Mars | LifeBlog

Geologists may have found oldest known fossils

Posted by Special Science Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

A group of Australian and British geologists working in the Outback have discovered evidence of what may be the oldest-known fossils of life on Earth

NASA rover reaches rim of big Martian crater

Posted by Special Mars Thursday, August 11th, 2011

NASA’s surviving Mars rover Opportunity has reached the rim of a 14-mile-wide crater where the robot geologist will examine rocks older than any it has seen

NASA: Is life-giving water flowing on Mars?

Posted by Special Mars, Mars Photos, Photos Thursday, August 4th, 2011

An image combining orbital imagery with 3-D modeling shows flows that appear in spring and summer on a slope inside Mars' Newton crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

New images from an orbiting probe appear to show seasonal water flow on the surface of Mars, among the strongest evidence yet of a possible habitat for Martian life

Could new rover find fossils on Mars?

Posted by Special Mars Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

This computer-generated view shows Mars' Gale crater (circled), which NASA has selected as the landing site for the next Mars rover (inset), due to hit the planet in August 2012.

Scientists are taking a slower, more methodical approach to make sure they understand the environments and chemistry that could support and preserve life

Mars rover to land inside huge crater

Posted by Special Mars, Mars Photos Sunday, July 24th, 2011

NASA’s next Mars rover will land at the foot of a towering mountain inside a 96-mile-wide crater to search for evidence the region once once supported life

Next Mars rover faces race against time, funding

Posted by Special Mars Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

NASA’s next Mars rover faces looming technical, financial and scheduling challenges before its planned launch in November, according to an internal audit

NASA selects investigations for future key planetary mission

Posted by Special Mars Friday, May 6th, 2011

NASA has selected three science investigations from which it will pick one potential 2016 mission to look at Mars’ interior for the first time

Mars, Europa top survey of most promising space missions

Posted by Special Mars Photos, Science Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

The largest canyon in the Solar System cuts a wide swath across the face of Mars. Named Valles Marineris, the grand valley extends over 3,000 kilometers long, spans as much as 600 kilometers across, and delves as much as 8 kilometers deep. By comparison, the Earth's Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA is 800 kilometers long, 30 kilometers across, and 1.8 kilometers deep. The origin of the Valles Marineris remains unknown, although a leading hypothesis holds that it started as a crack billions of years ago as the planet cooled. Recently, several geologic processes have been identified in the canyon. The above mosaic was created from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s.

Planetary scientists called for Mars exploration as a top priority, budget woes permitting, followed by a visit to Jupiter’s moon, Europa

Changing face of Mars

Posted by Special Mars Photos Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

Three images of the same location taken at different times on Mars show seasonal activity causing sand avalanches and ripple changes on a Martian dune. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Sand dunes in a vast area of northern Mars long thought to be frozen in time are changing with both sudden and gradual motions

Northern Mars landscape actively changing

Posted by Special Mars Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

Sand dunes in a vast area of northern Mars long thought to be frozen in time are changing with both sudden and gradual motions

LifeBlog A subset of real life