Mars News, Science, Technology at MarsDaily.com

December 18, 2015

Rocks Rich in Silica Present Puzzles for Mars Rover Team
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 18, 2015
In detective stories, as the plot thickens, an unexpected clue often delivers more questions than answers. In this case, the scene is a mountain on Mars. The clue: the chemical compound silica. Lots of silica. The sleuths: a savvy band of Earthbound researchers whose agent on Mars is NASA's laser-flashing, one-armed mobile laboratory, Curiosity. NASA's Curiosity rover has found much higher concentrations of silica at some sites it has investigated in the past seven months than anywhere else it has ... read more

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New Mars rover findings revealed at American Geophysical Union Conference New findings by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover are the focus of a press conference this morning at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in San Francisco, Calif. A group of scientists, including ... more		Opportunity performs a week of robotic arm at Marathon Valley Opportunity is inside "Marathon Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned on a steep slope with an approximately 19-degree northerly tilt for improved solar array en ... more		Study finds evidence for more recent clay formation on Mars Recent orbital and rover missions to Mars have turned up ample evidence of clays and other hydrated minerals formed when rocks are altered by the presence of water. Most of that alteration is though ... more
				Curiosity reaches sand dunes NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has begun an up-close investigation of dark sand dunes up to two stories tall. The dunes are on the rover's trek up the lower portion of a layered Martian mountain. ... more		Opportunity on west rim of Endeavour Crater within Marathon Valley The rover is positioned on steep, north-facing slopes for improved solar array energy production. On Sol 4202 (Nov. 19. 2105), the robotic arm was raised so Panoramic Camera (Pancam) color images co ... more

NASA's Curiosity rover reaches Martian sand dunes NASA's Curiosity rover is continuing its trek up Mount Sharp. Recently, the Mars rover reached a series of sand dunes covering a lower portion of the layered Martian mountain inside Gale Crater. ... more		Mars Mission Team Addressing Vacuum Leak on Key Science Instrument A key science instrument that will be carried aboard NASA's Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft being prepared for launch in March 2016 ... more		SpaceX launches secretive US military spacecraft Documents show New Zealand unease over Chinese warships in South Pacific North Korea's Kim decorates troops who fought for Russia against Ukraine		Letter to Mars? Royal Mail works it out for British boy, 5 Britain's Royal Mail has turned to NASA for help after a five-year-old boy wrote in asking how much it would cost to post a letter to Mars. ... more
				European payload selected for ExoMars 2018 surface platform Two European instruments and four European contributions on two Russian instruments have been selected for the Russian-led science platform that will land on Mars as part of the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMar ... more		ExoMars has historical, practical significance for Russia, Europe The ExoMars program to explore the environment on Mars has historical and practical significance for Russia and Europe, deputy-head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Sergei Savelev, said Thursd ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

ExoMars prepares to leave Europe for launch site The two ExoMars spacecraft of the 2016 mission are being prepared for shipping to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ahead of their launch in March. A joint endeavour with Russia's Roscosmo ... more		Tracking down the 'missing' carbon from the Martian atmosphere Mars is blanketed by a thin, mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere--one that is far too thin to prevent large amounts of water on the surface of the planet from subliming or evaporating. But many researc ... more		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		Mars to lose its largest moon, Phobos, but gain a ring Mars' largest moon, Phobos, is slowly falling toward the planet, but rather than smash into the surface, it likely will be shredded and the pieces strewn about the planet in a ring like the rings en ... more
Study: Mars to become a ringed planet following death of its moon A new study, published in Nature Geoscience, suggests Mars could become ringed if its smaller moon Phobos falls apart, as scientists believe it will. ... more		A witness to a wet early Mars Vast volumes of water once flooded through this deep chasm on Mars that connects the 'Grand Canyon' of the Solar System - Valles Marineris - to the planet's northern lowlands. The image, taken by ES ... more		NASA completes heat shield testing for future Mars exploration vehicles As NASA missions to Mars progress with science and complex human exploration missions, spacecraft will require larger heat shields to protect against the extreme heat of entering a planet's atmosphe ... more		Curiosity Mars Rover Heads Toward Active Dunes On its way to higher layers of the mountain where it is investigating how Mars' environment changed billions of years ago, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover will take advantage of a chance to study some m ... more

	Upgrade Helps NASA Study Mineral Veins on Mars Scientists now have a better understanding about a site with the most chemically diverse mineral veins NASA's Curiosity rover has examined on Mars, thanks in part to a valuable new resource scientis ... more		Dust devils detected by seismometer could guide Mars mission Buried in the shallow soft mud of a dry California lake bed, a seismometer was able to detect the tiny tilts of the ground as it was pulled up by passing dust devils. The experiment, described onlin ... more

Boeing in talks to sell up to 500 planes to China: Bloomberg

Sweden picks mini-reactors for first nuclear expansion in 50 years

Bumpy skies: How climate change increases air turbulence

Amnesia Event Slows Down Opportunity Robotic Arm Work		Swiss Camera Leaves for Mars		NASA's RS-25 flight engine getting ready to fly		NASA mission reveals speed of solar wind stripping Martian atmosphere		Delving into the atmosphere of Mars
Martian desiccation		Shining a light on the aurora of Mars		China's self-developed Mars probe to be on show		Could Sino-U.S. cooperation bring the Martian home?		Signs of Acid Fog Found on Mars

Simple mathematical formula models lithium-ion battery aging

Rewrite of Onboard Memory Planned for NASA Mars Orbiter

NASA Chief: We're Closer to Sending Humans on Mars Than Ever Before

Methane-powered engine key to next generation landers

Martian skywatchers provide insight on atmosphere, protect orbiting hardware

Scientists Predict that Rocky Planets Formed from "Pebbles"

NASA Completes Critical Design Review for Space Launch System

The Study of Science through Popular Movies

Landing site recommended for ExoMars 2018

The Martian Astrobiologist

You too can learn to farm on Mars

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