According to an international team of scientists, the lake that was present in Gale Crater over 3 billion years ago underwent a drying episode, potentially linked to the global drying of Mars.
Scientists now propose using an insulating material called silica aerogel to make parts of the Martian surface friendlier to photosynthetic life. Perhaps an aerogel blanket could more easily melt the water on the Martian ice caps to make a small section of the planet habitable.
NASA's Curiosity rover discovered "startlingly high amounts of methane in the Martian air" on Wednesday in what could potentially be a sign of life on the Red Planet, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
Clay often forms in the presence of water – a key ingredient for the evolution of life as it is known on Earth – and Curiosity’s latest findings add more evidence that a significant amount of water once pooled and flowed in Gale Crater on Mars.
Scientists detected a massive reservoir of frozen water sandwiched by layers of sand beneath the northern polar ice cap on Mars. This reservoir contains so much ice that, if melted and brought to the surface, it would submerge the entire planet.
NASA’s aging 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter recently snapped some unique views of the twin moons Phobos and Deimos.
The signal appears to have been generated inside the planet and not by any surface-level phenomenon. Three other seismic events were detected on 14 March, 10 and 11 April, but they were much smaller and their origins more ambiguous.
There was a big stir when reports emerged that the Curiosity rover had detected methane on Mars. But now an independent source has also detected methane on Mars.
There’s a massive, growing wall of evidence showing that Mars may have had the necessary conditions for life in the past. ESA’s High-Resolution Camera on the Mars Express Orbiter, there are clear signs of a system of river valleys.
Opportunity landed on Mars more than 15 Earth years ago, on January 25, 2004. Originally designed for 90-day lifetimes, the rovers persisted. It roved a staggering 45.16 kilometers across the Red Planet.
For the first time in history, we can hear the wind on Mars. With its InSight Lander NASA provided a version of the recording shifted up in pitch, which pulls some of the otherwise-inaudible infrasound into hearing range.
InSight spacecraft plunged into the rarefied atmosphere of Mars at a speed of more than 12,000 mph Monday and braked to a gentle touchdown, setting the stage for a two-year surface mission to probe the planet’s deep interior.
Mars 2020 is set to visit the Red Planet to take scientific data and hunt for past signs of life, and to better understand the planet for a future human visit.
NASA recently released a 360-degree panoramic image based on images taken by the Curiosity rover, which showed its latest drilling site.
As part of their 3D-Printed Habitat Centennial Challenge, NASA recently awarded five teams with a total of $100,000 for their designs for Martian habitats.
