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 | Mars Rovers Most Amazing Discoveries |
| | The robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity arrived on Mars in early 2004 to search for clues of past water activity. They were designed to last 3 months. But the plucky explorers far exceeded anyone's expectations. They've functioned for more than 3 years, and the data they've beamed back not only shed light on Mars' past and present, but could also help humans prepare for life there in the future. --Ker Than |
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| Video - Mars Rover Team Ponders Mission's End |
| | Global dust storm threatens Mars rovers. |
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| 4 Years on Mars: Rovers Continue to Amaze |
| | The Mars rovers celebrate their fourth years on the red planet in January 2008. |
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| VIDEO: Red Dust Dangers |
| | Are they worried about Mars' dust affecting missions? Experts say: "Yes!" |
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| Mars -- Get to Know the Red Planet |
| | Learn more by clicking on any Mars picture, article, video, or other interactive feature.
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| Fire and Brimstone Helped Form Mars Oceans |
| | The longstanding mystery of how oceans once formed on Mars could be solved. |
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| Strange Shapes Seen on Mars |
| | Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sees strange shapes on the Martian surface. |
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| Life's Building Blocks Found in Mars Rock |
| | Finding suggests any rocky world can do it. |
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| Martian Sand Dunes Are Slowpokes |
| | The sand dunes of Mars are slowpokes. |
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| Mars Clouds Drier Than Thought |
| | Clouds over Mars contain less water |
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| Martian Volcanoes May Not be Extinct |
| | Old Martian lava flows suggest the planet may have some fire left in it. |
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| Odd Martian Terrain Examined |
| | Orbiter probes Mars feature with radar. |
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| Hope for Water on Mars Dims with Sharp New Images |
| | Results don't confirm or deny existence of Martian water. |
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| Mars 'Pregnancy Test' Orbits Earth |
| | Capsule orbiting above the Earth tests new life-detecting system. |
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| Wobbles of Mars Produced 40 Ice Ages |
| | About 40 Martian ice ages have occurred in the past 5 million years. |
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| Claim of Martian Life Called 'Bogus' |
| | The dry, frozen surface could be home to organisms, a scientist speculates. |
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| Sun's Temper Blamed for Loss of Water on Mars |
| | A new study supports the idea that martian water might have been blown away by solar wind. |
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| Mystery Solved: Mars Had Large Oceans |
| | New polar-shift evidence on Mars backs claim of vast ocean shorelines. |
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| Mars and Earth: Different to the Core |
| | The planets’ cores contain different ratios of the element silicon. |
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| When Will NASA's Mars Rovers Fade? Not Tonight |
| | Any day now one of my dearest friends – perhaps even two of them – will die, leaving a huge hole in my world. |
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| Mars Rovers: Picture Perfect Robots -- An Interview with Jim Bell |
| | There?s majesty on Mars. Through the lenses of two wheeled robots–Spirit and Opportunity–the red planet?s austere but stunning landscape has been captured in thousands of images relayed back to Earth. |
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| Giant Pool of Water Ice at Mars' South Pole |
| | Mars is unlikely to sport beachfront property anytime soon, but the planet has enough water ice at its south pole to blanket the entire planet in more than 30 feet of water if everything thawed out. |
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| New View of Ancient Mars Water System |
| | Groundwater once bubbled up from beneath the surface of Mars to form transient, shallow pools before evaporating and leaving behind thick layers of salty minerals, a new computer model suggests. |
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| Underground Plumbing System Discovered on Mars |
| | The timing of the flow remains uncertain, the researchers say, and could have occurred many millions or even billions of years ago. |
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| 'Hiker's Maps' of Mars Created |
| | Topographic 'hiker's maps' of Mars recently created by scientists could become an important reference for future Mars missions. |
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| New Instrument Designed to Sift for Life on Mars |
| | Future Mars rovers could be equipped with a new instrument that sifts through Martian soil for chemical signs of life. |
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| Night Clouds Warm Red Planet |
| | Nighttime clouds detected for the first time on Mars help tos keep the planet�s surface warm after sunset, a new study finds. |
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| Phoenix Lander Readied For Mars Exploration |
| | GOLDEN, Colorado – NASA’s next mission to Mars—the Phoenix lander—is undergoing readiness testing in preparation for an early August launch window. |
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| Study: Surface of Mars Devoid of Life |
| | The last refuge for Martian life, if it exist, might be deep below the planet’s surface—and beyond the reach of any currently planned missions, according to a new study. |
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| Mars' Missing Air Might Just be Hiding |
| | Mar's missing atmosphere might be locked up in hidden reservoirs on the planet, and not chafed away by billions of years worth of solar winds as previously thought, a new study suggests. |
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| NASA Announces Two Proposed 2011 Mars Missions |
| | WASHINGTON – NASA has selected a pair of Mars missions for further study for a 2011 flight opportunity.
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| Faulty Software May Have Doomed Mars Orbiter |
| | WASHINGTON — NASA is forming an internal investigative board to look into why the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft stopped responding to commands in November, the agency announced Jan. 10.
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| Buried Craters Found on Mars |
| | Mars is showing scientists its older, craggier face buried beneath the surface. |
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| Mars Takes a Fresh Pounding |
| | Scientists have found no less than 20 new craters etched into the red planet's surface from space rocks that pummeled Mars within the last seven years. |
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| Changing Mars Gullies Hint at Recent Flowing Water |
| | The changing appearance of gullies on Mars within the last few years has prompted new hopes that liquid water may have flowed recently on the red planet. |
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| Detailed Look at the Next Mars Lander |
| | Here at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, the primary industrial partner for the mission, Phoenix Mars Lander is receiving a lot of extra special, tender loving care. |
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| Mars Orbiter Photographs Three Old Spacecraft |
| | After circling the red planet for more than eight months, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken images of three spacecraft that the agency had previously sent to the Martian surface. |
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| Heavy-Lift Helicopter Inspires NASA’s New Mars Lander |
| | If NASA’s 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) reaches the red planet’s surface in one piece, the agency will owe a debt of gratitude to the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane heavy-lift helicopter. |
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| Mars Global Surveyor Remains Silent, Feared Lost |
| | BOULDER, Colorado – In a high-tech game of celestial hide and seek, a Mars orbiter has tried to image a lost-in-space red planet probe. |
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| NASA's Newest Red Planet Orbiter to Search for Silent Mars Global Surveyor |
| | DENVER, Colorado – The hunt is on for the still-silent Mars Global Surveyor, the venerable NASA orbiter that failed to phone home earlier this month. |
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| Gully Gazing: Scientists Search for Flowing Water on Mars |
| | One of the more perplexing finds on Mars are features that look like the product of groundwater seeping to the surface. These gullies could be formed by flowing water, perhaps fed by a groundwater supply. |
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| NASA Loses Contact With Mars Global Surveyor |
| | NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft has failed to check in with Earth for the fourth straight day in a row now, after losing contact during a routine adjustment of its solar array. |
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| Mars Watch: Complete Viewing Guide |
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| Orbiter to Look for Lost-To-Mars Probes |
| | A super-powerful camera orbiting Mars may help discover the fate of long-lost spacecraft that never phoned home after reaching the red planet. |
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| Martian Life Could Have Evaded Detection by Viking Landers |
| | A chemical test used by the Mars Viking landers more than 30 years ago was not sensitive enough to detect signs of life even if it existed, a new study suggests |
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| Mars Probes Continue to Unlock Planet's Mysteries |
| | Scientists and engineers are enjoying success both on the surface of the red planet and in orbit around Mars. |
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| 'Another New Mars': NASA Orbiter Ready for Red Planet Science |
| | NASA’s latest spacecraft to orbit Mars has already found new clues to the red planet’s changing environment, and the best is yet to come, mission managers said Monday. |
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| New Mars Craft Sends Back First Detailed Images |
| | New images from a low-altitude Mars satellite are giving scientists some of their most detailed glimpses yet of the surface of the Red planet. |
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| New Mars Map: Similarities to Earth Revealed |
| | A new high-resolution map of Mars's magnetic field indicates that the red planet's crust once moved like present-day Earth's. |
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| Mars: A History of False Impressions |
| | A lot has been learned since the days when Mars was roundly feared by the masses. But Mars hoaxes continue. |
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| Mars Volcanoes Possibly Still Active, Pictures Show |
| | Images from a European space probe reveal recent glacial deposits and lava flows on Mars that suggest the red planet is more active than many scientists had thought. |
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| Life-Swapping Scenarios for Earth and Mars |
| | Genesis here, genesis there. All the signs of water on Mars have scientists pondering a host of possibilities. |
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| With Proof of Ancient Water on Mars, Researchers Consider Life's Chances |
| | The success of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity in finding tell-tale signs of past water at its Meridiani Planum landing site has left some researchers believing the region could have once been a habitable, albeit hostile, environment.
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| Mars Rovers: Still Squeezing Out Science |
| | Those work-a-day robots – Spirit and Opportunity – remain steadfast in their Mars research duties. |
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| Mars Reconsidered: New Data Raises Fresh Questions |
| | There is mounting evidence of the role of water in Mars’ evolution. That fact appears to have been favorable to the development of life -- and the leftover calling card of past biology may be preserved in that world’s geologic record. |
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| Red Planet Bound: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter |
| | DENVER, Colo. -- The next spacecraft destined for Mars is rapidly coming together here on Earth -- an interplanetary probe that carries the most powerful instruments ever sent to the red planet. |
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| How 3-D Works: Mars Revealed by Human-Like Eyes |
| | Scientists are using the technology to estimate distances to Martian science targets and size them up from afar. |
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| Thinking on Mars: The Brains of NASA's Red Planet Rovers |
| | Humans have long depended on machines to explore strange, new worlds by remote, guiding mechanical rovers from millions of miles away, then waiting - and hoping - that the robotic beast carried out its instructions. Spirit and Opportunity, NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), are no exception to the rule. |
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| The Robot Touch: How Spirit Keeps Mars Within Reach |
| | Just as geologists on Earth carry their science tools with them in the field, so too does the Mars rover Spirit, but the probe doesn't stop at just a hand lens and hammer. At the end of its robotic arm sit a cluster of instruments that combine traditional field tools with the equipment typically found in geological laboratories. |
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| Digital Secrets: How Spirit Makes Great Photos |
| | NASA's Spirit Rover is providing a lesson to aspiring digital photographers: Spend your money on the lens, not the pixels. |
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| The Night Sky … from Mars! |
| | To see the surface of Mars, we rely on robots as our virtual eyes. To see the night sky of Mars, we need a computer program. |
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| Whatever Happened to Mars Polar Lander? U.S. Spy Agencies Might Know |
| | This is a saga of light and dark pixels, egos, and professional courtesy, and a report that never saw the light of day, until now. |
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| Robotic Rockhounds: Twin Mars Rovers to Use High-Tech Tools |
| | The first geologists on Mars are not going to be humans of flesh and bone, but robot automatons of metal and wheels. |
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| Special Report: Odyssey Mission to Mars |
| | Full coverage of the NASA probe that is now orbiting the Red Planet. |
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| Ancient Mars: Renderings Show Raging Floods, Vast Oceans |
| | An artist has taken some liberties with spacecraft data to create a series of renderings showing what Mars might once have looked like. |
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| The 10 Best Mars Images Ever |
| | Pictures that changed the way we viewed the Red Planet. |
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| Searching for Signs: Mars Exploration Rovers Science Explained |
| | If all goes well early next year, dual Mars Exploration Rovers will settle in for science at Meridiani Planum and Gusev crater. Both places show intriguing evidence for past liquid water and may reveal telltale signs of ancient, perhaps even present-day life on Mars. |
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| Planetary Protection: An Integral Part of Mission Preparations |
| | Long before the Mars Rover missions were readied for launch, NASA researcher worried behind the scenes about invisible microbes that could contaminate the spacecraft. |
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| Other Mars Headlines |
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