Results tagged “Mars”

Organic compounds called thiophenes are found on Earth in coal, crude oil and oddly enough, in white truffles, the mushroom beloved by epicureans and wild pigs.

Scientists have devised new analytical tools to break down the enigmatic history of Mars' atmosphere -- and whether life was once possible there.

Briny water may form on the surface of Mars a few days per year, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Norbert Schorghofer shows.

Presently, Earth is the only known location where life exists in the Universe.

Mars has a thin (6 mbar) CO2 atmosphere currently. There is strong evidence for paleolakes and rivers formed by warm climates on Mars, including after 3.5 billion years (Ga) ago, which indicates that a CO2 atmosphere thick enough to permit a warm climate was present at these times.

Researchers have created the first map of wind circulation in the upper atmosphere of a planet besides Earth, using data from NASA's MAVEN spacecraft that were collected during the last two years.

A new paper published in Geophysical Research Letters will help by providing a map of water ice believed to be as little as an inch (2.5 centimeters) below the surface.

The search for evidence of life on Mars could be helped by fresh insights into ancient rocks on Earth. Research which suggests that structures previously thought to be fossils may, in fact, be mineral deposits could save future Mars missions valuable time and resources.

As any geologist worth his or her salt will tell you, there are rocks, and then there are rocks. Next July, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are launching rovers to Mars that will search for signs of past microbial life, and to find them, the scientists with NASA's Mars 2020 mission and ESA's ExoMars will need to examine different kinds of rocks that lend compelling insights into the environment in which they were made -- all from 100 million miles away.

Scientists with NASA's Mars 2020 rover have discovered what may be one of the best places to look for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater, where the rover will land on Feb. 18, 2021.

For the first time in the history of space exploration, scientists have measured the seasonal changes in the gases that fill the air directly above the surface of Gale Crater on Mars.

The escape of hot O and C atoms from the present martian atmosphere during low and high solar activity conditions has been studied with a Monte-Carlo model.

Researchers have provided new calibrations for the humidity sensor on NASA's Phoenix lander on Mars (the Phoenix Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP) relative humidity sensor).

Mars once had salt lakes that are similar to those on Earth and has gone through wet and dry periods, according to an international team of scientists that includes a Texas A&M University College of Geosciences researcher.

Sedimentary deposits characterized by the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover provide evidence that Gale crater, Mars intermittently hosted a fluvio-lacustrine environment during the Hesperian.

If you could travel back in time 3.5 billion years, what would Mars look like? The picture is evolving among scientists working with NASA's Curiosity rover.

A provocative new study looks at the resource utilization and technological strategies that would be needed to make a Mars population of one million people food self-sufficient.

NASA has barely scratched the surface of Mars - literally. While past rovers have dug inches into the rusty soils of the Red Planet, NASA is testing out a drill that can go feet deep and operate autonomously with minimal human guidance.

Comparing compositional models of the terrestrial planets provides insights into physicochemical processes that produced planet-scale similarities and differences.

Scientists at TU Dortmund University have generated high-accuracy 3D models of terrain within the landing ellipse of the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars rover, Rosalind Franklin. The Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) have a resolution of about 25 cm per pixel and will help scientists to understand the geography and geological characteristics of the region and to plan the path of the rover around the site.