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]
NASA’s MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mercury since March 2011, has been revealing new information about the surface chemistry and geologic history of the innermost planet in the Solar System. Mercury, as taken from the spacecraft MESSENGER. The spacecraft captured nearly 100,000 images as it orbited the planet. [continue reading]
In a fjord in Canada scientists have found a landscape similar to one of Jupiter’s icy moons: Europa. It consists of a frozen and sulfurous environment, where sulfur associated with Arctic bacteria offer clues for the upcoming missions in the search for traces of life on Europa. Artist’s concept of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech [continue reading]
Researchers from the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) and NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) have proposed a new hypothesis to explain a class of enigmatic geologic features on Mars that have puzzled scientists for decades. The new results, published recently in the journal Geology, suggest that large sedimentary deposits in the Valles Marineris termed Interior Layered [continue reading]