B2MIN9: Beagle 2 Teams Continue Efforts To Communicate With The Lander
Scientists are still waiting to hear from the Beagle 2 lander on Mars. Two attempts to communicate with Beagle 2 during the last 24 hours - first with the 250 ft (76 m) Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, UK, and then this morning with the Mars Odyssey orbiter - ended without receiving a signal. Despite this outcome, two... view more... (2003-12-27)
Young space professionals design the future of space habitation, ESTEC, NL.
The 1st Habitat Design Workshop took place at ESA/ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands during the first week of April. 30 postgraduate students and young professionals including Biomedics, Architects, Engineers, Scientists and Designers were hot housed together to develop new habitat design concepts for the Moon, Mars and Phobos. The Habitat Design... view more... (2005-04-25)
The Radar Search For Martian Water
Until the last few years, Mars has been regarded as a cold, arid world that lost most of its water long ago. However, recent observations by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey spacecraft have provided tantalising evidence that huge amounts of water may be hidden just below the surface. Now, a powerful new instrument is poised to probe... view more... (2003-04-01)
Mars Express reveals the Red Planet's volcanic past
A new analysis of impact cratering data from Mars reveals that the planet has undergone a series of global volcanic upheavals. These violent episodes spewed lava and water onto the surface, sculpting the landscape that ESA's Mars Express looks down on today. view more (2008-03-17)
Scientists Wait For Beagle 2 To Call Home
The fate of Beagle 2 remains uncertain this morning after the giant radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, UK, failed in its first attempt to detect any signal from the spacecraft. Scientists were hopeful that the 250 ft (76 m) Lovell Telescope, recently fitted with a highly sensitive receiver, would be able to pick up the outgoing call from... view more... (2003-12-26)
Mars Express confirms methane in the Martian atmosphere
During recent observations from the ESA Mars Express spacecraft in orbit around Mars, methane was detected in its atmosphere. Whilst it is too early to draw any conclusions on its origin, exciting as they may be, scientists are thinking about the next steps to take in order to understand more. From the time of its arrival at Mars, the Mars... view more... (2004-03-30)
Liftoff for Aurora: Europe's first steps to Mars, the Moon and beyond
ESA PR 64-2002. Step by step, the European Space Agency's new Aurora space exploration programme is beginning to take shape. This ambitious programme, started by ESA in January 2002, sets out a strategy over the next 30 years for Europe's robotic and human exploration of Mars, the Moon, and even beyond to the asteroids. On Monday 7 October, the... view more... (2002-10-11)
Valley networks on Mars formed during long period of episodic flooding
A new study suggests that ancient features on the surface of Mars called valley networks were carved by recurrent floods during a long period when the martian climate may have been much like that of some arid or semiarid regions on Earth. view more (2008-09-09)
Methane found in desert soils bolsters theories that life could exist on Mars
Evidence of methane-producing organisms can be found in inhospitable soil environments much like those found on the surface of Mars. view more (2005-11-01)
Mars With Ice, Shaken, Not Stirred
Mars, like Earth, is a climate-fickle water planet. The main difference, of course, is that water on the frigid Red Planet is rarely liquid, preferring to spend almost all of its time traveling the world as a gas or churning up the surface as ice. view more (2007-10-26)
Building blocks of life formed on Mars
Organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen and form the building blocks of all life on Earth. By analyzing organic material and minerals in the Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001, scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory have shown for the first time that building blocks of life formed on Mars early in its history. view more (2007-12-12)
Separation Day Arrives for Mars Express and Beagle 2
After a joint journey of 250 million miles (400 million km), the British-built Beagle 2 spacecraft and the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter should now have parted and gone their separate ways. At 8.31 GMT, software on Mars Express was scheduled to send the command for the Beagle 2 lander to separate from the orbiter. This would fire a... view more... (2003-12-19)
Timing is critical as launch windows approach
There will be greater tension than usual among engineers and scientists at Europe`s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, in January 2003, as they gather to see ESA`s comet-chasing spacecraft Rosetta departing on its long journey. If it is to keep its rendezvous with Comet Wirtanen in 2012, Rosetta must lift off on its Ariane-5 launcher no sooner... view more... (2002-09-05)
MIT, Harvard offer solution to Mars enigma
Planetary scientists have puzzled for years over an apparent contradiction on Mars. Abundant evidence points to an early warm, wet climate on the red planet, but there's no sign of the widespread carbonate rocks, such as limestone, that should have formed in such a climate. view more (2007-12-26)
Mars and Venus are surprisingly similar
Using two ESA spacecraft, planetary scientists are watching the atmospheres of Mars and Venus being stripped away into space. The simultaneous observations by Mars Express and Venus Express give scientists the data they need to investigate the evolution of the two planets' atmospheres. view more (2008-03-06)
Rosetta warms up for Mars swing-by
This month the team working on ESA's Rosetta mission have been particularly busy. Activities are underway to set the spacecraft's trajectory and prepare the on-board instruments ready for the next major mission milestone: the swing-by of planet Mars in February 2007. view more (2006-11-30)
Dig deeper to find Martian life
Probes designed to find life on Mars do not drill deep enough to find the living cells that scientists believe may exist well below the surface of Mars, according to research led by UCL (University College London). view more (2007-01-30)
Royal interest in University space project
During their visit to Leicester on 1 August 2002 Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Prince Philip will be shown the British Beagle 2 space mission to Mars which will be on display in the Planets Gallery of the National Space Centre. Beagle 2 is a unique British-led space probe, designed to search for evidence of life on the Red Planet. Beagle 2 will be... view more... (2002-07-26)
Looking for water on Mars
NASA's Phoenix Scout Lander reached Mars on May 25,, opened a soils lab, and started looking for water. Phoenix uses a robotic scoop arm to deliver regolith samples to the suite of instruments aboard the Lander--with one exception. view more (2008-09-29)
Mars Express mission controllers ready for NASA Phoenix landing
ESA's Mars Express mission control team are ready to monitor Phoenix's critical entry, descent and landing onto the Martian surface on 26 May 2008. view more (2008-05-21)
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