Giant crater explains strange shape of Mars: related news

Giant crater explains strange shape of Mars

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A giant crater made by an asteroid or comet explains why Mars is so lopsided, with a basin on one hemisphere and high terrain on the other, three separate teams of scientists said on Wednesday.

11th Annual Mars Society Convention on 14th-17th August

Next week, Boulder, Colorado will play host to the eleventh annual Mars Society conference. There will be a huge array of speakers, lectures and workshops anyone can get involved in to learn more about the future of manned exploration on Mars. The Mars Society is an international organization working to raise public awareness about the opportunities we have on Mars and push for eventual manned settlements. Primarily, the Mars Society is pushing for better governmental spending in planetary missions, but there is an increasing awareness that many aims can only be achieved through private enterprise. The organization doesn't limit itself to political activities. For years the organization has managed a series of "Mars Analogues," isolated habitats where volunteers carry out extended experiments, studying everything from human psychology in

Huge Impact Created Mars' Split PersonalityStudy: Mars Had Drizzle and DewAstronomers on Verge of Finding Earth's TwinPhoenix Lander Prepares to Taste Martian DirtBlack Holes All Eat the Same Way

This artistic representation of a giant impact on Mars was created from simulations by Marinova et al. (Nature, 2008). Mars is shown using a combination of Viking color images and shaded relief from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Credit: Jeff Andrews-Hanna

Mars Polar Lander, USA

The Mars Surveyor '98 Programme comprised of two spacecraft launched separately, the Mars Climate Orbiter (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter) launched in 1996 and the Mars Polar Lander (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander).

Mars Polar Lander - Space Probe, USA

The Mars Surveyor '98 Programme was comprised of two spacecraft launched separately: the Mars Climate Orbiter (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter) launched in 1996, and the Mars Polar Lander (formerly the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander).

Mars maps the cocoa genome

Who doesn't like chocolate? Well, there's bound to be a few of you out there, but it's safe to say that Mars, the confectionary giant, is a big fan. Not only does Mars like chocolate, they care about it too, and to that end, Dr Howard-Yana Shapiro, global director of plant science and external research for Mars, took some time of his day to talk to me about their biggest project: mapping cocoa's genome. Cocoa trading is the 6th largest commodity market on the planet, yet compared to soy, corn, wheat, and others, much less research has been conducted on cocoa biology and agriculture.

Mars bake test hastened after oven short circuit

This artist rendition provided by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows the Phoenix lander on the arctic plains of Mars digging a trench through the upper soil layer. The Phoenix Mars lander suffered a short circuit several weeks ago to one of its eight tiny test ovens. Scientists fear another outage could render the crucial equipment useless. This artist rendition provided by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows the Phoenix lander on the arctic plains of Mars digging a trench through the upper soil layer. The Phoenix Mars lander suffered a short circuit several weeks ago to one of its eight tiny test ovens. Scientists fear another outage could render the crucial equipment useless. (AP Photo/NASA-JPL, Cory Waste)

Scientists confirm water on Mars

A full circle panoramic view of Mars taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is shown in this undated handout photo released to Reuters July 31, 2008. NASA scientists said on Thursday they had definitive proof that water exists on Mars after further tests on ice found on the planet in June by the Phoenix Mars Lander. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

The Mysterious Mars Mounds

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) continues to churn up stunning images as NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes over the Martian surface. However, today's example probably creates more questions than answers. Close to the Mars equator, south of Elysium Planitia, exists a crater and inside are some strange mounds that have so far eluded formal explanation. There are a few possibilities how these mounds may have formed and there may also be some examples on Earth too…

NASA Spacecraft Shows Diverse, Wet Environments on Ancient Mars

WASHINGTON, July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two studies based on data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed that the Red Planet once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life. One study, published in the July 17 issue of Nature, shows that vast regions of the ancient highlands of Mars, which cover about half the planet, contain clay minerals, which can form only in the presence of water. Volcanic lavas buried the clay-rich regions during subsequent, drier periods of the planet's history, but impact craters later exposed them at thousands of locations across Mars. The data for the study derives from images taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, or CRISM, and other instruments on the orbiter.

Mars Northern Basin may be the solar system's biggest crater

A new analysis of the topography and gravity of Mars by researchers at MIT and NASA has solved one of the biggest remaining mysteries in the solar system—why the planet Mars has two completely different kinds of terrain, in its northern and southern hemispheres. In the process, they have identified what appears to be by far the largest impact scar found anywhere.

Mars Rover Opportunity Climbing out of Victoria Crater

This 180-degree panorama shows the southward vista from the location where Spirit is spending its third Martian winter inside Mars Gusev Crater.

Mars rover Opportunity ascends out of crater

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has climbed out of the large crater that it had been examining from the inside since last September.

Undersea Chesapeake Crater Offers Hints to Mars Life

A 35-million-year-old crater under Chesapeake Bay is offering new insights into possible locations for life on Mars. But it also has the potential to threaten the area's groundwater supplies with contamination, according to a new study.

NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity Climbing out of Victoria Crater

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration rover Opportunity is heading back out to the Red Planet's surrounding plains nearly a year after descending into a large Martian crater to examine exposed ancient rock layers.

NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity Climbing Out Of Victoria Crater

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration rover Opportunity is heading back out to the Red Planet's surrounding plains nearly a year after descending into a large Martian crater to examine exposed ancient rock layers.

NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity Climbing Out of Victoria Crater

Aug. 26, 2008 -- PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration rover Opportunity is heading back out to the Red Planet's surrounding plains nearly a year after descending into a large Martian crater to examine exposed ancient rock layers.

U.S. Mars rover Opportunity climbing out of big crater

SAN JOSE, the United States, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is heading back out to the Red Planet's surrounding plains nearly a year after descending into a large Martian crater to examine exposed ancient rock layers.

35-mn-yr-old crater offers hints to life on Mars

Washington, July 01: A new study has indicated that a 35-million-year-old crater under Chesapeake Bay in the US is offering new insights into possible locations for life on Mars.

Mars Express Spacecraft/Orbiter - ,

Mars Express is ESA's Mars mission and also the name of the spacecraft that will transport the Beagle 2 Mars lander and act as an orbiting probe and telecommunications relay satellite for Beagle 2 and other landers due to land on the Red Planet between 2003 and 2007. The mission's main objectives are to deposit the lander on the surface and search for sub-surface water from orbit. The spacecraft contains a range of remote sensing scientific instruments to collect data concerning the planet's atmosphere, structure and geology.

Ancient Mars had diverse, wet environments

Mars once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life, according to two new studies based on data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and other instruments on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

New Findings Show Diverse, Wet Environments on Ancient Mars

Mars once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life, according to two new studies based on data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and other instruments on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

New Findings Show Diverse, Wet Environments on Ancient Mars

Mars once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life, according to two new studies based on data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and other instruments on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

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