Boston MA (SPX) Feb 18, 2008 - Like salt used as a preservative, high concentrations of dissolved minerals in the wet, early-Mars environment known from discoveries by NASA's Opportunity rover may have thwarted any microbes from developing or surviving.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 10, 2008 - With only about a month remaining before Opportunity's fourth anniversary (in Earth years) of Mars exploration, NASA's robotic geologist is still grinding into the surface of rocks to unlock the secrets of their interior chemistry.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 06, 2008 - Two new Earth-observing satellites, a flagship mission to the outer planets, and several small lunar missions are among the highlights of the Administration's budget request for NASA for fiscal year 2009. At $17.6 billion the proposal represents a 1.8% increase over NASA's actual budget for 2008, and $4.44 billion, or just over a quarter of the total, is slated towards NASA's science missions.
Paris (ESA) Feb 5, 2008 - Mars is about to come into 3D focus as never before, thanks to the data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). A new high-resolution Digital Terrain Model data set that is about to be released onto the Internet, will allow researchers to obtain new information about the Red Planet in 3D.
Phoenix AZ (SPX) Feb 04, 2008 - U.S. and Chinese students are taking aim at the Red Planet using an ASU-designed camera on a Mars-orbiting spacecraft. The target lies millions of miles away, but for the 22 high school students in the first-ever China Youth Space Academy, Mars is square in their sights.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 28, 2008 - During four months prior to the fourth anniversary of its landing on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called Duck Bay in the western portion of Victoria Crater.
Paris, France (ESA) Jan 28, 2008 - The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express has returned striking scenes of the Terby crater on Mars. The region is of great scientific interest as it holds information on the role of water in the history of the planet.
Phoenix AZ (SPX) Jan 24, 2008 - Mars has an ethereal, tenuous atmosphere at less than 1 percent the surface pressure of Earth, so scientists working on The University of Arizona's High Resolution Imaging Experiment, or HiRISE, are challenged to explain the complex, wind-sculpted landforms they're now seeing in unprecedented detail.
Paris, France (SPX) Jan 17, 2008 - Until now, Mars has generally been regarded as a desert world, where a visiting astronaut would be surprised to see clouds scudding across the orange sky. However, new results show that the arid planet possesses high-level clouds that are sufficiently dense to cast a shadow on the surface.
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Jan 16, 2008 - U.S. scientists have obtained high-resolution images of Mars' wind-driven sand dunes and ridges that might lead to a better understanding of the planet.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 10, 2008 - Since our last update, we have received numerous tracking measurements of asteroid 2007 WD5 from four different observatories. These new data have led to a significant reduction in the position uncertainties during the asteroid's close approach to Mars on Jan. 30, 2008. As a result, the impact probability has dropped dramatically, to approximately 0.01% or 1 in 10,000 odds, effectively ruling out the possible collision with Mars.
Moscow (AFP) Jan 8, 2008 - Russia is leading the race to complete a manned mission to Mars and could land a Russian on the Red Planet by 2025, a leading scientist was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 04, 2008 - NASA'S Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this westward view from atop a low plateau where Sprit spent the closing months of 2007. After several months near the base of the plateau called Home Plate in the inner basin of the Columbia Hills range inside Gusev Crater, Spirit climbed onto the eastern edge of the plateau during the rover's 1,306th Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 5, 2007).
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Jan 3, 2008 - The unmanned rovers Spirit and Opportunity are showing serious signs of wear after an astounding five years roaming Mars, U.S. space agency officials say.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 03, 2008 - Additional position observations for asteroid 2007 WD5 taken on December 29 through January 2 have been used to improve the accuracy of the asteroid's orbit.
Cornell NY (SPX) Dec 31, 2007 - Inch by power-conserving inch, drivers on Earth have moved the Mars rover Spirit to a spot where it has its best chance at surviving a third Martian winter -- and where it will celebrate its fourth anniversary (in Earth years) since bouncing down on Mars for a projected 90-day mission in January 2004.
