Solar System - Mars Topics
Roses for the Red Planet
2001 — Sept. 20, 2011
What makes The Red Planetred? Right now the answer is iron oxide, but one day it could be roses say NASA scientists debating the prospects for plant life on Mars.
2001 Mars Odyssey
2001 — April 6, 2011
NASA's latest mission to Mars, an orbiter scheduled for launch on April 7th, will seek out underground water-ice and explore Space Weatheraround the Red Planet.
Carbonated Mars
2001 — April 6, 2011
Here on Earth the only way to make carbonate rocks is with the aid of liquid water. Finding such rocks on Mars might prove, once and for all, that the barren Red Planet was once warm and wet.
The Case of the Missing Mars Water
2001 — April 6, 2011
Plenty of clues suggest that liquid water once flowed on Mars --raising hopes that life could have arisen there-- but the evidence remains inconclusive and sometimes contradictory.
Mars Rovers Caught in Severe Dust Storm
2007 — April 6, 2011
A severe dust storm is underway on Mars, causing an energy crisis for NASA's Mars rovers. Dust in the atmosphere has blocked 99 percent of direct sunlight to Opportunity's solar panels.
Risky Descent
2007 — April 6, 2011
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is scheduled to begin a descent down a rock-paved slope into the Red Planet's massive Victoria Crater. This carries real risk for the long-lived robotic explorer, but NASA and the Mars Rover science team expect it to provide valuable science.
Cave Skylights Spotted on Mars
2007 — April 6, 2011
NASA's Mars orbiters have spotted "skylights" apparently leading to cavernous underground spaces on Mars. The discovery is fueling interest in potential underground habitats and sparking searches for caverns elsewhere on the Red Planet.
To Distill Some Water
2002 — April 6, 2011
This fact-filled science fiction tale, based on Jack London's "To Build a Fire," describes an astronaut's urgent search for something to drink on Mars.
Once Upon a Water Planet
2002 — April 6, 2011
Today The Red Planetis dry and barren, but what about tomorrow? New data suggest that the long story of Water on Marsisn't over yet.
Found it! Ice on Mars
2002 — April 6, 2011
Instruments on board NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft have revealed more underground ice on The Red Planetthan scientists expected.