MARS stories

Microbe oasis discovered under desert could advance Mars research

Eileen Marable
Monday, February 20, 2012 - 8:59am
 
The driest desert on earth — the Atacama Desert of Peru — is considered a great stand in for what the geology of Mars is like. It's no wonder then that scientists are excited to find what they term an "oasis" of micro-organisms living under the surface of the desert. Such a find could mean that similar microbes could theoretically exist under the surface of Mars.

These custom watches keep Mars time for NASA

Evan Ackerman
Friday, February 10, 2012 - 2:57pm
 
I know you're wondering what time it is on Mars right now. Here, let me check for you... It's, uh, yeah okay I give up. Mars time is tricky, because it's similar to Earth time but not quite the same, and the difference is enough to drive the people working on Mars missions a little bit nuts.

Study suggests Martian avalanches occur before meteor strikes

Eileen Marable
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - 12:13pm
 
Meteorites traveling towards the surface of Mars can often be traveling at several times the speed of sound as they hit the planet's thin atmosphere. A new study of images taken from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) suggests the hurtling rocks trigger shockwaves that roll through the air actually triggering avalanches on the dusty surface before they strike.

Rock-eating bacteria in Oregon lava tube would love it on Mars

Evan Ackerman
Monday, December 19, 2011 - 8:17am
 
Whether there's life on Mars could be one of the defining questions of our generation, since a definitive "yes" would suggest that life is significantly more common on places that aren't Earth, which includes the entire rest of the universe. This is why we're scouting out extremophiles, and the latest almost-alien bacteria hail from a lava tube in Oregon.

Russian Phobos probe (and passengers) probably doomed

Evan Ackerman
Friday, November 11, 2011 - 12:17pm
 
It's a bad time to be a water bear, especially a water bear with a non-refundable round-trip ticket from Earth orbit to Mars' moon Phobos. Russian's Phobos-Grunt probe is having engine trouble, and unless engineers are able to work a minor miracle, the whole thing will be coming back down in a matter of weeks.

Russia sending life to Mars (and back) today

Evan Ackerman
Monday, November 7, 2011 - 3:02pm
 
We're not really sure whether there is currently, or has ever been, life on Mars. Russia is taking a proactive approach to that whole situation and sending a spacecraft 140 million miles or so to visit the red planet with a cargo of microbial sightseers.

Space crew emerges from simulated Mars journey after 520 days

Raymond Wong
Friday, November 4, 2011 - 6:44am
 
The six-man crew of volunteer astronauts who joined the Mars500 mission to isolate themselves in a bus-sized simulator for 520 days to simulate a journey to Mars are returning back to "Earth." Technically, they never left Earth, so they're just opening the door to their bunker for the first time in over nearly a year and a half.

Time lapse video shows rover's epic three-year trek across Mars

Evan Ackerman
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - 10:55am
 
Today is day 2,816 of Opportunity's 90 day mission to Mars. If you do the math, it means that we've been surprised by how awesome this robot is doing about 30 times over. It's traveled a staggering 20 miles over the last six or seven years, and JPL has put together this time-lapse of a three-year, 13-mile section of that journey.

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