Mars tagged posts

Cartoon illustration. Credit: Christine Daniloff/MIT

Fueling up on the moon could lighten cargo by 68% on the journey to Mars. Previous studies have suggested that lunar soil and water ice in certain craters of the moon may be mined and converted to fuel.

The group developed a model to determine the best route to Mars, assuming availability of resources and fuel-generating infrastructure on the moon. They found the most mass-efficient path involves launching a crew from Earth with just enough fuel to get into orbit around Earth. A fuel-producing plant on the surface of the moon would then launch tankers of fuel into space, where they would enter gravitational orbit...

The Colorado River canyon, just above Grand Canyon (left), and Nanedi Vallis on Mars (right) pictured at the same scale shows how both canyons were formed by rivers that appear to have been approximately the same width. The river channel on Earth looks darker because it is filled with water, whereas Nanedi Vallis has been dry for billions of years. Credit: Sonny Harman/Penn State

The extensive valley networks on the surface of Mars were probably created by running water billions of years ago, but the source of that water is unknown. Now, researchers are using climate models to predict how greenhouse warming could be the source of the water.

“Everyone is looking for life on Mars, and if Mars was habitable early on as indicated by flowing water, then the chances of there being some sort of l...

Dark, narrow streaks on Martian slopes such as these at Hale Crater are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water on contemporary Mars. The streaks are roughly the length of a football field. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Perchlorate salts, which may help on our JourneyToMars! Perchlorate absorbs water from the air.

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, NASA found hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on Mars. One thing that researchers noticed was that the darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. During warm seasons, they darken and then fade in cooler seasons. When discovered in 2010, these downhill flows known as recurring slope lineae (RSL) were thought to be related to liquid water...

Approaching its 3rd anniversary of Mars landing, the rover has found a target unlike anything it has studied before – bedrock with surprisingly high levels of silica. Silica is a rock-forming compound containing silicon and oxygen, commonly found on Earth as quartz. This area lies just downhill from a geological contact zone the rover has been studying near “Marias Pass” on lower Mount Sharp.

>>Curiosity team decided to back up the rover 151 feet from the geological contact zone to investigate the high-silica target dubbed “Elk.” The decision was made after they analyzed data from 2 instruments, the laser-firing Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), which show elevated amounts of silicon and hydrogen, respectively...