Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on Aug. 12, has completed one of the first tasks of its seven-month cruise to Mars, a calibration activity for the spacecraft's Mars Color Imager instrument. view more (2005-08-18)
Mars Express leaves for Baikonur
Mars Express, the first European spacecraft to visit the planet Mars, has completed its tests at Toulouse, France. After six months extensive thermal environmental, mechanical and electric tests, the spacecraft with the Beagle 2 lander will leave for Ba'-konur, Kazakhstan on 19 March 2003 onboard an Antonov 124 aircraft. It will be launched early... view more... (2003-03-19)
University of Leeds academic goes searching for Martians
University of Leeds biogeochemist Liane Benning is the only European scientist chosen to be part of the NASA science team looking for life on Mars. She is one of 21 geologists, astrobiologists and engineers developing scientific concepts and rover design for the astrobiology field laboratory mission to Mars in 2013. "A combination of... view more... (2004-02-23)
Beagle 2 Information Note: Next Stop Mars!
We have separation! That was the message from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, to announce that the British-built Beagle 2 spacecraft is now flying independently from its Mars Express "mother ship". Initial confirmation that the separation manoeuvre has been successful came at 10.42 GMT, when Mars... view more... (2003-12-19)
Marsquake detection sensors will take search for water underground
Researchers at Imperial College London have just begun a 5-year project to design and build tiny earthquake measuring devices to go to Mars on the 2007 NetLander mission. Unlike the instruments on next year`s European Mars Express/Beagle II mission, the Marsquake sensors will be the first to look deep inside the planet. The internal structure of... view more... (2002-05-30)
Mars Express mission extended
ESA's Mars Express mission has been extended by one Martian year, or about 23 months, from the beginning of December 2005. view more (2005-09-23)
Water at Martian south pole
Thanks to ESA's Mars Express, we now know that Mars has vast fields of perennial water ice, stretching out from the south pole of the Red Planet. Astronomers have known for years that Mars possessed polar ice caps, but early attempts at chemical analysis suggested only that the northern cap could be composed of water ice, and the southern cap... view more... (2004-03-18)
Mars Express radar to be deployed in May
Following green light for the deployment of ESA's Mars Express radar, given in February this year, the radar booms are now planned to be deployed in the first half of May. Once the deployment is successful, the Mars Express MARSIS radar will enable the first European spacecraft to orbit Mars to complement its study of the planet's atmosphere and... view more... (2005-04-29)
Many characteristics of Mars, including ice, are similar to Earth, paper says
Mars gets as far as 250 million miles away, but many parts of it closely resemble places on Earth, including its landscape, history of water, soil and even its weather, says a Texas A&M University researcher in the current issue of "Science" magazine. view more (2009-07-06)
Hitchhiking bacteria could compromise the detection of life on Mars
Is there life on Mars? It's possible, but it may not be Martian, say scientists. New research, published in the open access journal BMC Microbiology, suggests that conditions on Mars are capable of supporting dormant bacteria, known as endospores. This raises concern about future attempts to detect Martian life forms because endospores originating... view more... (2003-04-03)
Mars Express radar gauges water quantity around Mars south pole
The amount of water trapped in frozen layers over Mars' south polar region is equivalent to a liquid layer about 11 metres deep covering the planet. view more (2007-03-16)
Human exploration of the Moon and Mars
These are exciting times for space exploration. For the first time in a generation, human missions beyond Earth orbit are being seriously considered by space agencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Europe has initiated the Aurora programme, with the ultimate aim of landing people on Mars by 2033, while the U.S. has recently redirected its human... view more... (2004-03-24)
Texas A&M prof to predict weather on Mars
Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. view more (2009-11-05)
Beagle 2 - Media Briefing on latest communication attempts
Venue: The Science Media Centre, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS Date: 26 January 2004 Time: 1400 GMT. Registration: 13.45 GMT On 12 January a period of radio silence was initiated when no attempts were made to contact Beagle 2. Maintaining radio silence for a period of ten days is intended to force... view more... (2004-01-21)
"Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye!"
Media Invitation Friday 19 December The Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye!" An event to mark the separation of Beagle 2 from Mars Express On the morning of Friday 19th December Beagle 2 separates from Mars Express and begins the last stage of its 250 million mile voyage to... view more... (2003-12-12)
Mars' climate in flux: Mid-latitude glaciers
New high-resolution images of mid-latitude Mars are revealing glacier-formed landscapes far from the Martian poles, says a leading Mars researcher. view more (2005-10-18)
Fractured crater near Valles Marineris
This perspective image of a fractured crater near Valles Marineris on Mars was obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft. The image was taken during orbit 61 in January 2004 with a resolution of 12. 5 metres per pixel. It shows part of a cratered landscape to the north of the Valles Marineris,... view more... (2004-07-27)
Mars -- Red Planet once blue planet
A team of Canadian and U.S. researchers have uncovered evidence that ragged, kilometre-high undulating features on the surface of Mars were shorelines of massive ancient oceans that once covered one-third of the planet in water. view more (2007-06-14)
Scientists Recreate Martian Environment
Scientists at the University of Leicester's Space Research Centre are recreating the hostile environment found on Mars in their laboratory, with a device known as the Martian Environment Simulator (MES). The machine reproduces the temperature, air pressure and unbreathable atmosphere known to exist on Mars. The MES is currently being used to test... view more... (2002-05-31)
Soggy Sands of Mars?
Cracks and fins in the sand in an American desert look very similar to features seen on Mars and may indicate the recent presence of water at the surface. view more (2006-04-07)
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