Moffett Field CA (SPX) Oct 27, 2006 - The Fourth International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration was recently held in Davos, Switzerland. It was an appropriate meeting place for those who study cold regions, because as Walter Ammann of the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research noted, We like to joke that in Davos, we have 9 months of winter, and 3 months of cold.
Pasadena (JPL) Oct 26, 2006 - NASA's long-lived Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will finish its 1,000th Martian day Thursday, continuing a successful mission originally planned for 90 Martian days. A color 360-degree panorama released today -- produced from the most detailed imaging yet completed by either Spirit or its twin, Opportunity -- shows rugged terrain of the robot's current location amid a range of hills. Spirit has been examining the surroundings for several months while perched with a tilt to the north for maximum solar energy during winter in Mars' southern hemisphere.
Bloomington IN (Indiana Daily Student) Oct 25, 2006 - A new IU study that found a self-sustaining community of bacteria living 2.8 kilometers below the Earth's surface fuels optimism that similar life could exist on Mars. According to the study, published in this week's issue of the peer-reviewed journal Science, the bacteria community, which lives completely independent of resources found on Earth's surface, supports itself using resources obtained from water molecules that are converted into energy by radioactive uranium found in subsurface rocks.
Moscow, Russia (SPX) Oct 25, 2006 - The 1920s are remembered not only for their political upheavals but also for a new interest in exploring other planets. Imaginative authors of all calibers wove intricate fantasies about exploring the length and breadth of Mars in their books. The budding movie industry made its contribution, too. But it is only a century later, in the 2020s, that humankind has hope of finally touching down on the Red Planet.
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Oct 24, 2006 - Recently, ESA's Mars Express delivered photos of the famous 'Face on Mars' in the Cydonia region. The DLR-operated High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) images are some of the most spectacular views of the Red Planet ever taken. Now, there's a stunning 3D animation of the area.
Moscow, Russia (RIA) Oct 24, 2006 - The European Space Agency has decided to take part in a Russian simulated flight to Mars, and two Europeans could be among the volunteers, a Russian scientist said Tuesday. The Institute of Medical and Biological Issues in northern Moscow, the venue for the Mars-500 experiment that will last 520 days, has received applications from more than 120 people from 21 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Mexico, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Estonia, and Bulgaria.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Oct 24, 2006 - As NASA lays plans for travel to the moon and Mars, the agency is exploring propulsion systems, crew modules, and habitat structures. It has looked at the psychology of being cooped up with fellow astronauts for a years-long Mars mission, and studied how to maintain bone structure and muscle strength in microgravity.
Kingston ON (SPX) Oct 24, 2006 - A Queen's University researcher has discovered a mineral that could explain the mountainous landscape of Mars, and have implications for NASA's next mission to the planet. Satellites orbiting Mars show us images of canyons and gullies that appear to have been created by a flood or rapid out-washing, says Ron Peterson, Queen's geologist.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 23, 2006 - Every day for the past decade, the U.S. has had a presence at Mars, using spacecraft to understand this extreme world and its potential as a past or present habitat for life. During that time, all spacecraft have become virtually incommunicado for about two weeks every two years.
Paris, France (ESA) Oct 20, 2006 - Mars Express's OMEGA instrument has given planetary scientists outstanding new clues to help solve the mystery of Mars's so-called 'cryptic region'. In the 1970s, orbiter missions around Mars revealed that during southern spring, large areas near Mars's south pole became much darker than the rest of the seasonal ice cap. How could this area be in the polar region and not be covered in bright ice? Intrigued, planetary scientists called the area the 'cryptic region' of the south seasonal cap.
Baltimore MD (SPX) Oct 20, 2006 - A class of especially hardy microbes that live in some of the harshest Earthly environments could flourish on cold Mars and other chilly planets, according to a research team of astronomers and microbiologists.
Blacksburg VA (SPX) Oct 20, 2006 - Based on the lovely green rock, olivine, also known as the gemstone, peridot, a Virginia Tech graduate student has created a mineral lifetime diagram that provides the a clue to when and for how long there might have been water on Mars.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 18, 2006 - Phoenix Mars Mission Principal Investigator Peter Smith will unveil a full-scale Mars lander this Friday at a VIP celebration at the Phoenix Mars Mission Science Operations Center in Tucson. University of Arizona engineers will use the mock lander on its Mars-looking platform to test instruments and commands. Scientists will practice operations in the PIT (Payload Interoperability Testbed), where the lander resides, before performing them for real on Mars.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Oct 17, 2006 - The classic technique for assessing the history of a rocky planet's geology is to count craters. On average, areas with longer exposure to space have had more impacts, and therefore more craters. By counting craters, scientists have broken the geologic history of Mars into three eras: Noachian (warm and wet), Hesperian (volcanic), and the present-day Amazonian (cold and dry). Following Earthly practice, each era is named for the location where the characteristic terrain was first identified.
Paris, France (SPX) Oct 17, 2006 - For a number of decades now, astronomers have wondered about water on Mars. Thanks to ESA's Mars Express, much of the speculation has been replaced with facts. Launched on 2 June 2003, Mars Express has changed the way we think of Mars. Since the Viking missions of the 1970s, planetary scientists have changed their perception of water on Mars several times, passing from the picture of a dry planet to that of a warmer and wetter one.
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 17, 2006 - During its first week of observations from low orbit, NASA's newest Mars spacecraft is already revealing new clues about both recent and ancient environments on the red planet. Scientists hope the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will answer questions about the history and distribution of Mars' water by combining data from the orbiter's high-resolution camera, imaging spectrometer, context camera, ground-penetrating radar, atmospheric sounder, global color camera, radio and accelerometers.
