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NASA Mars Orbiters See Clues to Possible Water Flows

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2014Scienceferric component, hirise, iron mineral antifreeze, james wray, lujendra ojha, mars, martian slopes, more oxidized, nasa mars orbiters, red planet, richard zurek, slope lineae, unknown factors, water flows

NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars have returned clues for understanding seasonal features that are the strongest indication of possible liquid water that may exist today on the Red Planet.

The features are dark, finger-like markings that advance down some Martian slopes when temperatures rise. The new clues include corresponding seasonal changes in iron minerals on the same slopes and a survey of ground temperatures and other traits at active sites. These support a suggestion that brines with an iron-mineral antifreeze, such as ferric sulfate, may flow seasonally, though there are still other possible explanations. (more…)

A New Tool in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life: A Tricked-Out Point-and-Shoot

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2014Scienceastrobiological imager, curiosity, extraterrestrial life, henry sun, hirise, macroscopic scale, mars, mars reconnaissance orbiter, mars rover, mojave desert, NASA, osiris rex, rock formation, search, tool, university of arizona, wolfgang fink

UA engineers have turned an off-the-shelf digital camera into an imaging device that could be key in the search for life forms on other planets.

The next time a NASA rover blasts off to explore Mars or some other planet, it might be equipped with a new type of “do-it-all” camera developed by an engineering team at the University of Arizona.

The prototype of the “Astrobiological Imager” – described in a research paper featured on the cover of a recent issue of the journal Astrobiology – consists of an off-the-shelf digital point-and-shoot camera with some surprisingly simple modifications. A slightly more sophisticated version, mounted on a rover, could do what even NASA’s latest and greatest Mars rover, Curiosity, can’t: identify, photograph and even analyze patches of soil or rocks from afar and in extreme close-up, all with the same camera. (more…)

Video: Mission ins Ungewisse – Der Kometenjäger Rosetta

By Guest PostFebruary 4, 2014Sciencechuryumov gerasimenko, der europaeischen weltraumorganisation, der kometenjaeger rosetta, dlr, esa, komet 67p, mars, mission rosetta

Zu den faszinierendsten Projekten bei der Erforschung des Weltalls gehört die bereits im Jahr 2004 gestartete Mission Rosetta der Europäischen Weltraumorganisation ESA, die den Kometen 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko untersuchen soll. Zum ersten Mal wird eine Raumsonde einem Kometen auf seinem Weg zur Sonne folgen und auf ihm landen. (more…)

NASA Receives Mars 2020 Rover Instrument Proposals for Evaluation

By Guest PostJanuary 21, 2014Science2018 exomars rover, 2020, astrobiology, atmosphere, carbon dioxide, electra telecommunication radios, Environment, esa, european space agency, exploration technology, geological assessment, habitability, hazards, human explorers, humans to mars, instrument, john grunsfeld, landing site, mars, mars 2020 rover, mars in 2030s, mars rover, martian dust, michael gazarik, NASA, oxygen, President Obama, red planet, rocket fuel, space exploration, william gerstenmaier

NASA has received 58 proposals for science and exploration technology instruments to fly aboard the agency’s next Mars rover in 2020, twice the usual number submitted for instrument competitions in the recent past, and an indicator of the extraordinary interest in exploration of the Red Planet.

The agency is beginning a thorough review to determine the best combination of science and exploration technology investigations for the mission and anticipates making final selections in the next five months. (more…)

Book explains astrobiology for a general audience

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2014Scienceacid, acknowledge the wonder, alkaline, astrobiology, d h lawrence, david catling, enceladus, europa, extraterrestrial microbes, geology, icy particles, mars, moon of jupiter, moon of saturn, origin of life, oxford university press, ph, planetary science, plume, political realms, seafloor, solar system, southwest native americans, united states

In the late 1990s, the University of Washington created what was arguably the world’s first graduate program in astrobiology, aimed at preparing scientists to hunt for life away from Earth. In 2001, David Catling became one of the first people brought to the UW specifically to teach astrobiology.

Catling, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences, is the author of Astrobiology: A Very Short Introduction, the 370^th offering in the Oxford University Press series of “very short introduction” books by experts in various fields. Catling was commissioned by editors to write the book, which was published in the United States on Jan. 1. Following are his answers to some questions about the book and astrobiology. (more…)

Decade-Old Rover Adventure Continues on Mars and Earth

By Guest PostJanuary 4, 2014Scienceancient environment, austin, bekah sosland, brett williams, columbia hills, earth, endeavour crater, Facebook, fredericksburg, high school teacher, image, john callas, jpl, mars, mars rovers, mars spacecraft, martian history, NASA, opportunity, red surface, rover adventure, rover project, spirit, Twitter, university of texas, water rich

Eighth graders didn’t have Facebook or Twitter to share news back then, in January 2004. Bekah Sosland, 14 at the time, learned about a NASA rover landing on Mars when the bouncing-ball video on the next morning’s Channel One news in her Fredericksburg, Texas, classroom caught her eye.

“I wasn’t particularly interested in space at the time,” she recalled last week inside the spacecraft operations facility where she now works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “I remember I was talking with friends, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed this thing bouncing and rolling on a red surface. I watched as it stopped and opened up, and it had this rover inside.” (more…)

From Mercury to Morocco, and onward to Yale: a meteorite’s tale

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2013Scienceanthony j irving, asteroid, chromium, comet, csi solar system, derek briggs, earth, Germany, greenish space rock, magnesium, mars, mercury, meteor, meteorite, moroccan desert, morocco, natural history, northwest africa, nwa 7325, peabody museum, planetary meteorites, solar system, Space, stefan ralew, university of washington, yale

Talk about a precious stone — the largest piece of the only known meteorite from the planet Mercury has found its way to Yale, where it is now on display at the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Known as NWA 7325, the fist-size, greenish space rock is a rarity among rarities: there just aren’t many verified planetary meteorites. Scientists know of about 70 from Mars and, until now, none from any of the other planets in Earth’s solar system. There are about 180 known meteorites from the moon. NWA 7325 is the first believed to be from Mercury. (more…)

Martian moon samples will have bits of Mars

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2013Scienceamounts of water, brown university geologists, james head, ken ramsley, large projectile impacts, mars, martian bits, martian material, martian moon phobos, martian moon samples, orbit, phobos, planetary geosciences group, regolith, russian mission, russian space agency, spacecraft

A Russian mission to the Martian moon Phobos, launching in 2020, would return samples from Phobos that contain bits and pieces of Mars itself. A new study calculates how much Martian material is on the surface of Phobos and how deep it is likely to go.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A planned mission to return a sample from the Martian moon Phobos will likely be a twofer, according to a study by Brown University geologists. (more…)

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