Comet 2013 A1 to Make a Very Close Flyby of Mars
Scientists have projected that comet 2013 A1 will make a very close approach to Mars in October 2014, possibly passing as close as 31,000 miles…
Mars News
NASA Completes Computer Swap for Curiosity Rover
NASA ground engineers have completed a computer swap for the Curiosity rover in response to a memory issue, shifting the rover into a minimal-activity precautionary…
Curiosity Rover Image Confirms First Drilled Mars Rock Sample
New images from NASA’s Curiosity rover confirm that it has successfully drilled and collected the first-ever rock sample from the interior of a rock on…
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Drills and Collects First Martian Bedrock Sample
New images show that NASA’s Curiosity rover has successfully drilled and collected a rock powder sample from the Martian bedrock to be analyzed. NASA’s Curiosity…
Nakhla Fragment Shows First Evidence of Water Dissolving the Surface of Mars
A newly published study details the test results of a 1.7-gram fragment of a Martian meteorite known as Nakhla, showing the first evidence of water…
Mars Orbiter Shows McLaughlin Crater May Have Once Held a Groundwater-Fed Lake
New data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests that the McLaughlin Crater once held a lake fed by groundwater. A NASA spacecraft is providing new…
Curiosity Preparing to Drill Into First Martian Rock
If all goes as planned, NASA’s Curiosity rover may drill its first rock sample in the coming days, providing scientists with important details about the…
Curiosity Returns Images of “Snake River” & Explores “Yellowknife Bay”
Over the holidays, NASA’s Curiosity rover returned new images of “Snake River” and is now in a shallow depression called “Yellowknife Bay.” This is the…
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Nearing Yellowknife Bay
NASA’s Curiosity rover continues to explore the Martian surface, approaching an area called “Yellowknife Bay,” which is a potential location for selecting the first target…
NASA’s Curiosity Finds Clues to Changes in Mars’ Atmosphere
Instruments aboard Curiosity have analyzed samples of the atmosphere collected near the “Rocknest” site in Gale Crater, finding that the top of the Martian atmosphere…
Mineralogy of Martian Soil Is Similar to Soils of Volcanic Origin in Hawaii
Using its Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument, NASA’s Curiosity rover has completed initial experiments showing the mineralogy of Martian soil is similar to weathered basaltic soils…
Curiosity Rover Photographs Diverse Rocks
NASA’s Curiosity rover continues its research on Mars. The latest images were taken by its Mars Hand Lens Imager and show diverse rocks found in…
Mars Rock Is a Close Match in Chemical Composition to Rocks Found on Earth
Using Curiosity’s arm-mounted Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument and the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, scientists examined the chemical makeup of the football-size rock…
Curiosity Prepares to Take Its First Scoop of Soil for Analysis
NASA scientists are preparing Curiosity to take its first scoop of soil for analysis, which will likely occur at the “Rocknest” site – a windblown,…
Curiosity Finds Ancient Streambed on Mars
While examining two outcrops, called “Hottah” and “Link,” NASA’s Curiosity rover found evidence that a stream once ran between the north rim of Gale Crater…
NASA’s Opportunity Discovers Geological Mystery on Mars
NASA’s Opportunity rover discovered puzzling spherical objects on Mars at a rock outcrop called Kirkwood. The spherules vary in composition, concentration, distribution, and structure from…
NASA Data Suggests “Dry Ice” Snowfall on Mars
Using data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists have detected carbon-dioxide snow clouds on Mars and evidence of carbon-dioxide snow falling to the surface. NASA’s…
NASA’s Curiosity Prepares for Use of Its Arm and Tools
NASA engineers are planning to run Curiosity’s arm through six to 10 consecutive days of activities to test the 7-foot arm and the tools it…
