Latest Climate of Mars Stories

Earth and Mars will have a breathtaking close encounter in October 2005.Science@NASA -- By the time you finish reading this sentence, you'll be 25 miles closer to the planet Mars. Earth is racing toward Mars at a speed of 23,500 mph, which means the red planet is getting bigger and brighter by the minute. In October, when the two planets are closest together, Mars will outshine everything in the night sky except Venus and the Moon. (You're another 50 miles closer: keep reading!)It's only May,...

The tiny tornadoes, or dust devils, that scientists have observed from orbit have now been seen close up on the surface by the Spirit rover. The most recent series of images show that these tornadoes can appear suddenly with diameters in the hundreds of feet.Astrobiology Magazine -- A dust devil spins across the surface of Gusev Crater just before noon on Mars. NASA's Spirit rover took the series of images in this 21-frame animation with its navigation camera on the rover's martian day, or...

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- An interdisciplinary team of scientists thinks it has an answer to a long-standing mystery of why the permanent icecap on Mars' South Pole is offset from the pole itself. Simply put, it's colder and stormier in that hemisphere. But that is only part of the equation, scientists say, and new understanding about Mars' climate and its polar regions may suggest clues to finding water in the planet's equatorial zone - where it would be easier to land a spacecraft - and opening...

Bernard Foing, Chief Scientist for the European Space Agency, provides on overview of the most notable discoveries made during the Mars Express mission, Europe's first trip to the Red Planet. In part two of this overview, Foing looks at how these discoveries could help pinpoint the prospects for life on Mars.Astrobiology Magazine -- The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft has been orbiting Mars for over a year. While the high resolution images of the planet's many craters,...

Astrobiology Magazine -- The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft has been orbiting Mars for over a year. While the high resolution images of the planet's many craters, volcanoes, and other features get the most notice, the spacecraft's seven instruments have also gathered large amounts of data about the planet's atmosphere, geology, and chemistry. Bernard Foing, ESA Chief Scientist, provides on overview of the most notable discoveries made during Europe's first trip to the Red...

WASHINGTON -- Injecting synthetic "super" greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere could raise the planet's temperature enough to melt its polar ice caps and create conditions suitable for sustaining biological life. In fact, a team of researchers suggests that introducing global warming on the Red Planet may be the best approach for warming the planet's frozen landscape and turning it into a habitable world in the future. Margarita Marinova, then at the NASA Ames Research...

Recent observations from the orbiting Mars Express probe may show the characteristic rippling expected from past sea-ice. When coupled with findings that methane may be generated today on Mars, this sea-ice finding enriches the debate over modern prospects for life on Mars.Astrobiology Magazine -- The discovery of a frozen sea close to the equator of Mars has brought the possibility of finding life on Mars one step closer. This is the first evidence of there having been recent liquid water on...

PARIS (AFP) -- A frozen sea surviving as blocks of pack ice may lie just beneath the surface of Mars, the New Scientist magazine said, citing observations from Europe's Mars Express spacecraft. Images from the high resolution stereo camera on Mars Express showed of structures called plates that look similar to ice formations near Earth's poles. These plates could indicate the first discovery of a large body of water beyond Mars' polar ice caps, the review said. The team of researchers, led by...

What challenges might arise beyond the logistics of getting to Mars? Weather and biology might face astronauts working within an extended stay mission. Astrobiology Magazine -- The National Research Council was tasked with evaluating the risks of landing humans safely to work on Mars. Their report highlights a number of unique aspects in transit to the red planet, as well as once humans step out onto the surface. In this first of two parts summarizing some key points, their report goes beyond...

Astrobiology Magazine -- Injecting synthetic "super" greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere could raise the planet's temperature enough to melt its polar ice caps and create conditions suitable for sustaining biological life. In fact, a team of researchers suggests that introducing global warming on the Red Planet may be the best approach for warming the planet's frozen landscape and turning it into a habitable world in the future. Margarita Marinova, then at the NASA Ames...