In preparation for Curiosity’s exploration of Mount Sharp on Mars, NASA engineers took a test rover out to the desert for last minute training in the sand dunes. Team members of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission took a test rover to Dumont Dunes in California’s Mojave Desert this week to improve knowledge of the best [...]

Over the last two years researchers have been monitoring the sand movement on Mars with the HiRISE camera. They found that even with a thinner atmosphere and less high-speed wind, movement in sand dune fields occurs at about the same rate as in dune fields on Earth. Pasadena, California — NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has [...]

NASA’s HiRISE spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Mars, spotted these interesting patterns, which are actually rare lava flows. This is the first time that lava flows have been seen on Mars, and the corkscrew snail shell-like patterns are indicative of previous volcanic activity. The formations are in an area called Athabasca Valles, which is a [...]

Scientists hope to place Curiosity on flat ground at the foot of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater. Once in position, Curiosity will examine whether the area has ever presented environmental conditions favorable for fostering microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life and energy for life. One particular mountain on Mars, bigger than Colorado’s grandest, has [...]

NASA scientists successfully completed the second of six planned trajectory correction maneuvers and confirmed the health of science instruments onboard Curiosity this week. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is continuing on its way to Mars and should reach the halfway point on April 1, 2012. PASADENA, California — NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, halfway to [...]

A recent image captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a twisting column of dust more than half a mile high on the surface of Mars. An afternoon whirlwind on Mars lofts a twisting column of dust more than half a mile (800 meters) high in an [...]

Ten years and counting. The Thermal Emission Imaging System onboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has taken nearly 500,000 images and circled Mars nearly 45,000 times in the last decade and scientists expect many more good years from it. Ten years ago, on Feb. 19, 2002, the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), a multi-band camera on [...]

Researchers have discovered a veritable microbial oasis, under the Atacama Desert in Chile. The region is known for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), but the discovery of a hypersaline subsurface microbial habitat, associated with halite-, nitrate-, and perchlorate-containing salts, lying at a depth of 2m in the driest desert on Earth will give scientists [...]

Recent images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show the three-petal lander of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit mission. These are the first color images of the lander. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded a scene on Jan. 29, [...]

Researchers from Imperial College London have been studying and analyzing individual particles of Martian soil that was collected during the 2008 NASA Phoenix mission to Mars. They believe that their research shows that liquid water has been on the surface of Mars for far too short a time for life to maintain a foothold on [...]

The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has finally returned with some strong evidence of Martian oceans. Using its MARSIS radar, it detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor, within the boundaries of previously identified shorelines. The MARSIS radar was deployed in 2005 and has been collecting data since then. Jérémie Mouginot, from the Institut de [...]

NASA’s Opportunity exploration rover continues to send images and explore new regions on the Mars. Now in its eighth year on the planet, Opportunity has reached “Greeley Haven” and has traveled a total 21.4 miles during its time on Mars. Scientists hope that by staying on the outer ridge at “Greeley Haven,” Martian winds can [...]