2015 in Review: A Year of Spectacular Planetary Missions and Discoveries

By Paul Scott Anderson, on December 31st, 2015

High-resolution view of Pluto from New Horizons, showing rugged mountains and vast icy plains. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

To say that 2015 has been a great year for planetary exploration would be an understatement, with fantastic new discoveries from around the Solar System. From our first ever close-up look at Pluto and its moons, […]

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The Saline Slopes of Mars: NASA Confirms Evidence for Flowing Liquid Water

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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Discovery of Salty Aquifer Beneath Antarctica May Have Implications for Life on Mars

By Paul Scott Anderson, on April 28th, 2015

The SkyTEM sensor suspended beneath a helicopter over Blood Falls and the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica. Photo Credit: L. Jansan

Scientists have discovered a vast network of salty aquifers beneath the surface of Antarctica, thanks to an airborne imaging system used there for the first time. The finding may have interesting implications for […]

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Curiosity Rover Finds More Evidence for Possible Liquid Water Brines on Mars

By Paul Scott Anderson, on April 15th, 2015

The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) on the Curiosity rover, used to make the brine calculations. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The search for liquid water on Mars is one that has been on-going for decades. It can’t exist for long on the surface, as it will quickly sublimate into the cold, thin atmosphere. Aquifers […]

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Buried Glaciers Have Enough Ice to Cover Entire Surface of Mars, According to New Study

By Paul Scott Anderson, on April 9th, 2015

Image of dust-covered glaciers on Mars from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express. The glaciers are composed of water ice. Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

When the topic of ice on Mars comes up, the first thing that usually comes to mind are the polar ice caps which are prominent even in […]

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Mars Odyssey Orbiter Repositioned to Observe Possible Water Processes on Martian Surface

By Mike Killian, on February 15th, 2014

An artist’s concept of NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft orbiting Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.—in cooperation with Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver, Colo.—recently fired up the thrusters on the space agency’s longest-serving Mars explorer in an attempt to study the planet’s surface during Martian […]

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