by Timothy N. Titus, Ph.D U.S.G.S. Astrogeology Team - Speculations about life on Mars have always caused great interest and controversy. Recently, several Internet articles have been posted describing the discovery of Martian Surface Organisms in the south polar region of Mars.
Paris (ESA) Dec 03, 2003 - Seven years ago, Prof. Vittorio Formisano had the worst day of his professional life. A malfunctioning rocket stage sent Russian planetary probe Mars '96 tumbling back down to Earth ¿ and along with it an instrument that he and his team had worked on for almost a decade. Today, Vittorio is Principal Investigator for a new version of the same instrument ¿ the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) ¿ now almost at the Red Planet on board ESA's Mars Express.
Sydney - Sept. 11. 2001 - All creatures great and small could be an appropriate metaphor for the menagerie of probes that NASA would like to send to Mars. Despite budget shortcomings that could threaten NASA¿s Scout program for small missions, engineers are pressing ahead with plans for a large rover that is tipped to fly in 2007. There could also be other spacecraft of various descriptions in the same time frame, but it¿s difficult to predict their nature with absolute certainty.
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 (JPL) Dec 12, 2001 - Of all the places to land on Mars, where in the world should the twin rovers in 2003 go?
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.
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.
Cameron Park - Sept. 19, 2000 - As outlined in the first two parts of this series, there is now a general consensus among Mars researchers that the U.S. Mars program must be redesigned to emphasize careful scientific reconnaissance of the planet in order to find the best possible sites on (or under) its surface to look for evidence of either fossil or extant (present-day) life.
Melbourne - Oct. 19, 2000 - A few paradoxes remain about this new Mars. Chief amongst these is the Carbonate Paradox. Basic chemistry requires that if Mars had liquid water at surface for any reasonable period of time, then rapid chemical reactions between the atmospheric CO2 dissolved in the water, and the rocks of Mars, would produce copious quantities of carbonate rock. The process should be so efficient that almost no CO2 should remain, and thick deposits of carbonates should fill all the lake and ocean beds of Mars.
Houston - Feb. 26, 2001 - Researchers who stunned the world in 1996 with the announcement that a Martian meteorite contained evidence of ancient life on the red planet have released new evidence that strengthens their original hypothesis and allays many of the criticisms leveled at the first paper.
by Astrobiology Magazine - Why do we have such a longstanding fascination with Mars? Very simply put, it's about life. The search for life elsewhere in our solar system has been a major driver for exploring Mars, pretty much since we began seriously looking at that planet.
Paris (ESA) Jul 18, 2003 - A unique view of our home planet and its natural satellite -- the Moon -- is one of the first data sets coming from ESA's Mars Express. It is very good news for the mission, says ESA's Mars Express Project Scientist, Agustin Chicarro. These and other data, such as those recording the major constituents of Earth as seen from space, are the actual proof that the instruments on board Mars Express, launched 2 June 2003, are working perfectly.
by Jennifer Laing - Mars Society Australia announced today that an Australian scientific team will travel to outback South Australia and the Northern Territory on October 27 to examine suitable sites for a Mars analogue research facility.
The vibrating eyes of jumping spiders have inspired a new breed of vision sensors that could give the next generation of Mars rovers sharper eyesight, say researchers in California.
Los Angeles - Sept. 19, 2000 - Since March 1999 the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter aboard the MGS spacecraft has been sending back data on the topology of Mars. NASA kindly made the data available and in March of this year I started downloading it to create my own 3D model of Mars.
Pasadena (PAO) August 17, 2001 - One answer to roving across the surface of Mars may be blowing in the wind. Literally.
