Mars

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Study Suggests Earth Life Began on Mars

Building blocks of life may have arrived via meteorite: scientist

(Newser) - Were our earliest ancestors Martians? A new study suggests that all life on Earth may have originated on the Red Planet, the BBC reports. That's because Mars would have had plenty of the minerals that are best at forging RNA, which is one of the key components of life...

Turns Out, People Aren't So Eager to Go to Mars

Mars One project doesn't get application numbers it hoped

(Newser) - Mars One, the heavily-hyped private expedition to Mars planned for 2023, hasn't quite found as many people willing to leave Earth forever as it had hoped. The project had expected 1 million people to jump at the chance to colonize the red planet; instead, just 165,000 applied, Space....

Aging Mars Rover May Have Made Its Best Find

Rocks full of likely clay minerals point to water

(Newser) - It's been more than nine years, but the Mars rover Opportunity just made a discovery that ranks among its biggest. The rover has discovered rock in the Endeavour Crater that's full of what appear to be clay minerals—suggesting it had extended contact with water, the BBC reports....

'Space Ark' Returns, With Lots of Dead Animals

Few mice survive month in orbit aboard Russian capsule

(Newser) - The first Russian critter on Mars likely won't be a mouse, if the results of a month-long "space ark" mission are anything to go by. A capsule containing 45 mice, along with eight gerbils, 15 newts, crayfish, snails, and other small animals, landed yesterday with more than half...

Colbert: NASA's Penis Doodle Proves Our Cosmic Might

He discusses NASA's latest 'feat'

(Newser) - The United States has its problems, but Stephen Colbert thinks that NASA's latest feat clearly shows America's cosmic might—that feat being an image of a penis left on Mars. The Internet erupted after a photo of the seemingly phallic track patterns the Curiosity rover left in the...

Apply Now for Your Ticket to Mars

Sorry, no return flights available

(Newser) - A Dutch company is looking for volunteers to fly to Mars in 2022. Just one catch: the ticket is one-way. Mars One announced its intentions to colonize the red planet last year, and is now accepting applications from everyday astronauts willing to give up the rest of their lives for...

Amateurs Find Mars Lander Lost 42 Years Ago
 Amateurs Find 
 Mars Lander 
 Lost 42 Years Ago 
in case you missed it
Apr 21, 2013 9:57 AM CDT

Amateurs Find Mars Lander Lost 42 Years Ago

Team may have located Russian lander missing since 1971

(Newser) - The Mars 3, a Soviet lander, went missing back in 1971 after performing the first soft landing on Mars. It operated for 15 seconds, failed, and eventually came to rest ... somewhere. The exact location was unknown, thanks to radio communications that were disabled, possibly thanks to a dust storm. But...

Mars Missions Slow in April, Thanks to Sun's Position

Interference means rovers pretty much get the month off

(Newser) - It's the Martian version of spring break: Curiosity and Opportunity , along with their spacecraft friends circling overhead, will take it easy this month because of the sun's interference. For much of April, the sun blocks the line of sight between Earth and Mars. This celestial alignment—called a...

Sex in Space Won&#39;t Kill You After All

 Sex in Space 
 Won't Kill You 
 After All 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 17, 2013 12:23 PM CDT

Sex in Space Won't Kill You After All

But a new study raises concerns about reproduction in plants, and maybe humans

(Newser) - One of the week's most salacious stories got its start in the journal Plos One with this headline: "Cell Wall Assembly and Intracellular Trafficking in Plant Cells Are Directly Affected by Changes in the Magnitude of Gravitational Acceleration." Of course, it wasn't until the Daily Mail...

NASA: Yep, Mars Could Have Supported Life

Soil sample dug up by Curiosity proves it

(Newser) - NASA scientists examining their first sample of Martian rock dug out by the rover Curiosity found some remarkable things in there: sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon. In other words, ingredients that show the planet once could have supported life. Lead scientist Michael Mayer sums it up thusly:
  • "
...

Mars Couple's Radiation Shield: Their Own Feces

It'll line the walls, alongside food, water

(Newser) - When you're on a budget-conscious mission to Mars, you can't waste anything—including your own, well, waste. The lucky couple tapped for Inspiration Mars' private voyage to the red planet will be tasked with lining the walls of their vessel with their own poop to shield themselves from...

Mars Mission Seeks Married Couple

Private group plans to launch husband and wife to planet in 2018

(Newser) - In less than five years, a husband and wife could be on their way toward Mars in an audacious but bare-bones private mission that would slingshot them around the Red Planet, according to a plan outlined today by a financial tycoon and his team. The voyage would be a cosmic...

Private Firm Plans Manned Mars Trip in 2018

Inspiration Mars Foundation says journey will take about 500 days

(Newser) - While NASA concentrates on sending unmanned probes to Mars, a private space enthusiast plans to raise the ante—with a manned flight to Mars within the next five years, reports Wired . Most of the details are under wraps until Wednesday, but the Inspiration Mars Foundation has announced it intends to...

Latest Search for Alien Life Taking Place on Earth

NASA turns to geologists for help

(Newser) - NASA's latest partner in the search for alien life: a group of about 50 geologists who are hunting for evidence of ancient life here on Earth. The University of Wisconsin's Astrobiology Research Consortium last month started a five-year, $7 million project funded by a NASA grant. It'll...

Mars Rover Drills Into Planet for First Time

Curiosity's successful test paves way for bigger projects

(Newser) - NASA's Mars rover has busted out a new tool to pry into the planet's secrets. Curiosity used a drill at the top of one of its arms to make a small hole in Martian rock, reports LiveScience . It was just a test, the first of its kind, but...

Mars Crater Points to Water ... and Life?

Scientists find evidence of long-dry lake

(Newser) - Photos of an enormous crater on Mars indicate possible underground water—water that could have supported life, and could still be doing so. Images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show the 57-mile-wide McLaughlin Crater, which is now dry. It's one of the planet's deepest spots at...

Curiosity Rover Snaps Pic of 'Martian Flower'?

NASA Rep says it 'appears to be part of the rock'

(Newser) - So, can flowers grow at -65 Fahrenheit? That was apparently the belief of one website reader after the Curiosity rover sent back a photo of a hard-to-identify, light-colored object on Mars, Space.com reports. Noting its reflection of sunlight, "translucent appearance," and "irregular confirmation (like pistils),"...

Martian Rock Found in Sahara Thrills Experts

2B-year-old stone holds more water than others

(Newser) - After a rock from Mars was discovered in the Sahara desert, scientists investigated it for a year—and they're fascinated by what they've learned. At an estimated two billion years old, the rock is older than most Martian meteorites and holds more water, the AP reports. And it...

1K People Willing to Take One-Way Trip to Mars

Mars One wants to send 4 people there in 2023

(Newser) - Earlier this year, Mars One announced plans to send four people to the Red Planet by 2023, where they will be stars of a reality show, of course. If you pooh-poohed the gambit as totally unfeasible, you'd be wrong in at least one way—the group has no shortage...

NASA: We're Sending a New Rover to Mars

Modeled after Curiosity, it should launch in 2020

(Newser) - NASA is headed to Mars—again. The space agency said today it plans to launch another mega-rover to Mars in 2020 that will be modeled after the wildly popular Curiosity. To keep costs down, engineers will borrow Curiosity's blueprints, build from spare parts where possible, and use proven technology...

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