"Bullet-proof" evidence of past water found on Mars

2011-12-08T17:30:15Z

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A NASA rover scouting for signs of past water on Mars has found the strongest evidence yet -- a vein of gypsum, a mineral deposited by water, protruding from an ancient rock.

The rover, called Opport...

ESA gives up bids to contact stranded Russian space probe

2011-12-02T16:30:35Z

The European Space Agency said it will no longer try to make contact with Russia's stranded Mars probe Phobos-Grunt if attempts made Friday fail.

"We have already told our colleagues at the (Russian) Lavochkin institute that if communication bids during the day and tonight fail we will stop," CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Florida on Saturday, launching a $2.5 billion nuclear-powered NASA rover toward Mars to look for clues ...

'Curiosity' rover launches for Mars

2011-11-26T18:30:22Z

NASA's Curiosity rover, the biggest, most sophisticated robotic explorer ever built, blasted off Saturday on a journey to Mars, where it will hunt for signs life once existed there.

Curiosity, which is the size of a large car and weighs in at one ton, has a laser beam for zapping interesting rocks and a tool kit for analyzing their contents.

It carries a robotic arm, a drill, and a set of 10 science instruments including two color video...

NASA rover launched to see if Mars can sustain life

2011-11-26T10:00:07Z

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Saturday, launching a $2.5 billion nuclear-powered NASA rover toward CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Saturday, launching a $2.5 billion nuclear-powered NASA rover toward US space agency plans to launch on Saturday the most powerful and advanced robotic rover ever built to explore Mars and hunt for signs that life may once have existed on the red planet.

The Mars Science Laboratory, an elite six-wheeled vehicle powered by nuclear fuel, is scheduled to laun...

New NASA rover to scout for life's habitats on Mars

2011-11-24T09:00:35Z

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A nuclear-powered rover as big as a compact car is set to begin a nine-month journey to Mars this weekend to learn if the planet is or ever was suitable for life.

The launch of NASA's $2....

Corrected: New NASA rover to scout for life's habitats on Mars

2011-11-24T06:00:19Z

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A nuclear-powered rover as big as a compact car is set to begin a nine-month journey to Mars this weekend to learn if the planet is or eve...

NASA rover launch to Mars delayed to Nov 26

2011-11-21T15:30:42Z

The US space agency has postponed by one day its plan to launch the biggest rover ever to Mars, with the liftoff of the Mars Science Laboratory now set for November 26.

The delay will "allow time for the team to remove and replace a flight termination system battery," MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia raced on Thursday to salvage a spacecraft bound for a moon of Mars that is stranded in the Earth's orbit, with just days left before the window closes on its first interplanetary mission in 15 years.

So far Russian control...

NASA readies launch of 'dream machine' to Mars

2011-11-10T19:30:33Z

The US space agency is getting ready to launch later this month the biggest, most expensive robotic vehicle ever built to explore Mars for signs of previous life there, NASA said Thursday.

The Curiosity rover, known formally as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Russian craft embarks on voyage to Mars moon

2011-11-08T18:30:36Z

A Russian probe on Wednesday set off on a three year return mission to Mars that aims to bring the first sample of a Martian moon back to Earth and re-establish Moscow as a power in planetary exploration.

The Phobos-Grunt probe blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in

Russia aims for first conquest of Mars

2011-11-07T14:30:25Z

Russia on Wednesday launches a probe for Mars that aims to collect a chunk of a Martian moon and become Moscow's first successful planetary mission since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Phobos-Grunt probe is to blast off from the Moscow to simulate the effects of a return trip to Mars.

The multi-national crew showed no ill effects after emerging from the capsule where they had lived and slept for the last 520 days but were clearly delighted they had completed their earth-bound "journey" to the Red Planet.

After the pr...

New Mars samples 'unlike any seen before'

2011-09-02T03:30:21Z

A new site being explored by the Mars rover Opportunity has yielded soil samples unlike any examined before on the red planet and that appear more favorable for life, scientists said.

Opportunity, the indefatigable robot that has been exploring Mars for seven and a half years, arrived three weeks ago at the edge of a 22 kilometer (13.6 mile) wide crater named Endeavour...

Flowing water on Mars sparks hunt for ancient life

2011-08-04T19:30:32Z

Scientists have found evidence of flowing salt water on steep Martian slopes, which if confirmed would be the first discovery of active liquid water on the red planet, NASA has said.

The data gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has given new focus to the hunt for life forms and scientists h...

NASA discovers evidence of flowing water on Mars

2011-08-04T14:00:26Z

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NASA scientists have discovered fresh evidence that water is flowing on Mars during its warmest months, raising the likelihood that life could exist on the red planet, the agency said on Thursday.

NASA first found evid...

NASA says Mars mountain will read like 'a great novel'

2011-07-22T17:30:22Z

The US space agency's unmanned Curiosity rover will explore a mountain on Mars that should read like "a great novel," revealing if signs of life ever existed on the red planet, NASA said Friday.

The landing site for the 2.5 billion dollar CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory, a nuclear-powered, car-si...

NASA bids farewell to Spirit rover on Mars

2011-05-25T06:00:12Z

The US space agency said it is giving up on trying to contact its Spirit rover on Mars, saying the robot explorer likely froze to death in the Red Planet's harsh winter.

"NASA is ending attempts to regain contact with the long-lived Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, which last communicated on March 22, 2010," it said in a statement.

Spirit was only supposed to endure for three month...

Experiment volunteers take 2nd 'walk on Mars'

2011-02-18T14:30:45Z

Astronauts on a simulated flight to Mars made a second walk on a mock-up of the Red Planet's surface in Russia Friday, collecting soil samples for analysis.

Russian Alexander Smoleyevsky, who made the first of three planned sorties with Italy's Dieg...

Experiment volunteers 'to land on Mars'

2011-02-11T15:30:40Z

A group of volunteers will on Saturday reach a key stage in an unprecedented one-and-a-half year experiment to study the effects of a mission to Mars when they "land" on the Red Planet's surface.

Three of the six volunteers will "touch down" on Saturday before moving out of their lander for a first "space walk" Monday on the Martian surface -- all without leaving a Moscow

Space crew to simulate Mars walk next month

2011-01-21T12:30:21Z

Three men will simulate walking on Mars next month as part of a project that has seen a multinational crew locked up inside a mock Moscow spaceship since June, the head of the project said Friday.

The team of six participants will "land" on the Red Planet on February 12 after spending more than eight months in isolation in the module, which was built at Moscow's Institute for...

No word from stuck NASA Mars rover Spirit

2011-01-02T11:00:14Z

No word from stuck NASA Mars rover Spirit on 7th landing anniversary

The Mars rover Spirit marks its seventh year on the red planet Monday. Not only is it stuck in a sand trap, it hasn't communicated with Earth since March.

NASA doesn't know whether Spirit is dead, but the space agency is diligently listening for it. A pair of Mars orbiters has been making daily...

China to explore Mars with Russia this year

2011-01-02T03:30:10Z

China's first Mars probe is expected to be launched in October this year in a joint operation with Russia after a two-year delay, state media reported Sunday.

The probe, Yinghuo-1, was due to blast off in October 2009 with Russia's "Phobos Explorer" from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in NASA's Hubble Space Telescope a close-up of the red planet Mars is shown. Two scientists are proposing we send volunteers to Mars and leave them there. They say the mission would mark the beginning of long-term human colonization of Mars, with numerous follow-up trips. The colleagues con...

Russia Mission to Mars

2010-06-02T07:00:38Z

FILE - In this July 14, 2009 file photo the team of researchers is greeted after ending a three-month simulation mission to Mars at a Moscow research facility, Russia. Another team of researchers will launch a longer, 520-day simulation of Mars mission at the same facility in Moscow on Thursday June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)

NASA shows NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity using its front hazard-identification camera to obtain this image at the end of a drive on the rover's 1,271st sol, or Martian day (Aug. 21, 2007). Opportunity, one of the twin Mars rovers that landed in 2004, has surpassed Viking I's record and shows no signs of stopping. Unlike Viking 1, which conducted science experimen...

Mars Orbiter

2010-03-27T02:07:26Z

In this image released by NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona showing a view of an inverted crater in the Arabia Terra region of Mars that is among the images taken by NASA's Martin Mars water bomber turns around and heads back to Lake Shasta after dropping a mixture of gel and water on the Motion Fire on July 1, 2008

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Mars Landing Information