KSC - Jan. 5, 2001 - The first major step toward NASA's return of a spacecraft to an orbit around Mars was achieved late Thursday night, Jan. 4, when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Paris (ESA) Sep 10, 2002 - Of all missions sent to Mars only one, the Viking 26 years ago, has dared to search for life. Its only conclusive result was that finding proof of extraterrestrial life proved to be much harder than expected. Second attempts never followed.
Pasadena - Sept. 20, 2001 - If there is life on Mars, our robotic probes may have brought it there. In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent two Viking landers to the red planet. They set down on the surface and searched the soil for signs of life. The results were inconclusive. But, what if the spacecraft and others like them brought tiny forms of Earth life to Mars? Could it have survived there? If so, what does this mean for the future exploration of Mars?
Paris (ESA) Dec 19, 2003 - Any football or rugby fan knows that when a player kicks the ball, there is no longer anything they can do to influence its path. The player must trust to their own skill for the ball to reach its intended destination.
Moffett Field - Oct. 10, 2001 - Wind turbines designed to make electricity at the South Pole and in remote regions of Alaska may someday lead to similar wind machines for Mars bases, according to NASA scientists.
Paris (ESA) Jun 22, 2003 - A human mission to Mars may still be some time away, but scientists are already aware of the many hazards that must be overcome if the dream is to become a reality. One particular cause for concern is the potential for physiological and psychological problems that could arise from the conditions of weightlessness, isolation and confinement experienced during a journey that could last six months or more.
Greenbelt - Jan. 17, 2001 - NASA's Mars Global Surveyor will complete its primary mapping mission of Mars on January 31, 2001 after a mapping mission that lasted one full Mars year (687 days). During this time MGS was able to globally map the planet while monitoring seasonal changes.
Rolla - Nov. 3, 2000 - In the wake of last month's announcement that scientists have found what they believe to be a living microbe that pre-dates Tyrannosaurus rex, Dr. Melanie Mormile is keeping one eye on salt crystals that contain ancient earth-bound bacteria and another on Mars.
Pasadena - Sept. 22, 2000 - Dr. Serguei M. Pershin PhD, a Principal Investigator for the NASA Mars Polar Lander LIDAR experiment, Russia's first experiment on a US spacecraft claims he has discovered organic pigments on Mars relating to ancient photosynthetic organisms.
Moffett Field - Feb. 26, 2001 - An international team of researchers has discovered compelling evidence that the magnetite crystals in the martian meteorite ALH84001 are of biological origin.
Washington - Dec. 4, 2000 - NASA scientists are preparing to announce a major review of the evidence to date for water on Mars and in particular the evidence for sedimentation at a press conference later this week.
Washington - Dec. 4 2000 - Layered geologic outcrops on Mars, that will be described in this week's issue of the journal Science -- may be composed of sedimentary rock that dates from the earliest span of martian history, between 4.3. and 3.5 billion years ago.
Pasadena (JPL) Apr 30, 2002 - NASA and JPL are sending RATS to Mars to work as field geologists. A RAT is not quite a furry little friend, but rather a high-tech robot with diamond teeth, called a Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT).
Moffett Field - Jan. 8, 2001 - Mars may once have been a very wet place. A host of clues remain from an earlier era, billions of years ago, hinting that the Red Planet was host to great rivers, lakes and perhaps even an ocean. But some of the clues are contradictory -- they don't all fit together in a coherent whole. Little wonder, then, that the fate of water on Mars is such a hotly debated topic.
Lakewood - Oct. 15, 2001 - It is with great pleasure that the Mars Society announces that Minnie, the female participant in the Mars Society's Translife Mission Coriolis force experiment, has given birth of a litter of approximately 6 healthy baby mice. The birth apparently took place over the weekend, with the youngsters first observed on the morning of October 15, 2001.
Pasadena - Oct. 16, 2000 - The search for subsurface water has become a primary focus of Mars exploration. Its abundance and distribution (both as ground ice and groundwater) have important implications for understanding the geologic, hydrologic, and climatic evolution of the planet, the potential origin and continued survival of life, and the accessibility of a critical in situ resource for sustaining future human explorers.
