By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 15th, 2015
View overlooking part of High Dune, which is covered in smaller sand ripples. The image is white-balanced, to show how the scene would look under more Earth-like conditions. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Since landing in 2012, the Curiosity rover has seen a lot of varied terrain within Gale crater, including ancient riverbed gravel, sandstone […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on November 18th, 2015
The edge of a dark sand dune field can be seen in this white-balanced Curiosity image from sol 1115 (Sep. 25, 2015). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mars is often referred to as a desert world, being bone-dry for the most part, with dust and sand blanketing most of the surface. Some regions are covered […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on October 10th, 2015
Sedimentary strata at the base of Mount Sharp as seen at the Kimberly location. The strata in the foreground dip toward Mount Sharp, providing evidence of the former lake-filled depression that used to exist before most of the mountain formed. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Last week there was the exciting news that Mars still […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on September 28th, 2015
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 […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on September 2nd, 2015
Mars used to have a thicker atmosphere and water on its surface, but what happened to that atmosphere has been a mystery. New research may finally help answer that question. Image Credit: M. Kornmesser/ESO
The question of how Mars changed from a once wet world to the much colder and drier one we […]
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By Ben Evans, on August 12th, 2015 The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is depicted in orbit above Mars with its large solar arrays and Earth communications dish at top. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
After more than 40,000 orbits of the Red Planet, NASA’s $720 million Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)—launched 10 years ago today, on 12 August 2005—is showing no signs of […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on August 5th, 2015
Self-portrait of the Curiosity over in Gale crater on Mars. Part of Mount Sharp is in the background. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity rover has just reached its third anniversary milestone on Mars, after landing in Gale crater on Aug. 5, 2012, and since then has made some incredible science discoveries, with more […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on July 1st, 2015
Artist’s conception of the Prandtl-m airplane flying above the surface of Mars. Image Credit: NASA Illustration/Dennis Calaba
For several decades, Mars has been a busy place, with orbiters, landers, and rovers providing unprecedented views of the Red Planet. Another exciting possibility which has yet to be realized is an airplane, which could soar […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on June 24th, 2015 Illustration of debris flows inside Istok crater on Mars, which have provided evidence of large amounts of flowing water and mud in the past. The flows are very similar to ones on Earth in Arctic regions such as Iceland. Image Credit: Nature Communications
The fact that Mars used to have large amounts of […]
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By Paul Scott Anderson, on June 13th, 2015
Artist’s conception of the MarCO CubeSats flying past Mars as the InSight lander descends to the surface. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The next NASA mission to Mars, the InSight lander, will include some additional experimental technology: the first deep-space CubeSats. Two small CubeSats will fly past the planet as the lander is descending through […]
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