Medicine & TechnologyNASA's Curiosity rover has analyzed numerous rock samples from three different locations in the lower regions of Mount Sharp that reveal unique mineral compositions. Along with the discovery of the different minerals, there were also prominent veins that show the mountains layers, revealing different stages of weathering. These two toned minerals were found in ridges along a site called "Garden City" where bedrock has eroded and exposed these veins.
The idea of putting a man on Mars has become very popular in recent years, due to many of the plans put forth by NASA. And in a new statement, NASA reports that they could get astronauts in orbit of the red planet by 2033, and they will land on the surface on 2039.
NASA's Opportunity Rover has been setting records for its time in space and distance traveled, but unfortunately it probably won't remember them. Less than a week after engineers upgraded the software to resolve its memory issues, the rover has experienced yet another bout of amnesia.
While you might think that NASA and other space agencies have made great strides in investigating the final frontiers of space, it turns out that there are far too many limitations for what humans are able to do. Astronauts and cosmonauts train for the better part of the lives, learning technical information and perfecting the physical attributes needed to live in space. But when it comes down to mission time, they only have a few months in space—at best. Considering that new missions to Mars will look towards taking human journeys far deeper into space than anyone has been before, NASA’s new experiment is looking into how long exposure to zero-gravity will affect humans. And they’re using a familiar method of testing their hypotheses—twins.
It seems NASA's Opportunity Rover isn't just content with exceeding its originally designated lifespan by over a decade, it has not set another new record that the space agency's other rovers will have a tough time beating.
While NASA already knows many of the affects on the human body while in space, when astronaut Scott Kelly launches for the beginning of his year long mission at the International Space Station, he has one long-range goal on his mind.
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted a photo of himself in a Mars-themed t-shirt at Stonehenge that spells out clearly what he believes NASA's next mission should be.
Using an unconventional research method, scientists are seeking to learn more about about Mars by flying a kite here on Earth. The method allows researchers to get a new look at geological features here at home that learn what they could reveal with the hopes of being able to identity similarities with what they see when examining the surface of Mars and potentially other planets and moons as well.
A short circuit in the arm of the Curiosity rover halted its work on February 27. Since that time the rover team has worked hard to discover the source of this short in the hopes of repairing it and getting Curiosity back to work. Now, mission controllers have traced the short circuit to the drill on its robotic arm.
For those of you that follow the movement of Opportunity, one of NASA's Mars rovers studying the surface of the Red planet, you may have noticed that it has stopped to smell the roses or, in this case, rocks. The rover has taken a break from its other investigative activities to closely examine some oddly shaped rocks that have never before been seen on the surface.
According to NASA researchers in charge of Curiosity, the rover is set to most likely resume the use of its arm movements next week although investigations into the cause of the sporadic short-circuit are still ongoing.
Scientists believe that the Red planet once had more water on its surface than is found today in Earth's Arctic Ocean. However, over time Mars has lost 87% of this water to space.
NASA has announced that the Mars Curiosity Rover now just has one arm, due to a short circuit that happened while the rover was attempting to retrieve a sample.
In February, Mars and Venus put on quite a show in the skies above. Determined not to be outdone, Jupiter, the fifth and largest planet in our solar system, will put on a show of its own along with its moons during the month of March.