MARS - SKY NIGHTLY

Sep 23, 2013 (SPX)

Is there life on Mars? The answer has eluded us for decades, and the more we explore the planet, the more elusive that answer seems to become. The discovery by ...

India unveils Mars mission spacecraft

Sep 20, 2013 (XNA)

India unveils its Mars mission space craft on Wednesday, saying the launch of the space craft is likely to happen in late October or early in November, local ne...

Life on Mars hopes fade after rover findings: study

Sep 19, 2013 (AFP)

Hopes of finding life on Mars suffered a setback after new findings from NASA's Curiosity rover detected only trace amounts of methane gas in the Red Planet's a...

Explosive flooding said responsible for distinctive Mars terrain

Sep 16, 2013 (UPI)

Catastrophic melting and outflow of a buried ice lake formed the lumpy, bumpy floor of an ancient impact carter on Mars, an Italian scientist says. Manuel Roda,...

Upgrade to Mars rovers could aid discovery on more distant worlds

Sep 13, 2013 (SPX)

Smart as the Mars Curiosity mission has been about landing and finding its own way on a distant world, the rover is pretty brainless when it comes to doing the ...

Investigating 'Coal Island' Rock Outcrop

Sep 11, 2013 (JPL)

Opportunity is at the base of 'Solander Point' on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is investigating a scarp (rock outcrop), called 'Coal Island.' On Sol 3...

Terramechanics research aims to keep Mars rovers rolling

Sep 11, 2013 (SPX)

In May 2009, the Mars rover Spirit cracked through a crusty layer of Martian topsoil, sinking into softer underlying sand. The unexpected sand trap permanently ...

SwRI study suggests debris flows on frozen arctic sand dunes are similar to dark dune spot-seepage flows on Mars

Sep 10, 2013 (SPX)

A team of scientists from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has demonstrated that frozen water in the form of snow or frost can melt to form debris flows on s...

India prepares to launch country's maiden mission to Mars

Sep 09, 2013 (UPI)

Indian officials have confirmed a November launch date for the country's first mission to Mars, set to launch from a spaceport in the south of the country. "Hec...

New technology could make for smarter planet rovers

Sep 09, 2013 (UPI)

The Curiosity rover exploring Mars boasts impressive technology but future rovers will need more smarts to explore more distant worlds, U.S. scientists say. Whi...

Space Cadets line up for one-way Mars trip

Sep 09, 2013 (AFP)

More than 200,000 people from 140 countries have applied to go to Mars and never return, the group behind an ambitious venture to colonize the inhospitable red ...

Examining Rocks Around Boulder Field

Sep 05, 2013 (JPL)

Opportunity is at the base of 'Solander Point' on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is navigating around a large boulder field examining the geologic conta...

NASA Evaluates Four Candidate Sites for 2016 Mars Mission

Sep 05, 2013 (JPL)

NASA has narrowed to four the number of potential landing sites for the agency's next mission to the surface of Mars, a 2016 lander to study the planet's interi...

ASA Mars Rover Views Eclipse of the Sun by Phobos

Sep 03, 2013 (JPL)

Images taken with a telephoto-lens camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity catch the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passing directly in front of the sun -- th...

Mars Curiosity Debuts Autonomous Navigation

Sep 03, 2013 (JPL)

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has used autonomous navigation for the first time, a capability that lets the rover decide for itself how to drive safely on Mars. T...

We may all be Martians

Sep 03, 2013 (SPX)

New evidence has emerged which supports the long-debated theory that life on Earth may have started on Mars. Professor Steven Benner will tell geochemists gathe...

Scouting a Boulder Field

Aug 28, 2013 (JPL)

Opportunity is at the base of 'Solander Point' on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is scouting a large boulder field. On Sol 3398 (Aug. 15, 2013), Opportu...

International Space Agencies Outline Steps to Take Humans to Mars

Aug 22, 2013 (RIA Novosti)

A consortium of 12 space agencies, including NASA and Roscosmos, on Tuesday released a blueprint for future space exploration, which proposes using the Internat...

Snapping Pictures of the Martian Moons

Aug 20, 2013 (JPL)

Opportunity is at the base of "Solander Point" on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned in front of a large rock, called "Tick Bush" for in-situ ...

Mars Rover Opportunity Working at Edge of 'Solander'

Aug 19, 2013 (SPX)

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is studying the area of contact between a rock layer formed in acidic wet conditions long ago and an even older one that may be fr...