NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has been forced to a backup computer as a result of a computer glitch. engineers made the switch to the secondary computer while they work on the problem. As of right now, Curiosity’s science missions are being placed on hold, in “safe mode”, until the backup computer is updated so that
A recent image taken by NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity, shows a shiny, metallic, somewhat strange looking object protruding out of a rock. The image was taken on January 30, 2013, by Curiosity’s Mastcam. At first glance it appears to be a piece of iron, that hasn’t been oxidized, as a result of the extremely low
There is now strong evidence that water may be present in the crevices of a huge crater on Mars known as McLaughlin Crater, thanks to new images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This is adding to the growing body of evidence that suggests that there is substantial water ice located under the surface of
After observing clay material on the surface of Mars many times during the last ten years of exploration, astronomers had begun forming a rough consensus that early Mars once had large bodies of water on its the surface. But now new research is suggesting that magma may have the the agent of formation for the
New research supports the theory that early Mars had a thick, wet atmosphere, and a climate similar to the Earth’s climate now. The atmosphere of Mars is currently less than 1% the density of Earth’s atmosphere. That’s one of the main reasons that the Earth’s climate is wet and Mars is very dry. As
A team of scientists, led by Alfred S. McEwan of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, may have identified the tell-tale signs of “seasonal flows” (small channels attributable to downhill water movements) on certain Martian slopes. The potentially game-changing discovery, which was enabled by an analysis performed by an undergraduate student, has got the astronomy, planetary and astrobiology science communities rather excited.
