Nasa is to launch a spacecraft on a nine-month journey to Mars, where it will dig below the surface for clues to the existence of past or present life. picked by pjanaway 12 months ago

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has just begun its science mission, and one of the first targets is Victoria Crater, where the rover Opportunity has just arrived after nearly 1000 sols on Mars.

The photos, using the largest interplanetary telescope ever lofted, are truly amazing.

See comments for links to original imagery. picked by Fanatic 2 years ago

Spirit and Opportunity, the NASA Mars Rovers, have discovered interesting features that suggest Mars could have supported life at one time, including 'rivers' of frozen carbon dioxide that flow uphill. picked by tundramonkey 7 months ago

Clues found in the rocks by two NASA space rovers—Opportunity and Spirit—have led researches to conclude that the concentrations of minerals in Mars’s water makes the planet inhospitable for even the heartiest of organisms, according to Andrew Knoll, a professor of natural history in the Earth and planetary sciences department and a member of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover s... read full post picked by deepchill 5 months ago

Life on mars, captured on film by the mars rover!!!

Video version of AutumnLotus' post here for those of you who don't feel like reading. picked by ash0283 6 months ago

The Red Planet was too salty to sustain life for much of its history, according to the latest evidence gathered by rovers on the Martian surface. picked by mahler87 5 months ago

For the first time, satellite imagery reveals thick Martian salt deposits scattered across the planet's southern surface, which one planetary scientist claims could be sites of ancient life. The mats of sodium chloride — the same taste-enhancing mineral found on your kitchen table — serve as more evidence of Mars' watery past, and researchers think the briney pools that made them could... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

In the next few decades NASA plans to send a man (or several) to Mars. While they're still not sure of price (from $20bn to $450bn), it will take seven months to arrive in a ship powered by "an advanced cryogenic fuel propulsion system". picked by TheStep 8 months ago

Organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen and form the building blocks of all life on Earth. By analyzing organic material and minerals in the Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001, scientists have shown for the first time that building blocks of life formed on Mars early in its history. Previously, scientists have thought that organic material in ALH 84001 was brought to Mars by meteorite impac... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

What it would be like to fly over Mars? Combining terrain data from the orbiting Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft with information about the robotic Spirit rover currently rolling across Mars has resulted in a digital movie that shows what a flight over the Columbia Hills might look like. picked by sandossu 2 months ago

Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft, launched from Earth just over a year ago, is heading for a close encounter with the giant planet Jupiter. "Jupiter's just a waypoint to take us to our ultimate destination, which is, of course, the planet Pluto."

The pass will provide the first close-up look at Jupiter and its moons since the Galileo mission, which reached the planetary system in 1995. picked by 2manyusernames 1 year ago

NASA has finally stated that the Mars Global Surveyor was dead due to a faulty solar panel. picked by groggie 2 years ago

The Phoenix Mars Lander, also called Phoenix, is a robotic spacecraft launched on a space exploration mission to Mars on August 7,2007.
According to recent NASA's news it seems that the $386-million spacecraft is on course and is set for landing on May 25. picked by cristeaiulian 3 months ago

Fossil microbes found along an iron-rich river in Spain reveal how signs of life could be preserved in minerals found on Mars. The discovery may help to equip the next generation Mars rover with the tools it would need to find evidence of past life on the planet. picked by AutumnLotus 3 months ago

Mars was covered in an ocean of molten rock for about 100 million years after the planet formed, researchers found. The formation of the solar system can be dated quite accurately to 4,567,000,000 years ago. Mars' metallic core formed a few million years after that. Previous estimates for how long the surface remained molten ranged from thousands of years to several hundred million years picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Science fiction may soon become science fact. Astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently concluded that the upcoming planet-finding mission, SIM PlanetQuest, would be able to detect an Earth-like planet around the star 40 Eridani, a planet familiar to "Star Trek" fans as "Vulcan." picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Researchers using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory- managed Spitzer Space Telescope have learned what the weather is like on two distant, exotic worlds, including the hottest planet yet discovered, NASA announced today. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

NASA released the first three-dimensional images of the sun Monday, saying the photos taken from twin spacecraft may lead to better predictions of solar eruptions that can affect communications and power lines on Earth. picked by suebe 1 year ago

For decades, photos of what appeared to be a huge, face-shaped rock formation on Mars - or even a statue of Elvis - fueled theories of intelligent life on the Red Planet.

The NASA link at the bottom gives a good backstory. picked by suebe 2 years ago

The tell-tale signature of the molecule methane in the atmosphere of the Jupiter-sized extrasolar planet HD 189733b has been found with the Hubble Space Telescope. Under the right circumstances methane can play a key role in prebiotic chemistry – the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life as we know it. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago