astrogeology

The mystery of the black Martian glass — solved at last?

Last year, a Martian meteorite slammed into the Moroccan desert. Now, an analysis of the meteorite has been published in Science Express, and these black pieces of stone and glass give us an incredible look at the ancient history of the planet. https://gizmodo.com/chunks-of-mars-have-crashed-down-in-africa-5876927 The researchers believe the Tissint Martian Meteorite was ejected from Mars some…

io9 Tim Barribeau

Hot Mars Theory suggests life never had a chance on the Red Planet

As NASA’s Curiosity rover scours the Martian surface in search of signs that Mars was once capable of fostering complex life, a team of researchers from the University of Poitiers, France, and Caltech have issued a paper that casts serious doubt on the notion that the planet was once habitable. The new theory, which was…

io9 George Dvorsky

NASA to send another robot to Mars in 2016

Hot on the heels of Curiosity’s flawless landing, NASA has just announced a brand new mission to Mars, one that will provide us with our best look yet into the Red Planet’s mysterious interior. The mission is named InSight, and it’s set to launch in 2016. InSight will mark the 12th project to be selected…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Curiosity has acquired its first scientific targets!

It’s been just shy of two weeks since Curiosity’s wheels touched down on the surface of Mars, and things are looking excellent. Since landing, the rover has been busy stretching out, extending its mast cam to its full height, snapping photos of its surroundings and running its impressive suite of scientific instruments through its paces.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Gorgeous new photos show Curiosity, as viewed from Mars orbit, six days after touchdown

These are the first color images of NASA’s Curiosity rover and its immediate surroundings on the Red Planet, released just hours ago. The photographs were recently acquired by HiRISE, the most powerful camera we’ve ever sent to another planet, and holy crap are they stunning. Jaw-dropping, color-enhanced views await you below the fold. Trust us…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

And now, Curiosity’s Myspace-inspired self portrait

If the Curiosity rover had a Myspace page, this would be its main photo. Black and white, taken from a slightly elevated angle… and while I’m not 100% certain on this, it looks as though Curiosity may be flashing the one-ton-rover equivalent of a duck face. Jokes aside, this stunning self-portrait of Curiosity was assembled…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The biggest avalanches in the solar system happen on Saturn’s moon Iapetus

Iapetus, already one of the strangest moons in our solar system, just got a little weirder. Images from the Cassini space mission reveal that the mysterious moon is home to massive ice avalanches second in size only to landslides seen on Mars. Studying them, say researchers, could help us better understand geological disasters here on…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This summer, NASA’s Curiosity rover will attempt the most ambitious Martian landing in history

NASA has upped the ante on the August landing of Curiosity, the largest, most scientifically capable planetary rover ever built. By shrinking the size of its target landing zone, the Agency hopes to place Curiosity closer to its experimental target, while saving it months of travel time. “We’re trimming the distance we’ll have to drive…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This gorgeous patch of Mars would be a great place to send future rovers

One of the best ways to learn about a planet’s history is to examine its geology, so one of the things scientists look for when sending rovers to Mars is areas on the planet’s surface that allow access to multiple layers of diverse and interesting rock types. The image featured up top was released yesterday…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Is the Mars Ocean Hypothesis all wet?

Evidence of Mars’ watery past continues to pile up, but details surrounding the extent and duration of the planet’s hydrous history remain muddled — just how wet was Mars, really? https://gizmodo.com/nasa-claims-to-have-found-bullet-proof-evidence-of-ma-5866195 https://gizmodo.com/evidence-is-piling-up-for-water-flowing-on-the-surface-5896293 Previous theories have held that the planet’s mysterious northern lowlands, pictured above in blue, once hosted oceans, but the latest climate models reveal…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The world’s oldest known rocks are much, much younger than we thought

A pair of recently published studies have cast a shadow of doubt on two of science’s most reliable timekeepers, calling the age of some of Earth’s oldest rocks into question. If these latest findings are to be believed, Earth just got significantly younger. (Okay, fine, not that much younger; this isn’t exactly a Jesus-may-have-ridden-dinosaurs scenario.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Behold, the first-ever geologic map of volcanic moon Io

Feast your eyes on the volcano-covered surface of Io, the innermost of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons. We’ve been snapping photo’s of Io’s stunning surface features for decades, but only recently did the US Geological Survey team up with NASA to create a detailed “global” picture of the moon; what you see here is the product…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

What are these mysterious black splotches on the surface of Mars?

Mars may look red from here on Earth, but up close, the surface of the “Red Planet” is actually a variety of colors. In fact, many of them aren’t very red-looking at all. Case in point: the dunes in Mars’ northernmost latitudes, like the ones pictured here. But wait a minute, you may be thinking.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

NASA is too poor to help Europe go to Mars

This is devastating news. The BBC is reporting that ExoMars — a joint program between NASA and the European Space Agency with Martian missions scheduled for 2016 and 2018 — is on the ropes, owing to America’s budgetary woes. Is this the first scientific casualty of the 2013 budget cuts? For those of you unfamiliar…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

High resolution images of Mars reveal a stunning, wind-battered landscape

Who would ever imagine that sand dunes could look so incredible? In this beautiful image, sand trapped in an impact crater in the Red Planet’s Moachis Terra region have been sculpted by the winds of Mars into a vast and variegated landscape. But photos like this have far more to offer than their beauty —…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Chunks of Mars have crashed down in Africa

You’re looking at a once-in-a-lifetime scientific discovery. A team of experts announced today that these fragments of space rock, discovered last month near Foumzgit, Morocco, are in fact meteorites from Mars. Martian meteorites are incredibly rare; taken together, all the Mars rocks on Earth add up to less than 240 pounds. But rarer still are…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Why the mysterious Gale Crater is an “ideal landing site” for the new Mars rover

In August of 2012, NASA’s biggest, baddest, and most scientifically capable rover ever, Curiosity, will touch down on the surface of Mars. But we wont be setting Curiosity down just anywhere; from a list of around 30 prospective locations, scientists have settled on Gale crater as the ideal landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Makemake Is Now Officially a Dwarf Planet

Not only does the “Kuiper Belt object” Makemake have a terrific name, but it is also one of the first chunks of rock to earn the International Astronomical Union’s new designation of planetoid or “plutoid” along with controversial “planet or not” Pluto. Most plutoids exist beyond the orbit of Neptune, and according to Charles Stross…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The mystery of the black Martian glass — solved at last?

Hot Mars Theory suggests life never had a chance on the Red Planet

NASA to send another robot to Mars in 2016

Curiosity has acquired its first scientific targets!

Gorgeous new photos show Curiosity, as viewed from Mars orbit, six days after touchdown

And now, Curiosity’s Myspace-inspired self portrait

The biggest avalanches in the solar system happen on Saturn’s moon Iapetus

This summer, NASA’s Curiosity rover will attempt the most ambitious Martian landing in history

This gorgeous patch of Mars would be a great place to send future rovers

Is the Mars Ocean Hypothesis all wet?

The world’s oldest known rocks are much, much younger than we thought

Behold, the first-ever geologic map of volcanic moon Io

What are these mysterious black splotches on the surface of Mars?

NASA is too poor to help Europe go to Mars

High resolution images of Mars reveal a stunning, wind-battered landscape

Chunks of Mars have crashed down in Africa

Why the mysterious Gale Crater is an “ideal landing site” for the new Mars rover

Makemake Is Now Officially a Dwarf Planet

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