
Methane-powered engine key to next generation landers
NASA tested components for an engine that could be used for Mars landers powered with methane, a fuel that has never before propelled a NASA spacecraft.
A spectacular blue flame erupted as a r ... more
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Martian skywatchers provide insight on atmosphere, protect orbiting hardware
Though the Martian terrain echoes some features of our own planet, the atmosphere is quite different: thin, cold, dusty and often stormy. Observing these conditions and adapting our technologies to ... more
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Solar-driven ionosphere charges may nudge stressed faults toward rupture
Stable black carbon in mangrove soils boosts coastal climate role
Low crystallinity iron minerals show promise for chromium cleanup and carbon storage
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Scientists Predict that Rocky Planets Formed from "Pebbles"
Using a new process in planetary formation modeling, where planets grow from tiny bodies called "pebbles," Southwest Research Institute scientists can explain why Mars is so much smaller than Earth. ... more
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NASA Completes Critical Design Review for Space Launch System
For the first time in almost 40 years, a NASA human-rated rocket has completed all steps needed to clear a critical design review (CDR). The agency's Space Launch System (SLS) is the first vehicle d ... more
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The Study of Science through Popular Movies
Who says class has to be all about lectures and labs? Andres Aragoneses, a quantum optics researcher at Duke, has created a class called "Science and Science Fiction" in conjunction with the Osher L ... more
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Landing site recommended for ExoMars 2018
Oxia Planum has been recommended as the primary candidate for the landing site of the ExoMars 2018 mission. ExoMars 2018, comprising a rover and surface platform, is the second of two missions makin ... more
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The Martian Astrobiologist
Mars has been a focus of astrobiology and exobiology research since the early days of NASA. Even before the invention of the telescope, Mars captured the imagination of scientists and philosophers w ... more
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