The first scoop of soil analyzed by the analytical suite in the belly of NASA’s Curiosity rover reveals that fine materials on the surface of the planet contain several percent water by weight. The results were published today in Science as one article in a five-paper special section on the Curiosity mission. The Sample Analysis at Mars [continue reading]
New insights from Curiosity A pair of new papers report measurements of the Martian atmosphere’s composition by NASA’s Curiosity rover, providing evidence about loss of much of Mars’ original atmosphere. One of Vikings global mosaics of Mars, re-sized & sharpened by Jason Harwell of the Viking mission team. Image Credit: NASA/JPL Curiosity’s Sample [continue reading]
The hunt for the organic molecules that create proteins and enzymes critical for life here on Earth has largely happened in sophisticated terrestrial laboratories equipped with high-tech gadgetry needed to tease out their presence in space rocks and other extraterrestrial samples. This is an example of chirality of amino acids, using hands to illustrate [continue reading]
NASA’s car-sized rover, Curiosity, has taken significant steps toward understanding how Mars may have lost much of its original atmosphere. If the atmosphere of Mars contains methane, various possibilities have been proposed for where the methane could come from and how it could disappear. Potential non-biological sources for methane on Mars include comets, degradation [continue reading]
NASA’s Mars Curiosity has debuted the first recorded human voice that traveled from Earth to another planet and back. A chapter of the layered geological history of Mars is laid bare in this postcard from NASA’s Curiosity rover. The image shows the base of Mount Sharp, the rover’s eventual science destination. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS In [continue reading]