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Editorial Team

Mars Daily Editorial Team

Editorial Team

The Mars Daily Editorial Team produces Mars Daily's coverage of Mars exploration and science. We report on rovers and orbiters, sample-return and human-Mars planning, and the geology, atmosphere and astrobiology of the Red Planet. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Mars Daily takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.

For The Paper Trail Of Life On Mars Or Other Planets, Find Cellulose

Chapel Hill NC (SPX) Apr 01, 2008 - Looking for evidence of life on Mars or other planets? Finding cellulose microfibers would be the next best thing to a close encounter, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The cover story for the April issue of the journal Astrobiology, the new research also pushes back the earliest direct evidence of biological material on Earth by about 200 million years.

Apr 1, 2008

Mars Robotic Rover Opportunity Finds More Evidence Of Ancient Water

Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 28, 2008 - Opportunity has completed scientific studies of the undisturbed surface of a rock target informally named Dorsal in the Gilbert rock layer inside Victoria Crater. Dorsal is a protruding fin of rock created by minerals deposited in cracks that remained in place long after the original rock eroded away because they were more resistant to weathering.

Mar 28, 2008

Spirit Begins Preparing For Another Winter Hibernation

Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 28, 2008 - Spirit has reached its final position for the coming Martian winter and has no plans to move before the next Martian spring. During the next few months, the rover will increasingly go into a hibernate mode as the sun continues to dim.

Mar 28, 2008

Wataire’s Water-From-Air Units Get Thumbs Up In Mars Mission Simulation

Woodland Hills CA (SPX) Mar 27, 2008 - Wataire International is pleased to advise that we have received an initial review that our water-from-air units performed very well during the recent four-month mission at the Mars Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS). It is the first time that a simulated Mars mission has ever been conducted for such a long duration.

Mar 27, 2008

Multi-Tasking Rover Helps Pave The Way For Next Mars Mission

Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 25, 2008 - Opportunity completed the first leg of a two-part drive toward an area of scientific interest known as Gilbert that involved moving backward in order to continue the drive without running into some unexpectedly deep soil to the rover's right. En route, Opportunity spent two Martian days acquiring compositional data from a rock exposure dubbed Lyell-Exeter, measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere, and conducted remote-sensing activities.

Mar 25, 2008

Sturdy Rover Gets No Penalty For Tilting

Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 25, 2008 - Scarcely a pinball wizard on Earth could tilt the machine nearly 30 degrees without ending play, yet engineers tilted NASA's Spirit rover 29.9 degrees and completed the robotic equivalent of a one-armed toe-touch to test its stability. The rover remained in play, racking up scientific data points after remaining perfectly balanced even while pressing the ground with the Mossbauer spectrometer at the end of its robotic arm.

Mar 25, 2008

Salt Deposits May Have Evidence Of Life On Mars

Washington (AFP) March 20, 2008 - US scientists have discovered salt deposits on the surface of Mars, indicating that water was once plenty and pointing sites that could provide evidence of past life, a study said Thursday.

Mar 20, 2008

Mars Salt Deposits Point To New Place In Hunt For Ancient Traces Of Life

Tempe AZ (SPX) Mar 20, 2008 - Scientists using a Mars-orbiting camera designed and operated at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight Facility have discovered the first evidence for deposits of chloride minerals - salts - in numerous places on Mars. These deposits, say the scientists, show where water was once abundant and may also provide evidence for the existence of former Martian life.

Mar 20, 2008

Mars Express Reveals Volcanic Past Of The Red Planet

Paris, France (ESA) Mar 16, 2008 - A new analysis of impact cratering data from Mars reveals that the planet has undergone a series of global volcanic upheavals. These violent episodes spewed lava and water onto the surface, sculpting the landscape that ESA's Mars Express looks down on today.

Mar 16, 2008

Women Drivers On Mars

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 14, 2008 - Little noticed by the general public, February 23rd was a special day in space exploration. For the first time in history, an all-woman team of scientists and engineers guided a major NASA mission-the Mars Exploration Rovers. We were in control of Spirit's activities for the day, explains Barbara Cohen of the Marshall Space Flight Center who headed up the science team. It was a milestone in mission planning to be able to staff the uplink team with all women.

Mar 14, 2008

HiRISE Discovers A Possibly Once-Habitable Ancient Mars Lake

Tucson AZ (SPX) Mar 07, 2008 - Scientists studying images from The University of Arizona-led High Resolution Imaging Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have discovered never-before-seen impact megabreccia and a possibly once-habitable ancient lake on Mars at a place called Holden crater.

Mar 7, 2008

Mars And Venus Are Surprisingly Similar

Paris, France (ESA) Mar 06, 2008 - Using two ESA spacecraft, planetary scientists are watching the atmospheres of Mars and Venus being stripped away into space. The simultaneous observations by Mars Express and Venus Express give scientists the data they need to investigate the evolution of the two planets' atmospheres.

Mar 6, 2008

Martian Soil Good Enough For Asparagus

by Jean-Louis Santini - Washington DC (AFP) Jun 27, 2008 Martian dirt is apparently good enough for asparagus to grow in, NASA scientists said Thursday, as they announced the results of a soil analysis collected by the US Phoenix Mars lander.

Mar 6, 2008

Mechdyne Enables Virtual Reality Of Mission To Mars

Marshalltown IA (SPX) Mar 06, 2008 - Mechdyne has announced that it has installed an immersive CAVE display system as the focal point of the new Fossett Laboratory for Virtual Planetary Exploration at Washington University St. Louis (WUSTL). As a teaching and research facility of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, the Laboratory will provide 3D imaging capability for visualization of data collected by national and international space exploration programs.

Mar 6, 2008

Tenacious Spirit Might See Rover Through Martian Winter

Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 05, 2008 - Spirit has achieved a northerly tilt of 29.9 degrees! As a result, based on power projections, Spirit has a fighting chance of surviving another winter on Mars, if the weather and environment cooperate.

Mar 5, 2008

NASA Spacecraft Photographs Avalanches On Mars

Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2008 - A NASA spacecraft in orbit around Mars has taken the first ever image of active avalanches near the Red Planet's north pole. The image shows tan clouds billowing away from the foot of a towering slope, where ice and dust have just cascaded down. The High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the photograph Feb. 19. It is one of approximately 2,400 HiRISE images being released today.

Mar 4, 2008