Veteran Mars probe looks to the stars for longevity
After spending over 12 years studying Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is getting some preventative maintenance to allow it to remain in service until the mid-2020s.
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
3D scans reveal huge underground ice sheets on Mars
Mars may not be as dry as it looks. NASA and the USGS have used MRO instruments to analyze the vertical structure and thickness of buried ice sheets, which preserve a detailed record of the Red Planet’s past and could provide future human explorers with an easily-accessible water supply.
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Dark streaks on Mars may not be evidence of water after all
In 2011 the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spotted dark streaks in the dust that appear in summer and vanish in winter, hinting at the influence of flowing water. On closer inspection however, a new NASA report suggests the answer may not be so simple.
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter races past 50,000-orbit milestone
As of Monday, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has clocked an impressive 50,000 laps of the Red Planet. The spacecraft has been instrumental in NASA’s ongoing efforts to unravel the secrets of Mars, and it’s not done yet, with mission scientists anticipating years of mileage yet to come.
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Mars-eye view delivers new perspective on the Earth and Moon
If images of the Earth from the Moon have become a little ho-hum, how about an image of the Earth and the Moon from Mars? Courtesy of the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), we have a new view of our home planet and its nearest neighbor.
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"Spiders" from Mars? NASA spots them forming
Mars is home to many phenomena that we'd never see on our home planet, some of which are the networks of veiny troughs found around its South Pole. These "spiders" are usually thousands of years old, but now for the first time a team of scientists seem to have caught some in their early stages.
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Newly spotted ice field buried on Mars could provide water to future colonists
The name of the Martian region of Utopia Planitia roughly translates as "plains of paradise." It turns out it could be a paradise indeed for astronauts, as a frozen ice deposit holding as much water as Lake Superior, the largest of North America's Great Lakes, was recently found beneath the soil.
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Ancient "ice cauldron" on Mars could be a bull's-eye for finding life
As the search for life on Mars moves further underground, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have found another promising place to look: a strange formation that could be the remains of an ancient “ice cauldron” that would have provided a warm, chemical-rich, life-friendly environment.
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Martian dust storms could make life interesting for future astronauts
NASA scientists have discovered that three powerful dust storms which occur each Martian year could pose a hazard to astronauts undertaking a mission to the Red Planet.
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Flat volcanoes hint at an icy ancient Mars
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered evidence of ancient volcanoes on the surface of the planet, that are believed to have erupted under a sheet of ice.
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