first sub-millimeter observation of molecular oxygen on the planet may lead to a completely new picture of the oxygen distribution in the Martian atmosphere.
Rome, Italy (SPX) Sep 24, 2010 - Scientists may have solved the mystery of the carbon dioxide ice disappearance early in the Northern Martian springs followed later by its sudden reappearance, revealing a very active water cycle on the planet. Dr. Bernard Schmitt and Mr. Thomas Appere are reporting their results at the European Planetary Science Congress in Rome this week through Friday 24th September.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 24, 2010 - Images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity took at the end of an 81-meter (266-foot) drive on Sept. 16 reveal a dark rock about 31 meters (102 feet) away.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 23, 2010 - Methane in the atmosphere of Mars lasts less than a year, according to a study by Italian scientists. Sergio Fonti (Universita del Salento) and Giuseppe Marzo (NASA Ames) have used observations from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft to track the evolution of the gas over three martian years. They presented their results at the European Planetary Science Congress in Rome on Tuesday 21st September.
Rome, Italy (SPX) Sep 23, 2010 - Scientists now have firm indications that the Martian satellite Phobos formed relatively near its current location via re-accretion of material blasted into Mars's orbit by some catastrophic event. Two independent approaches of compositional analyses of thermal infrared spectra, from ESA's Mars Express and NASA's Mars Global Surveyor missions, yield very similar conclusions.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 20, 2010 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter put itself into a precautionary standby mode after experiencing a spontaneous computer reboot on Sept. 15. The mission's ground team has begun restoring the spacecraft to full operations.
Flagstaff, Arizona (AFP) Sept 18, 2010 - It may not have all the creature comforts, but Aaron Hulse considers his space exploration rover a pleasant home away from home.
