For illustrative purposes only. AI-generated. Credit: ZME Science/Midjourney. If humanity wants to turn Mars into more than a daydream, we need a new kind of rocket. Not just a bigger booster or a fancier capsule, but something radically different. At Ohio State University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, engineers are betting on a dangerous-sounding fuel that might slash …
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As NASA prepares to put astronauts on the moon in the next few years, the agency is thinking about “how to live and operate away from the Earth, on other planets” — especially Mars. Those comments were delivered during a virtual Artemis 4 landing site science workshop on Sept. 10 by Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA. Bleacher, a …
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A recent analysis of the Sapphire Canyon mudstone core, drilled by NASA’s Perseverance rover in July 2024, adds new and convincing evidence to the ongoing search for life on Mars. The study describes minerals and textures that – on Earth – are often linked to microbial activity. At the same time, the authors stress that some unknown, nonbiological chemistry could …
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In just over a month, Air Force Maj. Ross Elder will take part in a special NASA mission, during which he and three other crew members will spend more than a year living and working in an environment meant to simulate a future habitat on the surface of Mars. Currently an Air Force test pilot, Elder will lead the mission, …
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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Finding life beyond the Earth would be a major scientific discovery with significant implications for all areas of science and human thought. Yet, only one direct search for extraterrestrial life has ever been conducted. The NASA Viking spacecraft, which landed …
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Sign up for the Starts With a Bang newsletter Travel the universe with Dr. Ethan Siegel as he answers the biggest questions of all. While sampling ancient, dry riverbed rocks on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover found something astonishing. The rock shown here, discovered by NASA’s Perseverance Rover on Mars, contains leopard-like spots on a reddish rock located in Mars’s Jezero …
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Mars may be known as the Red Planet, but under the right cosmic conditions, its skies shimmer emerald with auroras — and for the first time, scientists think they can predict the spectacle. Being able to predict Martian auroras, which result from solar storms that also unleash harmful radiation, could provide future astronauts with crucial warning and time to take …
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Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Scientists have developed a new form of nuclear propulsion that they claim could slash mission times to Mars and enable voyages to the farthest reaches of the solar system. A team from Ohio …
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This week’s science news has been out of this world, with NASA‘s announcement that speckled rocks found on Mars may be the clearest sign yet that life once existed on the Red Planet. The rocks all contain flecks of leopard-like spots that, on Earth at least, are telltale signs of chemical reactions that microbes use for energy. This, alongside the …
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Mars will shine close to the blue star Spica at sunset on Sept. 13, but you’ll need a clear view of the western horizon to catch the colorful duo before they slip swiftly out of view. Look west as the sun sets and you’ll find Mars less than 10 degrees above the summer horizon, with Spica shining to its lower …
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