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Category Archives: MARS

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Just Found Water in Martian Soil

David Smothers September 26, 2013

Just when you thought ol’ Curiosity was digging in for the winter, the little discovery machine came up with a doozy: It discovered water in Martian soil. NASA scientists just published five papers in Science detailing the experiments that led to the discovery. That’s right. There’s water on Mars. Impressive as it is, though, the… Continue Reading »

MARS, NEWS, SPACE

The Other Firsts No One’s Talking About For The Proposed 2018 Mars Flyby Mission

David Smothers March 1, 2013

Remember Dennis Tito? He’s the millionaire who became the first space tourist back in 2001, who bought himself a ticket on a Soyuz heading to the International Space Station. Now he’s got some big new space plans: he wants to send two people on a Mars flyby mission in 2018. If he can pull it off, there’s lots… Continue Reading »

CURIOSITY ROVER, JPL, MARS, PLANETS

Computer Swap on Curiosity Rover

David Smothers February 28, 2013

PASADENA, Calif. – The ground team for NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has switched the rover to a redundant onboard computer in response to a memory issue on the computer that had been active. The intentional swap at about 2:30 a.m. PST today (Thursday, Feb. 28) put the rover, as anticipated, into a minimal-activity precautionary status… Continue Reading »

MARS

Evidence of Martian Life May Be Waiting In this Scoop of Dirt

David Smothers February 21, 2013

Like a Danish gourmet, the Mars Curiosity Rover is about to eat a scoop of ground dirt—the one you can see here. This is the first sample of powdered Martian rock extracted using the rover’s drill. This image—obtained by by Curiosity’s Mast Camera on Feb. 20, or Sol 193, Curiosity’s 193rd Martian day of operations—shows… Continue Reading »

JPL, MARS, NASA, PLANETS, VIDEO, YOUTUBE

VIDEO: USA already went to Mars : Astronaut Gene Cernan

David Smothers February 11, 2013

The video is worth watching just for his take on the situation, but listen to what he says at the 3:00 minute mark.”Buzz” Aldrin has released a statement saying that he thinks canceling the Moon mission was the right decision, but Cernan says that “Buzz” does wants to go back to Mars!! and he also support that… Continue Reading »

CURIOSITY, MARS, NEWS, PLANETS, WORLD

Mars Rover Curiosity Has Successfully Drilled for the First Ever Sample of Mars’ Virgin Bedrock

David Smothers February 11, 2013

Since Curiousity has landed on Mars, it’s been roving around finding all manner of…curiosities. Today, it’s pulled off an intergalactic first and drilled 2.5 inches deep into the red planet’s bedrock to obtain a sample. No one—no robot, as ever managed to pull that off before. 2.5 inches deep and 0.63 inches wide, the hole… Continue Reading »

CURIOSITY ROVER, JPL, LIFESTYLE, MARS, NEWS, PLANETS

What the Hell Is This Weird Shiny Object on Mars?

David Smothers February 9, 2013

The Mars Curiosity Rover has been busy snapping photos (selfies too) of Mars and found something… strange. A small, shiny, metal-looking “protuberance” sticking out from the red planet. Is it some secret lever to open up a world where Martians exist? Or some random space junk? We don’t know. You can see it in the… Continue Reading »

MARS, NASA, NEWS, PLANETS

Scientists Discover Spectacular River on Mars

David Smothers January 18, 2013

Planetary scientists at the European Space Agency have released 3D images of the “striking upper part of the Reull Vallis region of Mars,” which reveal a 932-mile-long (1500 kilometer) river running from the Promethei Terra Highlands to the vast Hellas basin. This river was huge. The image data from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft shows that,… Continue Reading »

MARS, PLANETS

Curiosity Is All Set to Drill Into Mars

David Smothers January 16, 2013

NASA’s Curiosity rover is about to tap the rocky veins of Mars, which might yield clues to the Red Planet’s watery past. Exploring a region not far from where itlanded on 6 August, the Curiosity rover has found rocks shot through with veins of light-coloured minerals. Chemical analysis from one of the rover’s remote-sensing cameras shows that… Continue Reading »