In the eye of the beholder

Astrobiologists are developing 'intelligent' instruments that could help future robotic explorers make their own decisions about where and how to collect data. Although focused on Mars exploration for the time being, the ...

Curiosity rover nearing first anniversary on Mars

(Phys.org) —NASA's Curiosity rover will mark one year on Mars next week and has already achieved its main science goal of revealing ancient Mars could have supported life. The mobile laboratory also is guiding designs for ...

Meteorites reveal warm water existed on Mars

New research by the University of Leicester and The Open University into evidence of water on Mars, sufficiently warm enough to support life, has been published this week in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

ChemCam laser sets its sights on first Martian target

Members of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover ChemCam team have received the first photos from the instrument's remote micro imager. The successful capture of ChemCam's first 10 photos sets the stage for the first ...

Are we alone? NASA's Mars rover aims to find out

Are we alone? Or was there life on another planet? NASA's $2.5 billion dream machine, the Mars Science Laboratory, aims to take the first steps toward finding out when it nears Mars's surface on Monday.

NASA's Mars rover two weeks from landing

(Phys.org) -- NASA's most advanced planetary rover is on a precise course for an early August landing beside a Martian mountain to begin two years of unprecedented scientific detective work. However, getting the Curiosity ...

'Mount Sharp' on Mars links geology's past and future

(PhysOrg.com) -- One particular mountain on Mars, bigger than Colorado's grandest, has been beckoning would-be explorers since it was first sighted from orbit in the 1970s. Scientists have ideas about how it took shape in ...

Michigan scientists bring special expertise to new rover mission

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two University of Michigan planetary scientists are vital members of the science team of the Mars Science Laboratory, which will study whether the Red Planet was ever capable of harboring microbial life. ...

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