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Curiosity rover sharpens paradox of ancient Mars![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 07, 2017 Mars scientists are wrestling with a problem. Ample evidence says ancient Mars was sometimes wet, with water flowing and pooling on the planet's surface. Yet, the ancient sun was about one-third less warm and climate modelers struggle to produce scenarios that get the surface of Mars warm enough for keeping water unfrozen. A leading theory is to have a thicker carbon-dioxide atmosphere forming a greenhouse-gas blanket, helping to warm the surface of ancient Mars. However, according to a new analys ... read more |
Opportunity Takes Advantage of her Location to do a Mini Science CampaignOpportunity is located on the rim of Endeavour Crater, heading south. The rover is trying to make progress towards the next major scientific objective, the gully about a kilometer south of the ... more
'Curiosity' exposes low CO2 level in Mars' primitive atmosphereThe CO2 level in Mars' primitive atmosphere 3.5 billion years ago was too low for sediments, such as those found by NASA's Curiosity exploration vehicle in areas like the Gale Crater on the planet's ... more
UAE Aims to Launch Its First Ever Mars Mission in 2020The United Arab Emirates has set an ambitious goal of sending nation's first mission to Mars in 2020, launching its unmanned orbiter from Japan's space center. The unmanned orbiter Hope, desig ... more
UH research finds evidence of 2 billion years of volcanic activity on MarsAnalysis of a Martian meteorite found in Africa in 2012 has uncovered evidence of at least 2 billion years of volcanic activity on Mars. This confirms that some of the longest-lived volcanoes in the ... more |
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Swirling spirals at the north pole of MarsA new mosaic from ESA's Mars Express shows off the Red Planet's north polar ice cap and its distinctive dark spiralling troughs. The mosaic was generated from 32 individual orbit 'strips' captured b ... more
Similar-Looking Ridges on Mars Have Diverse OriginsThin, blade-like walls, some as tall as a 16-story building, dominate a previously undocumented network of intersecting ridges on Mars, found in images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The s ... more
Meteorite reveals 2 billion years of volcanic activity on MarsMars may be home to some of the oldest volcanoes in the solar system. New evidence suggests the Red Planet has been home to volcanic activity for at least 2 billion years. ... more
Commercial Crew's Role in Path to MarsThe spacecraft, rockets and associated systems in development for NASA's Commercial Crew Program are critical links in the agency's chain to send astronauts safely to and from the Red Planet in the ... more
China looks to Mars, Jupiter explorationChina's plans for deep-space exploration included two Mars missions and one Jupiter probe. China plans its first Mars probe by 2020, said Wu Yanhua, vice director of the China National Space A ... more
Bursts of methane may have warmed early MarsThe presence of water on ancient Mars is a paradox. There's plenty of geographical evidence that rivers periodically flowed across the planet's surface. Yet in the time period when these waters are ... more |
![]() Opportunity marks 13 years of ground operations on Mars
Long Eclipse Avoidance Manoeuvres Performed Successfully on MOM SpacecraftAn orbital manoeuvres was performed on Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft to avoid the impending long eclipse duration for the satellite. The duration of the eclipse would have been as long as 8 ... more
Microbes could survive thin air of MarsMicrobes that rank among the simplest and most ancient organisms on Earth could survive the extremely thin air of Mars, a new study finds. The Martian surface is presently cold and dry, but th ... more
Mars rover Opportunity takes a drive up a steep slopeOpportunity is located on the rim of Endeavour Crater, heading south along the rim. The rover is trying to make progress towards the next major scientific objective, the gully about a kilomete ... more
Mars Rover Curiosity Examines Possible Mud CracksScientists used NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in recent weeks to examine slabs of rock cross-hatched with shallow ridges that likely originated as cracks in drying mud. "Mud cracks are the most ... more |

The Moon may be peppered with oxygen transmitted by life on Earth, according to a scientific study, opening up the possibility that the Earth's atmosphere of billions of years ago may be preserved on the present-day lunar surface.
It has long been speculated that the Moon has been intermittently sprayed with the Earth's oxygen, with some researchers suggesting the nitrogen and noble gases ... more Private Space Race Heats Up, Moon Landing Expected in Late 2017 LunaH-Map CubeSat to map the Moon's water deposits India, Israel among five teams fighting for first private Moon landing |
China's plans for deep-space exploration included two Mars missions and one Jupiter probe.
China plans its first Mars probe by 2020, said Wu Yanhua, vice director of the China National Space Administration.
A second Mars probe will bring back samples and conduct research on the planet's structure, composition and environment, Wu said.
Also on the agenda are an asteroid explorat ... more China's first cargo spacecraft to leave factory China launches commercial rocket mission Kuaizhou-1A China Space Plan to Develop "Strength and Size" |
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This week, astronauts are unloading more than 5,000 pounds of cargo and crew supplies from the Cygnus spacecraft to support dozens of science and research investigations. However, this shipment has special significance. This shipment arrived via an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.
Rocket launches to the International Space ... more Orbital cargo ship arrives at space station New Instrument on ISS to Study Ultra-Cold Quantum Gases Two Russians, one American blast off to ISS |
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft completed a short propulsive maneuver Wednesday to refine its track toward a New Year's Day 2019 flyby past 2014 MU69, a Kuiper Belt object (KBO) some 4 billion miles (6.4 billion kilometers) from Earth.
Telemetry confirming that the engine burn went as planned reached the New Horizons mission operations center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory ... more It's Never 'Groundhog Day' at Jupiter Public to Choose Jupiter Picture Sites for NASA Juno Experiment resolves mystery about wind flows on Jupiter |
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Newly released images showcase the incredible closeness with which NASA's Cassini spacecraft, now in its "Ring-Grazing" orbits phase, is observing Saturn's dazzling rings of icy debris.
The views are some of the closest-ever images of the outer parts of the main rings, giving scientists an eagerly awaited opportunity to observe features with names like "straw" and "propellers."
Altho ... more Cassini captures stunning view of Saturn moon Daphnis Catching Cassini's call Huygens: 'Ground Truth' From an Alien Moon |
The microscopic size of phytoplankton, the plant-like organisms that live in the sunlit upper ocean, belies their importance in the global environment. They provide the food source for the zooplankton that ultimately feed larger animals ranging from small fish to whales. And like plants on land, phytoplankton use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to grow and thrive through photosynthesis, which ... more Why the Earth's magnetic poles could be about to swap places An application of astronomy to save endangered species NASA Makes an EPIC Update to Website for Daily Earth Pics |
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Matthias Maurer, from Germany, has started his astronaut training as part of ESA's astronaut corps. Matthias was among the 10 finalists in 2009 selection, and is now undergoing basic training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is on the International Space Station and all the original class of 2009 have now flown in space. Matthias Maurer's n ... more The Outer Space Treaty has been remarkably successful - but is it fit for the modern age? Full Braking at Alpha Centauri New Era of Space Travel: Private Station May Replace ISS by Late 2020 |
When energy and nutrients abound, a bacterium will repair itself while synthesizing new parts to create a twin and then split, all as quickly as conditions allow. But if resources shrink, so does growth rate. The cell responds by shunting its dwindling supplies from replication to repair, shutting down processes until it's running a skeleton crew to survive. Below a crucial level, it's all over. ... more Dedicated Planet Imager Opens Its Eyes to Other Worlds New planet imager delivers first science at Keck First footage of a living stylodactylid shrimp filter-feeding at depth of 4826m |
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Few scenes capture the U.S. Navy's prowess as effectively as the rapid-fire takeoff and recovery of combat jets from the deck of an aircraft carrier. The ability to carry air power anywhere in the world, and both launch those aircraft to flight speed and bring them to a stop over extremely short distances, has been essential to carriers' decades-long dominance of naval warfare.
To help pro ... more U.S. Army orders counter-drone systems Unmanned Underwater Vehicle turns into Unmanned Aerial Vehicle DARPA demonstrates SideArm UAS capture system |
A long-standing mystery among marine biologists is why otherwise healthy whales, dolphins, and porpoises - collectively known as cetaceans - end up getting stranded along coastal areas worldwide. Could severe solar storms, which affect Earth's magnetic fields, be confusing their internal compasses and causing them to lose their way?
Although some have postulated this and other theories, no ... more Eclipse 2017: NASA Supports a Unique Opportunity for Science in the Shadow New space weather model helps simulate magnetic structure of solar storms Extreme space weather-induced blackouts could cost US more than $40 billion daily |
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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully ground tested its indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage for GSLV MkIII on January 25, 2017. The cryogenic stage designated as C25 was tested for a duration of 50 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri demonstrating all the stage operations. The performance of the Stage during the test was as predicted. This is the f ... more Russia to call tender for 2nd Phase of Vostochny Spaceport construction in Fall NASA sounding rocket launches into Alaskan night Russia to check space flight engines over faulty parts |
A research group led by Hiroshima University has revealed a picture of the increasing fraction of massive star-forming galaxies in the distant universe. Massive star-forming galaxies in the distant universe, about 5 billion years ago, trace large-scale structure in the universe. In the nearby universe, about 3 billion years ago, massive star-forming galaxies are not apparent. This change in the ... more Mind the Gap: Rapid Burster behaviour explained Tail of stray black hole hiding in the Milky Way NASA's fermi discovers the most extreme blazars yet |
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Cosmologists trying to understand how to unite the two pillars of modern science - quantum physics and gravity - have found a new way to make robust predictions about the effect of quantum fluctuations on primordial density waves, ripples in the fabric of space and time.
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth have revealed quantum imprints left on cosmological structures in the very ... more China to set up gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet MIT researchers reveal new technique for measuring gravity A population of neutron stars can generate gravitational waves continuously |
Entropy, the measure of disorder in a physical system, is something that physicists understand well when systems are at equilibrium, meaning there's no external force throwing things out of kilter. But new research by Brown University physicists takes the idea of entropy out of its equilibrium comfort zone. The research, published in Physical Review Letters, describes an experiment in which the ... more Black Hole Meal Sets Record for Duration and Size Shaken, but not stirred Quantum phase transition observed for the first time |
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It's a fact of nature that a single conversation can be interpreted in very different ways. For people with anxiety or conditions such as Asperger's, this can make social situations extremely stressful. But what if there was a more objective way to measure and understand our interactions?
Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Institute o ... more 500 years of robots go on show in London Transparent gel-based robots can catch and release live fish New wave of robots set to deliver the goods |
China's plans for deep-space exploration included two Mars missions and one Jupiter probe.
China plans its first Mars probe by 2020, said Wu Yanhua, vice director of the China National Space Administration.
A second Mars probe will bring back samples and conduct research on the planet's structure, composition and environment, Wu said.
Also on the agenda are an asteroid explorat ... more China's first cargo spacecraft to leave factory China launches commercial rocket mission Kuaizhou-1A China Space Plan to Develop "Strength and Size" |
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