Mysterious cloud spotted on Mars by amateur astronomers.
Mysterious cloud spotted on Mars by amateur astronomers.
Tag: Mars
Scientists have found more evidence that the streaks on Martian hillsides that darken in warm weather are caused by melting groundwater flowing downhill.
Liquid water on Mars! Scientists have found more evidence that the streaks on Martian hillsides that darken in warm weather are caused by melting groundwater flowing downhill.
Last summer, the team pointing the HiRISE camera on the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) dropped that bombshell: it had identified 7 confirmed and 12 likely sites that contained hundreds of narrow streaks on steep slopes inside crater walls. During warmer seasons, as temperatures rose as high as 27 degrees Celsius, the streaks darkened, and then faded again. Salts could allow brines to be liquid at these temperatures. Today at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas, the HiRISE team announced that it now has doubled it stash of streaks, with the identification of 15 confirmed and 23 likely sites, all in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
Additional analysis of the spectrographic data also suggests that water could be the cause of the darkening.
Europe, dumped by NASA, has teamed up with Russia to build its ExoMars orbiter and lander.
Thank you Barack! Europe, dumped by Obama administration and NASA, has teamed up with Russia to build its ExoMars orbiter and lander.
An artist’s conception of Martian weather.
An artist’s conception of Martian weather. With pictures.
Russia’s space agency has proposed a space exploration plan through 2030, including missions to the Moon and Mars.
Competition rules! Russia’s space agency has proposed a space exploration plan through 2030, including missions to the Moon and Mars, in an effort to catch up with the U.S.
In a letter to NASA, House appropriators have challenged the Obama administration’s decision to shut down the agency’s Mars planetary program.
In a February 29 letter to NASA, House appropriators have challenged the Obama administration’s decision to shut down the agency’s Mars planetary program.
When a solar storm slammed into both the Earth and Mars in January 2008, scientists were able to directly measure the importance of the Earth’s magnetic field in protecting our atmosphere from oxygen loss.
When a solar storm slammed into both the Earth and Mars in January 2008, scientists were able to directly measure the importance of the Earth’s magnetic field in protecting our atmosphere from oxygen loss.
They found that while the pressure of the solar wind increased at each planet by similar amounts, the increase in the rate of loss of martian oxygen was ten times that of Earth’s increase. Such a difference would have a dramatic impact over billions of years, leading to large losses of the martian atmosphere, perhaps explaining or at least contributing to its current tenuous state. The result proves the efficacy of Earth’s magnetic field in deflecting the solar wind and protecting our atmosphere.
“Six minutes of terror.”
Scientists: Know your budget process!
New evidence for recent earthquakes on Mars
Scientists have found new evidence for recent earthquakes on Mars.
The Martian meteorite that was recovered in Morocco in July is now thought to contain pockets of trapped Martian atmosphere.
The Martian meteorite that was recovered in Morocco in July is now thought to contain pockets of trapped Martian atmosphere.
Or at least, the geology says the meteorite should have these pockets. The actual analysis has not yet happened.
All NASA funding for the European ExoMars mission appears to have been cut by the Obama administration.
All NASA funding for ESA’s unmanned ExoMars mission appears to have been cut by the Obama administration.
A public announcement by Nasa of its withdrawal from the ExoMars programme, as it is known in Europe, will probably come once President Obama’s 2013 Federal Budget Request is submitted. This request, expected in the coming days, will give the US space agency a much clearer view of how much money it has to implement its various projects. “The Americans have indicated that the possibility of them participating is now low – very low. It’s highly unlikely,” said Alvaro Gimenez, Esa’s director of science.
Though this story doesn’t confirm the earlier rumors that the Obama administration was going to eliminate the entire NASA planetary program, it sure lends those rumors further weight. However, the new budget should be released any day now, when we will finally find out.