Modern Mars is a desolate husk of a planet, as far as life is concerned. But it’s not completely uninhabitable, since microbes could be hiding in the cracks of rocks and dirt. And now a new study has found a possible food source for these organisms – space dust.
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Researchers from Harvard have shown that thin layers of silica aerogel could warm the surface of Mars and block UV radiation while still letting visible light through. That could be enough to keep water liquid and let plants photosynthesize within a given region.
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NASA's Mars 2020 rover now has its arm. On June 21, 2019, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, began attaching the intricate robotic arm and hand that the unmanned explorer will use to search for signs of past and present life on the Red Planet.
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The latest methane measurements on Mars to generate some intrigue among planetary scientists stems from the largest ever reading of the gas taken during the Curiosity rover's seven-year mission, which again raises the prospect of microbial life existing at some time, some place on the Red Planet.
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NASA's Mars 2020 rover is getting ready to roll, as engineers have installed its wheels. On June 13th, the unmanned nuclear explorer received its port and starboard legs and wheels, that will allow it to roam the surface of the Red Planet as it seeks out signs of present or past life.
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Martian clouds could have an alien origin, according to a newly-published paper. The study suggests that mid-level clouds form above the Red Planet due to a phenomenon called "meteor smoke," which occurs when space debris is shredded upon entering the Martian atmosphere.
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A newly-installed clean room webcam at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is giving members of the public a front row seat as technicians and engineers assemble the Mars 2020 rover.
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Alien life is almost certainly out there somewhere, but because it’s most likely microscopic, it won’t be easy to spot. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois have come up with a new and fairly obvious sign of life: pasta-shaped rocks.
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Curiosity has begun investigating one of the most interesting regions so far – the clay-bearing unit. After drilling two new samples last month, the rover has confirmed high amounts of clay minerals, providing further proof that ancient Mars was once much wetter.
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Most oxygen in the universe isn’t in the form that we need to breathe: molecular oxygen, or O2. Now, researchers at Caltech claim to have created a reactor that can turn carbon dioxide into molecular oxygen, which could help us fight climate change here on Earth or generate oxygen for life in space.
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