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Venus as seen in ultraviolet light by NASA’s Pioneer Venus Orbiter spacecraft in 1979. The dark patches in the upper atmosphere have been a mystery for nearly a century. Could they actually contain living microbes? Photo Credit: NASA When it comes to searching for evidence of life elsewhere in the Solar System, certain […] 
Mudstone lakebed sedimentary deposits seen by the Curiosity rover in Gale crater. The latest findings show that the lake in the crater was stratified and could have supported a wide variety of microorganisms. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Was Mars ever habitable? Did life ever actually exist there? Those are two of the biggest questions […] 
Artist’s conception of the Venera-D spacecraft in orbit around Venus. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Last week, AmericaSpace reported on why NASA should return to Venus, and new technology being developed to help make that happen, especially as in longer-lived landers or rovers. With its extremely hostile conditions, Venus has been much less of a […] 
Iconic painting of a Viking lander on Mars, prior to launch. The sampling arm reaches into the foreground. Image Credit: Charles Bennett/Lockheed Martin (Martin Marietta) July 20, 1976, will be forever remembered by space enthusiasts. On that day, Viking 1 became the first U.S. spacecraft to land on another planet—in this case, Mars […] 
Image of “cauliflower” silica formations found by the Spirit rover in 2008 near Home Plate in Gusev crater. Do they hold clues to ancient life on Mars? Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Was there ever life on Mars? That is one of the longest-running and most debated questions in planetary science, and while there have […] 
False-color image of RSL on slopes in Hale crater. The blue color is thought not to be related to their formation, but instead are from the presence of the mineral pyroxene. The image is produced by draping an orthorectified (Infrared-Red-Blue/Green(IRB)) false color image (ESP_030570_1440) on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the same […] 
Does life spread through the galaxy like an infectious disease, with “bubbles” of inhabited planets? Image Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian CfA We still don’t know if there is life elsewhere in the universe, but scientists are working on techniques to better understand how it may have originated anyway, in the event that such alien biology […] 
New low-angle “selfie” of the Curiosity rover taken while it was in Marias Pass, consisting of multiple images stitched together. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS After extensive investigations of rock layers in Marias Pass, a shallow valley near the base of Mount Sharp, the Curiosity rover is now heading southwest again, to continue gradually climbing […] Map of the eight proposed landing sites for the Mars 2020 Rover. Image Credit: NASA/MOLA Science Team NASA’s next Mars rover is due to launch in July or August 2020, and the number of potential landing sites has now been narrowed down by scientists to eight locations. Out of an initial list of […] 
Methane has been discovered in some meteorites originating from Mars. Could it be a clue to life? Image Credit: Michael Helfenbein The puzzle of methane on Mars has taken an interesting new twist: For the first time, the gas has been detected within Martian meteorites. The finding adds another layer to the ongoing […] |
 Next Launch NROL-44 on a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral AFB, FL scheduled for: 29 Sep 20 at 4:02 GMT 29 Sep 20 at 12:02am Eastern 
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