
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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Comet water analysis strengthens link to Earth origins
Do you want to freeze a cloud? Desert dust might help
Genetic traits behind hibernation may offer new hope for treating metabolic disease
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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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