MARS - SKY NIGHTLY

Rivers raged on Mars late into its history

Mar 28, 2019 (SPX)

A new study by University of Chicago scientists catalogued these rivers to conclude that significant river runoff persisted on Mars later into its history than ...

Evidence of deep groundwater on Mars detailed in new study

Mar 28, 2019 (UPI)

After closely analyzing a phenomenon known as "recurrent slope linea," estimated to be the dry signatures left by short-lived streams, scientists determined dee...

Mars calling

Mar 27, 2019 (ESA)

The joint ESA-Roscosmos mission will investigate, among other things, signs of lightning on Mars using a scientific instrument mounted on the Kazachok surface p...

Laser blasts show asteroid bombardment, hydrogen make great recipe for life on Mars

Mar 26, 2019 (SPX)

These key ingredients are nitrites (NO2-) and nitrates (NO3-), fixed forms of nitrogen that are important for the establishment and sustainability of life as we...

Google and Haughton-Mars Project Partner on Moon-Mars Exploration Prep

Mar 26, 2019 (SPX)

"We are excited about this new partnership with Google on the Haughton-Mars Project and about the data products being released. They allow us to share with the ...

ExoMars landing platform arrives in Europe with a name

Mar 22, 2019 (ESA)

An announcement was made by the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos of its new name: 'Kazachok'. The ExoMars programme is a joint endeavour between ESA an...

NASA's Mars 2020 rover is put to the test

Mar 20, 2019 (JPL)

"We first landed on Jezero Crater on Jan. 23rd," said Heather Bottom, systems engineer for the Mars 2020 mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, C...

Drone maps icy lava tube to prepare for cave exploration on Moon and Mars

Mar 20, 2019 (SPX)

The field team that studied the Lofthellir lava tube ice cave is led by SETI Institute planetary scientist Pascal Lee. "We went to Iceland to study a lava tube ...

Trembling Aspen Leaves Could Save Future Mars Rovers

Mar 19, 2019 (SPX)

University of Warwick third-year engineering undergraduates have in recent years been set the task of the examining the puzzle of why Aspen leaves quiver in the...

Rehearsing for the Mars landings in Hawaii and Idaho

Mar 19, 2019 (SPX)

This isn't practical when time outside of the spacecraft can only last for a few hours. When humans are sent to Mars, it is important that these explorers have ...

InSight lander among latest ExoMars image bounty

Mar 15, 2019 (SPX)

The ESA-Roscosmos Trace Gas Orbiter, or TGO, launched three years ago on 14 March 2016. It arrived at Mars on 19 October that year, and spent over a year demons...

Pathfinder Rover May Have Explored Edges of Early Mars Sea in 1997

Mar 15, 2019 (SPX)

The landing site is on the spillway of an ancient sea that experienced catastrophic floods released from the planet's subsurface and its sediments. This could p...

Bernese Mars Camera CaSSIS Returns Spectacular Images

Mar 15, 2019 (SPX)

ExoMars is a space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) in cooperation with the Russian space agency Roscosmos. ExoMars stands for exobiology on Mars: for...

NASA is with you when you fly, even on Mars

Mar 13, 2019 (SPX)

But the law doesn't say which planet's atmosphere. In that spirit, when the decision was made to add a small helicopter to the Mars 2020 rover mission to the Re...

Opportunity's parting shot was a beautiful panorama

Mar 13, 2019 (JPL)

"This final panorama embodies what made our Opportunity rover such a remarkable mission of exploration and discovery," said Opportunity project manager John Cal...

Objects in the rear-view mirror may appear interesting

Mar 13, 2019 (JPL)

Mastcam will finish off the investigation with multispectral images on the block in front of us, which contain the previous APXS targets "Fife" and "Arbuthnott....

Major challenges to sending astronauts to search for life on Mars

Mar 07, 2019 (SPX)

A series of articles published in a special edition of the journal Astrobiology, focuses on the scientific, logistical, operational and communications challenge...

Simulated extravehicular activity science operations for Mars exploration

Mar 07, 2019 (SPX)

The article appears in a Special Issue on BASALT led by Guest Editor Darlene Lim, PhD, NASA Ames Research Center and published in Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed ...

SWIM Project Maps Potential Sources of Mars Water

Mar 07, 2019 (SPX)

Two teams led by Putzig and Morgan were contracted by NASA to pursue separate mapping efforts of subsurface ice deposits in Arcadia Planitia. After their mid-te...

Researchers outline goals for collecting and studying samples from Mars

Mar 07, 2019 (SPX)

A new paper published in Meteoritics and Planetary Science describes the results of a major collaboration among 71 scientists from throughout the international ...