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Category Archives: Mars

This little rover will ride shotgun on Japan’s ambitious Mars moon sample-return mission – Space.com

Posted: March 6, 2024 at 3:58 pm

A small rover built in Europe has arrived in Japan in preparation for its voyage to Mars.

The autonomous 55-pound (25-kilogram) rover is called IDEFIX and is part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Martian Moon Exploration (MMX) probe that aims to collect samples of the Mars' moon, Phobos.

The little, four-wheeled rover recently arrived in Japan, according to a Feb. 26 post on X (formerly known as Twitter) written by the MMX mission account.

Related: New Japanese spacecraft aims to explore the mysterious moons of Mars

IDEFIX, named for the small white dog in the Asterix comics, was jointly built by the German Aerospace Center (known by the German acronym DLR) and the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).

The main MMX spacecraft aims to grab 0.35 ounces (10 grams) of Phobos' material in 2029. It will then send the precious cargo towards Earth; arrival is expected to occur in 2031. IDEFIX will play a part in this overall objective by landing on Phobos first and gathering key information in preparation for the landing of the main spacecraft. The rover will also analyze the Martian moon's surface composition and texture at selected locations, according to DLR if it can land and operate successfully in a near zero-gravity environment all by itself, that is.

"The biggest challenge for IDEFIX is that it has to carry out many operations particularly the uprighting after landing on Phobos fully autonomously in order to survive," Stphane Mary, CNES Project Manager for IDEFIX, said in a DLR statement. "It wouldn't survive if it waited for commands from Earth to arrive."

A key goal of MMX is to determine whether Phobos and its fellow Martian satellite Deimos are captured asteroids or a coalescence of fragments that were blown into orbit after a giant impact struck Mars.

MMX was originally scheduled to launch in September of this year, yet doubts over the readiness of the new Japanese H3 rocket meant JAXA took the decision to delay the mission until the next Mars launch window in 2026.

H3 has since reached Earth orbit for the first time, bouncing back from the failure of its debut launch in 2023. The mission will launch on an H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in 2026, hopefully arriving in Mars orbit in 2027 to begin mapping and analyzing Deimos and Phobos. IDEFIX and the main MMX spacecraft will then be able to land on Phobos in 2029.

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Lawmakers announce caucus focused on space and planetary science – NBC News

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Lawmakers announce caucus focused on space and planetary science  NBC News

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The science value of Mars Sample Return – The Planetary Society

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For all the wonders robotic space missions have to offer, they are limited by mass, power, and size requirements. We cant carry all our large, precise laboratory equipment to space. That limits us when we want to precisely know a rocks age, the conditions in which it formed, and whether it carries signatures of past life, said Jeffrey Johnson, a planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Many Martian science objectives can only be achieved by analyzing returned samples in laboratories on Earth, he said. The sophisticated instruments at such facilities can detect subtle chemical, mineralogical, and morphological signatures with greater precision and accuracy than is possible with miniaturized robotic instruments on the Martian surface.

Whereas a single spacecraft instrument tends to be designed for one particular function, the samples we return from Mars can be subjected to the full range of current and future scientific tools available on Earth.

Its not that we cant miniaturize and flight-harden one instrument, its that we cant do it for all the instruments and analyses that wed be able to perform on these rocks once theyre returned to Earth, said Amy Williams, an assistant professor in geological sciences at the University of Florida.

Many important analytical tests performed on rock and soil samples require careful preparation using fluids or slicing at ultrafine, nanometer scales. That just cant happen on Mars. Nor can we bring to Mars the full range of equipment found in a single geosciences department, let alone the scope of advanced laboratories around the Earth. With returned samples, multiple labs will work together to validate, verify, and confirm key findings multiple lines of evidence for, and confidence in, important scientific discoveries. This level of certainty and reproducibility is critical for bombshell results such as a possible sign of past life.

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Study determines the original orientations of rocks drilled on Mars – MIT News

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As it trundles around an ancient lakebed on Mars, NASAs Perseverance rover is assembling a one-of-a-kind rock collection. The car-sized explorer is methodically drilling into the Red Planets surface and pulling out cores of bedrock that its storing in sturdy titanium tubes. Scientists hope to one day return the tubes to Earth and analyze their contents for traces of embedded microbial life.

Since it touched down on the surface of Mars in 2021, the rover has filled 20 of its 43 tubes with cores of bedrock. Now, MIT geologists have remotely determined a crucial property of the rocks collected to date, which will help scientists answer key questions about the planets past.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

In a study appearing today in the journal Earth and Space Science, an MIT team reports that they have determined the original orientation of most bedrock samples collected by the rover to date. By using the rovers own engineering data, such as the positioning of the vehicle and its drill, the scientists could estimate the orientation of each sample of bedrock before it was drilled out from the Martian ground.

The results represent the first time scientists have oriented samples of bedrock on another planet. The teams method can be applied to future samples that the rover collects as it expands its exploration outside the ancient basin. Piecing together the orientations of multiple rocks at various locations can then give scientists clues to the conditions on Mars in which the rocks originally formed.

There are so many science questions that rely on being able to know the orientation of the samples were bringing back from Mars, says study author Elias Mansbach, a graduate student in MITs Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

The orientation of rocks can tell you something about any magnetic field that may have existed on the planet, adds Benjamin Weiss, professor of planetary sciences at MIT. You can also study how water and lava flowed on the planet, the direction of the ancient wind, and tectonic processes, like what was uplifted and what sunk. So its a dream to be able to orient bedrock on another planet, because its going to open up so many scientific investigations.

Weiss and Mansbachs co-authors are Tanja Bosak and Jennifer Fentress at MIT, along with collaborators at multiple institutions including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech.

Profound shift

The Perseverance rover, nicknamed Percy, is exploring the floor of Jezero Crater, a large impact crater layered with igneous rocks, which may have been deposited from past volcanic eruptions, as well as sedimentary rocks that likely formed from long-dried-out rivers that fed into the basin.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Mars was once warm and wet, and theres a possibility there was life there at one time, Weiss says. Its now cold and dry, and something profound must have happened on the planet.

Many scientists, including Weiss, suspect that Mars, like Earth, once harbored a magnetic field that shielded the planet from the suns solar wind. Conditions then may have been favorable for water and life, at least for a time.

Once that magnetic field went away, the suns solar wind this plasma that boils off the sun and moves faster than the speed of sound just slammed into Mars atmosphere and may have removed it over billions of years, Weiss says. We want to know what happened, and why.

The rocks beneath the Martian surface likely hold a record of the planets ancient magnetic field. When rocks first form on a planets surface, the direction of their magnetic minerals is set by the surrounding magnetic field. The orientation of rocks can thus help to retrace the direction and intensity of the planets magnetic field and how it changed over time.

Since the Perseverance rover was collecting samples of bedrock, along with surface soil and air, as part of its exploratory mission, Weiss, who is a member of the rovers science team, and Mansbach looked for ways to determine the original orientation of the rovers bedrock samples as a first step toward reconstructing Mars magnetic history.

It was an amazing opportunity, but initially there was no mission requirement to orient bedrock, Mansbach notes.

Roll with it

Over several months, Mansbach and Weiss met with NASA engineers to hash out a plan for how to estimate the original orientation of each sample of bedrock before it was drilled out of the ground. The problem was a bit like predicting what direction a small circle of sheetcake is pointing, before twisting a round cookie cutter in to pull out a piece. Similarly, to sample bedrock, Perseverance corkscrews a tube-shaped drill into the ground at a perpendicular angle, then pulls the drill directly back out, along with any rock that it penetrates.

To estimate the orientation of the rock before it was drilled out of the ground, the team realized they need to measure three angles, the hade, azimuth, and roll, which are similar to the pitch, yaw, and roll of a boat. The hade is essentially the tilt of the sample, while the azimuth is the absolute direction the sample is pointing relative to true north. The roll refers to how much a sample must turn before returning to its original position.

In talking with engineers at NASA, the MIT geologists found that the three angles they required were related to measurements that the rover takes on its own in the course of its normal operations. They realized that to estimate a samples hade and azimuth they could use the rovers measurements of the drills orientation, as they could assume the tilt of the drill is parallel to any sample that it extracts.

To estimate a samples roll, the team took advantage of one of the rovers onboard cameras, which snaps an image of the surface where the drill is about to sample. They reasoned that they could use any distinguishing features on the surface image to determine how much the sample would have to turn in order to return to its original orientation.

In cases where the surface bore no distinguishing features, the team used the rovers onboard laser to make a mark in the rock, in the shape of the letter L, before drilling out a sample a move that was jokingly referred to at the time as the first graffiti on another planet.

By combining all the rovers positioning, orienting, and imaging data, the team estimated the original orientations of all 20 of the Martian bedrock samples collected so far, with a precision that is comparable to orienting rocks on Earth.

We know the orientations to within 2.7 degrees uncertainty, which is better than what we can do with rocks in the Earth, Mansbach says. Were working with engineers now to automate this orienting process so that it can be done with other samples in the future.

The next phase will be the most exciting, Weiss says. The rover will drive outside the crater to get the oldest known rocks on Mars, and its an incredible opportunity to be able to orient these rocks, and hopefully uncover a lot of these ancient processes.

This research was supported, in part, by NASA and the Mars 2020 Participating Scientist program.

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The secret history of water on Mars: What ancient climate change tells us about the future on Earth – Salon

Posted: at 3:58 pm

If you suddenly found yourself standing on the surface of Mars, it would feel like youd been transported into a dusty space western. The arid soil lays a rocky palette of red powder across the horizon, where youd see sprawling canyons and old volcanoes with edges whipped sharp by unforgiving wind storms. But, 4.5 billion years ago, this barren wasteland was home to a rich system of groundwater, vast oceans and galloping rivers. And in the the past month, a growing tide of scientific research has begun uncovering a hidden history of Mars once-rushing waters.

Evidence of an ancient planet-wide groundwater system, previously only theorized, was discovered in 2019. But only recently, in early February, a NASA spacecraft brought back exciting images of Mars surface which contained evidence the planet teemed with flowing water across an ancient spread of now-dry lake beds, channels, valleys and gullies. The same week, the European Space Agencys Mars Express discovered ice buried under the equator, hinting at massive groundwater aquifers.

Unlocking the secret of how those aquifers recharge (or refill) is the next step in exploring a possible human future on Mars. Last November, a team of Chinese scientists found a way to create oxygen out of the water found on Mars. Now, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have combined a number of methods from new computer models to simple back-of-the-envelope calculations to uncover something curious about how that ice came to be in the first place. Despite a climate full of surging rainstorms, the scientists said, early Martian soil simply didnt absorb much of it. The groundwater systems refilled themselves, but we have no idea how.

Understanding groundwater flow can help inform where to find water today, said lead study author Eric Hiatt, in a university release. Whether youre looking for signs of ancient life, trying to sustain human explorers, or making rocket fuel to get back home to Earth, its essential to know where the water would most likely be.

"Understanding groundwater flow can help inform where to find water today."

The new findings, published in the journal Icarus, raise even more questions about how water systems work on Mars compared to those which exist on Earth today. And, because these groundwater systems likely fed Mars ancient network of lakes, finding out how long it took those lakes to fill up and overflow onto the surface could help us figure out whether, and where, life on Mars may have existed in the past.

The fact that the groundwater isnt as big of a process could mean that other things are, Hiatt said. It might magnify the importance of runoff, or it could mean that it just didnt rain as much on Mars. But its just fundamentally different from how we think about [water] on Earth.

Much of the groundwater mystery centers on one of Mars most notable features, called the great dichotomy. The term describes the stark difference in land height between two of the planets regions the northern lowlands and the southern highlands. This contrast in elevation is where we can see how groundwater aquifers surged up to the surface, creating markers and leaving a trail of evidence for scientists to follow today.

Researchers said most of the liquid water that existed on Mars billions of years ago resided in a vast ocean in the northern lowlands. But when Hiatts team used their new combination of computer modeling techniques to analyze the great dichotomy, they were able to estimate how much groundwater recharge occurred in the Martian southern highlands.

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The mystery deepened when researchers found the groundwater aquifers in the southern highlands on Mars only recharged about 0.03 millimeters (0.001 inches) per year. The Trinity and Edwards-Trinity Plateau aquifers which provide water for the city of San Antonio range between 2.5 to 50 millimeters (0.1 inches to 2 inches) per year. Thats 80 to 1600 times more annual recharge than Martian groundwater.

While other studies have simulated groundwater flow on Mars using similar techniques, this research by [Hiatt] published in [Icarus] is the first to incorporate the influence of the oceans that existed on Mars more than three billion years ago, in the Hellas, Argyre, and Borealis basins, the university said in a tweet.

Even as the sharp differences between Mars and Earths water systems emerge in the teams latest findings, research like this could also help us understand how to survive water and climate changes on our own planet. The technology were using to find water on Mars now, for instance, can also double in value for our own planets inhabitants. Using it to find leaks in public water systems has already proven to be a more effective and inexpensive than traditional methods.

"When we think about what Mars looked like 3.5 billion years ago, we probably should be thinking about an environment that in some ways looks a lot like Earth," said University of Texas Associate Professor Tim Goudge in a 2021 interview.

Mars atmosphere was thick and wet, with four times more pressure than Earths today and resulting raindrops that were so tiny they looked more like a dense fog and couldnt even penetrate the soil. As that pressure waned, though, rainfall came down hard on the Red Planets surface, carving grooves and valleys. Just as floods on Earth carved out the Grand Canyon, catastrophic floods accounted for a quarter of Mars surface erosion, according to UTA researchers.

Then things changed. Mars lost its magnetic field, and with it the vast oceans which contained more water than contained in the Earths Artic Ocean today. A new theory from the University of Chicago emerged on Feb. 14 after a duo of scientists examined sediment and erosion evidence on Mars and noticed a pattern in the planets history.

Like Earth, which has over the past billion years experienced periods of global glaciations and hyperthermals, the climate history of early Mars may have been intermittent, the study authors write in Nature Geosciences.

We suggest that Mars did not undergo a single wet-to-dry transition, but rather experienced seven major climate transitions, with the planet intermittently under climates warm enough to support surface liquid water even after 3.0billion years ago (Ga). However, there is evidence for long dry spells, with some locations fully dry after 3.6Ga.

The study also looks into the reasons driving these climate shifts testing hypotheses about volcanic eruptions and changes in the planets axial tilt. This new wave of Martian water research is quickly expanding our base of knowledge about alien climates, and understanding how a procession of climate changes could dramatically shape Mars could give us key insight into the challenges Earth may face as it encounters its own climate upheaval.

Critically, though, the more we can figure out about the mystery of Martian water, the sooner we can figure out how human life on a new planet could work and how, if ever, it worked in the past.

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Bridging the cultural divide for moon to Mars – SpaceNews

Posted: at 3:58 pm

Bridging cultures to serve a greater goal is extremely hard. NASA has three dominant cultures, human spaceflight (HSF), engineering and science, which must be integrated to achieve the grand objective of returning humans to the moon and going on to Mars. In the moon to Mars (M2M) Architecture document, NASA clearly explains the purpose of these extraordinary efforts: to conduct world-class science, to establish a national posture that will affect humanitys future and to inspire current and future generations.

In my 50 year career, Ive seen the space world from many different vantage points: National Lab, startup venture, consultant, center director of NASA Ames, peer-reviewed journal editor and adjunct professor at Stanford. These experiences have exposed me to the strengths and weaknesses of all three cultures and given me some insights on how they must be blended to explore other worlds.

As the founder of NASAs Astrobiology Institute, I learned firsthand that getting disparate scientists, including geologists, astronomers and biologists to work together can be challenging. The very first requirement was developing a common language to bridge the chasms among minerals, parsecs and DNA, for example. Alongside a greater understanding of the other disciplines came an absolute need to be in the same room at the same time. Exchanging documents and papers is fine, but only after the various science groups, led by a highly respected scientist who values interdisciplinary work, have first reached a consensus. Science is a grassroots endeavor where all must be heard, a consensus reached after extended debate and then an ongoing reexamination as new data emerges. Such is true as well for developing M2M science objectives.

In 1999, two NASA Mars missions disappeared. As a result of these failures, I was asked to go to NASA HQs and fix the mess. Upon my arrival, I found that at least five different individuals claimed leadership of the existing Mars program. My first duty was to clarify that I would be in charge as the first-ever Mars Program Director. Todays program suffers a similar problem: Those of us observing Artemis and M2M cannot identify the overall leader. This must be remedied. Next, the distrust between organizations and cultures needed to be bridged. Leading scientists to work with engineers (and vice versa) to develop a flight project is a unique challenge requiring special management skills. The fundamental need is for each group to understand and respect the capabilities and contributions of the other. Scientists discover things, using the time-tested method of hypothesis generation, experimentation and data analysis; engineers build things using established procedures of physics, design, analysis and test. Getting scientists to create implementable requirements that will lead to new discoveries and engineers to develop a robust design that is cost effective is best achieved through an iterative approach that utilizes the best program leadership available. Im happy to say that the restructuring my team and I accomplished resulted in a 20-year architecture of successful Mars missions.

In 2003, I was asked to serve as the only NASA member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. For seven months, the board labored deep inside the Shuttle program to determine not only the technical reasons for the loss of crew and vehicle, but what organizational and cultural issues led to the tragedy. I learned that the HSF mindset tends to be top-down and hierarchical, accompanied by a strong personal dedication to the mission. This culture also brings along with it more than a bit of stubbornness. It was only after my live TV demonstration of the technical cause of the accident that all what ifs vanished and a consensus Return to Flight approach could be adopted.

In the end, while the scientific community can resemble a debating society, HSF seems more like the military with its chain of command. That said, the critical difference from scientific work is that in HSF, lives are at stake. Compared to robotic science missions, human crewed missions to the moon or Mars must include Human Health and Performance requirements, presenting an undeniable fundamental distinction between the two mindsets. The engineering culture supports both enterprises, although in somewhat different ways.

Serving on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board also taught me that once established, a culture changes only slowly, under- constant pressure and leadership from the top. Because science is formally stated as one of the three pillars for NASAs exploration architecture, achieving a unified, so-called One NASA approach for M2M will need a blending of science, engineering and unique HSF attributes. And that will take some time years, probably. Merely changing the name plaque on the door or a box on an organizational chart is not nearly sufficient.

What can be done to facilitate and accelerate bridging the cultural divide? I think there must be a real dedication to a One NASA M2M program, starting by asking the top leadership (Administrator, Deputy Administrator and Associate Administrator) to embrace the principles of cross-organizational culture change, and then ensuring the next layer of NASA leadership is skilled in and committed to interdisciplinary and cross-organizational efforts. In that spirit, I recommend that NASA HQs immediately appoint a program scientist with authority and stature equal to the existing program management staff for Artemis and M2M.

Next, there needs to be a series of corresponding project scientists at lower levels who work shoulder to shoulder with the current Artemis and M2M project staff and engineers. Those scientists must be skilled in planetary science, astrobiology and Human Health and Performance disciplines, and must be able to communicate with the external communities.

Finally, I suggest an independent Standing Review Board populated by individuals outside of NASA that include senior scientists (with acknowledged achievements in the sciences described above), engineers, technologists, managers and leaders who can meet regularly to review the progress of Artemis and M2M. This group cannot be reactive but must be proactive in its pursuit of the One NASA goal of humanity exploring other worlds to meet the three pillars of science, national posture, and inspiration.

Returning humans to the moon and going on to Mars is a generational goal that may require new organizational structures, technologies and scientific creativity, but this is a challenge worthy of a great nation and America is up to the task!

G. Scott Hubbard has held key roles at NASA, including director of Ames Research Center, first Mars Program director, founder of NASAs Astrobiology Institute, and the agencys sole member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Hubbard, now retired, serves on committees for the National Academy, NASA, and others, holding eight NASA medals, including the Distinguished Service Medal.

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Mars was once a cradle for life, according to scientists – Earth.com

Posted: at 3:58 pm

In an exciting development, scientists have made significant strides in the ongoing quest to understand the potential for life on Mars. Recent research conducted by a team from Tohoku University suggests that organic materials discovered on the Martian surface may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde.

This discovery is a monumental step forward in unraveling the mysteries surrounding the possibility of life on Mars in its distant past.

The research, which has been published in the journal Scientific Reports, delves into the early atmospheric conditions of Mars, examining the potential for these conditions to support the formation of biomolecules.

Biomolecules are organic compounds that are crucial for biological processes and are considered the building blocks of life. The findings provide fascinating insights, hinting at the possibility that Mars may have once been a cradle for life.

Mars, as we see it today, is a far cry from an environment that could support life. It is characterized by extreme cold and aridity. However, geological evidence points to a more inviting past.

Approximately 3.8 to 3.6 billion years ago, Mars likely boasted a temperate climate, thanks to the warming effects of gases such as hydrogen. This warmer climate could have supported liquid water, an essential ingredient for life as we understand it.

The research was focused on the potential formation of formaldehyde in the early Martian atmosphere. Formaldehyde is a simple organic compound that is pivotal in the synthesis of more complex biomolecules, such as amino acids and sugars. These molecules are foundational for the creation of proteins and RNA, which are essential for life.

To explore this possibility, the research team employed an advanced computer model to simulate the atmospheric composition of early Mars. They theorized that the atmosphere was rich in carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide.

The simulations suggested that this ancient atmosphere could have continuously supplied formaldehyde, potentially leading to the creation of various organic compounds. This presents the tantalizing possibility that the organic materials found on Mars today may have atmospheric origins, particularly during the planets earliest geological periods.

Shungo Koyama, the lead author of the study, highlighted the significance of their findings, stating: Our research provides crucial insights into the chemical processes that may have occurred on ancient Mars, offering valuable clues to the possibility of past life on the planet.

The research not only sheds light on the chemical dynamics of ancient Mars but also expands our understanding of the planets ancient potential to support life.

Looking ahead, the team plans to further their research by analyzing geological data collected by NASAs Martian rovers. The goal is to deepen our understanding of the organic materials present in Mars early history.

By comparing the expected carbon isotopes of ancient formaldehyde with data from Martian samples, they aim to gain insights into the processes that influenced the planets organic chemistry.

The study marks a significant milestone in our quest to understand the history of Mars and its capacity to support life. It opens up new avenues for exploration and research, bringing us one step closer to solving the enigma of life beyond Earth.

As discussed above, Mars, often referred to as the Red Planet, captivates our imagination and scientific curiosity. This celestial body, the fourth planet from the Sun, stands out in our solar system with its distinct reddish appearance, a result of iron oxide or rust on its surface. Mars offers a fascinating glimpse into another world, with its unique geography, climate, and potential for past water.

Mars features a diverse landscape, including the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, and the deepest, longest canyon, Valles Marineris.

These monumental geological features dwarf their Earthly counterparts, showcasing the planets dynamic history. Mars polar ice caps, composed of water and carbon dioxide ice, wax and wane with the seasons, hinting at complex climatic patterns.

The climate of Mars, though colder and more arid than Earths, varies significantly across its surface and throughout the Martian year. Temperatures can swing from a maximum of 20C (68F) near the equator during summer to a minimum of -125C (-193F) at the poles during winter.

The Martian atmosphere, thin and composed mostly of carbon dioxide, plays a crucial role in these temperature variations and the planets weather patterns, including dust storms that can engulf the entire planet.

Evidence suggests that Mars once harbored liquid water on its surface, raising the possibility of life. Scientists have discovered signs of ancient riverbeds, lakes, and what appear to be shorelines.

These findings fuel ongoing research and missions, such as the study from Tohoku University discussed above, aiming to uncover whether life once existed on Mars or, perhaps, still lies dormant beneath its surface.

Mars has been the target of numerous missions, from flybys and orbiters to rovers that traverse its terrain. These missions, undertaken by various space agencies around the world, seek to unravel the mysteries of Mars, studying its atmosphere, surface, and potential for supporting human life in the future.

The prospect of human missions to Mars and the establishment of permanent bases looms on the horizon, marking the next steps in our exploration of the Red Planet.

In summary, Mars remains a key focus of scientific inquiry and exploration, holding answers to questions about the potential for life beyond Earth, the history of our solar system, and the possibilities for future human colonization.

As technology advances and our understanding deepens, Mars beckons us to continue our journey of discovery, pushing the boundaries of what we know about the universe and our place within it.

The full study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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Curiosity Rover is Climbing Through Dramatic Striped Terrain on Mars – Universe Today

Posted: at 3:58 pm

Just about every day we here on Earth get a breathtaking picture of Marss terrain sent back by a rover. But, the view from space can be pretty amazing, too. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) just sent back a thought-provoking picture of Curiosity as it makes its way up a steep ridge on Mount Sharp.

The rover is a tiny black dot in the center of the image, which gives a good feeling for what MROs HiRISE camera accomplished. For scale, the rover is about the size of a dinner table, sitting in a region of alternating dark and light bands of material on the Red Planet.

The Curiosity rover is exploring an ancient ridge on the side of Mount Sharp, which is the peak of a crater on Mars. Its sitting on the side of a feature called Gediz Vallis Ridge, and the terrains and materials preserve a record of what things were like when water last flowed there. That happened about three billion years ago. The force of the flow brought significant amounts of rocks and debris through the region. They piled up to form the ridge. So, much of what you see here is the desiccated remains of that flooding.

Debris flows are pretty common here on Earth, particularly in the aftermath of floods, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and other actions. We can see them wherever material floods through a region or down a slope. In a flood-based flow, the speed of the water combines with gravity and the degree of slope to send material rushing across the surface. A debris flow can also be a dry landslide, and those can occur pretty much anywhere on Earth where the conditions are right. Another type of debris flow comes from volcanic activity. That occurs when material erupts from a volcano, or when earthquakes combined with an eruption collapse material into the side of the mountain. That results in whats called a lahar. Folks in North America might recall the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980; it resulted in several lahars that buried parts of the surrounding terrain.

Now that scientists see similar-seeming regions on Mars, they want to know several things. How did they form? Were they created by the same processes that make them on Earth? And, how long ago did they begin to form? Curiosity and Perseverance and other rovers and landers have been sent to Mars to help answer those questions.

Did any of these actions happen on Mars? The evidence is pretty strong, which is why Gediz Vallis itself is a major exploration goal for the rover. Its a canyon that stretches across 9 kilometers of the Martian surface and is carved about 140 meters deep. Gediz was likely carved by so-called fluvial activity (meaning flowing action) in the beginning. Later floods deposited a variety of fine-grained sands and rocks. Over time, winds have blown a lot of that material away, leaving behind protected pockets of materials left behind by the flooding. The size of the rocks tells something about the speed of the flows that deposited all the material. Geological studies of those rocks will reveal their mineral compositions, including their exposure to water over time.

The Gediz Vallis ridge resulted from the action of water pushing rocks and dirt around to build it up over time. Planetary scientists now need to figure out the sequence of events that created it. The clues lie in the scattered rocks in the region and the surrounding terrain. Mount Sharp itself (formally known as Aeolis Mons), is about 5 kilometers high and is, essentially, a stack of layered sedimentary rocks. As Curiosity makes its way up the mountain, it explores younger and younger materials.

To put all this on a larger scale, Mount Sharp is the central peak of Gale Crater. It formed some 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago from an impact. As time went by, water flooded the crater several times. It flowed out and eventually disappeared as Marss climate changed it to the dusty desert we see today.

Winds also played a role in filling the crater with dust and sand deposits. This so-called aeolian activity also helped carve out Mount Sharp. This history of wind- and water-based deposition and erosion made Gale Crater a very attractive place to explore. Thats why Curiosity was sent there and continues its journey up Mount Sharp.

HiRISE Spots Curiosity Driving Toward Upper Gediz Vallis Curiosity Views Gediz Vallis Ridge The Gediz Vallis Inverted Channel: Evidence for Late-state Flow in Gale Crater, Mars?

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Curiosity Rover is Climbing Through Dramatic Striped Terrain on Mars - Universe Today

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Sols 4114-4115: Bingo! It’s Official Curiosity’s 40th Successful Drill Hole on Mars! NASA Mars Exploration – NASA Mars Exploration

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This image of the "Mineral King" drill hole was taken by Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4108. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL. Download image

Earth planning date: Friday, March 1, 2024

The "Mineral King" drill hole did not quite reach the target depth that we typically desire to ensure that we have enough sample in the drill stem to deliver to our internal CheMin and SAM instruments. However, based on the information we did have (see details in the Sol 4110 blog), we proceeded with delivery to CheMin, and got the good news yesterday that CheMin received enough sample to complete an X-ray diffraction analysis. We officially have our 40th successful drill hole! Based on the preliminary CheMin results, the SAM team are planning a power-hungry, Evolveded Gas Analysis (EGA) of the "Mineral King" sample. This will provide further information on the composiotion and mineralogy.

Despite the power restrictions, the geology and atmospheric science teams made good use of the remaining time and power available to plan a slew of observations in this 2-sol weekend plan. To complement the previous APXS and ChemCam analyses of the "Mineral King" target prior to drilling, and the CheMin and SAM analyses, ChemCam will fire its laser at the wall of the drill hole to look for chemical variations with depth. The resulting laser pits will be captured with a Mastcam image, which will also help us plan MAHLI and APXS deployments on the powdered sample surrounding the drill hole next week. ChemCam will also analyze the "Nameless Pyramid" target on the same block, another example of the dark rock that we drilled into. We are also acquiring additional Mastcam imaging to extend coverage around the "Mineral King" drill block.

We are not focusing all our activities in the vicinity of our drill hole though. ChemCam will also utilize its remote imaging capabilities to look at the layering in the "Texoli" butte and the chaotic structure within the nearby Gediz Vallis deposit. We have been imaging the Texoli butte from different vantage points along our traverse to better understand the nature of the layering and sedimentary structures that can help us interpret the geological history of this section of Mount Sharp. The Gediz Vallis deposit has also been of interest for some time now, and our current position, very close to a section of the ridge material, provides the perfect opportunity to try and understand the processes that formed this late-stage deposit.

A photometry experiment on the second sol will use Mastcam and Navcam images to view areas near the workspace. This is one of a number of such observations that are repeated at different times of day, with variable lighting conditions, while the rover is stationary here at the "Mineral King" drill site. The experiment helps us to gain a better understanding of the surface textures at small scales and their influence on the reflected sunlight.

Observations to monitor changes in atmospheric opacity and dust are also included. We are acquiring several Navcam observations (sky flats and line of sight observations, as well as dust devil, suprahorizon and zenith movies) and a Mastcam tau. The plan is not complete without the standard REMS, DAN and RAD activities.

We are looking forward to coming back next week, hopefully with the news that we had a successful SAM EGA analysis. Assuming success, we will empty the drill stem of any remaining sample, which then allows us to use the arm for contact science (MAHLI and APXS). I will be the APXS strategic planner next week, and I am eager to help plan the APXS observations of the powdered sample around the drill hole. These results will be used to further refine the CheMin and SAM determined mineralogy of "Mineral King."

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Sols 4114-4115: Bingo! It's Official Curiosity's 40th Successful Drill Hole on Mars! NASA Mars Exploration - NASA Mars Exploration

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Will NASA be able to return Mars samples to Earth? New audit raises doubts – Space.com

Posted: at 3:58 pm

NASA's bold plan to get pristine samples of Mars to Earth for analysis is facing major challenges, according to a new report.

Design, cost and scheduling are all significant obstacles, an audit report of NASA's Mars Sample Return (MSR) Program by the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) finds.

MSR aims to return Martian geological samples to Earth for scientific study. It involves landing on Mars to collect samples taken by the Perseverance rover and launching those samples to rendezvous with an orbiter, which will haul them to Earth.

Related:NASA's Mars Sample Return in jeopardy after US Senate questions budget

Perseverance is already on Mars, snagging and storing samples. But the program still needs to build a Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) and an Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), the latter being developed and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). MSR is one of the most technically complex, operationally demanding and ambitious robotic science missions ever undertaken by NASA, according to the OIG report.

The report notes design, architecture and schedule issues with the Capture Containment and Return System (CCRS). These design issues resulted in adding about $200 million to the budget and one year of lost schedule.

One major area of concern is life-cycle cost estimates for MSR. There is concern that, due to the number and significance of cost increase indicators so far, the $7.4 billion estimate is "premature and may be insufficient," the report finds. Now, the complexity of the MSR mission could drive costs to between $8 billion to $11 billion, the OIG report notes, citing a September 2023 Independent Review Board (IRB) report. Notably, a July 2020 estimate listed costs of $2.5 to $3 billion.

These new figures indicate significant financial challenges and uncertainties in the MSR Program's life-cycle costs. Issues include inflation, supply chain problems and increases in funding requests for specific program components.

The report also highlights the need for enhanced coordination between NASA and ESA. The OIG report offers recommendations to address these challenges. These include ensuring a stable CCRS design, incorporating program complexity into cost and schedule estimates (rather than focusing only on external factors), and reassessing large mission pre-formulation guidance.

In a bigger-picture recommendation, the OIG report calls for NASA to "develop a corrective action plan that incorporates the lessons learned and recommendations from the Large Mission Study [completed in 2020] to improve the guidance and practices for pre-formulation of large missions."

NASA management concurred or partially concurred in its responses to the report.

The MSR program has recently come under political pressure for its ever-expanding cost estimates, adding to doubt over the continuation of the program. NASA is currently reassessing the overall MSR architecture and its budget. The results could be released later this month.

NASA is also operating under a continuing resolution that freezes spending at 2023 budgetary limits until the spending for the new fiscal year is agreed upon by Congress. This has seen NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the main player in MSR, to lay off workers, further impacting the program.

MSR is, however, considered a mission of major scientific significance by many planetary scientists. China, meanwhile, is working on its own mission, Tianwen-3, to collect samples from Mars, launching around the end of the decade.

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Will NASA be able to return Mars samples to Earth? New audit raises doubts - Space.com

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