NASA Mars Rover's Next Stop Has Sandstone Variations
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 25, 2014 -
Variations in the stuff that cements grains together in sandstone have shaped the landscape surrounding NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and could be a study topic at the mission's next science waypoint.
On a journey with many months yet to go toward prime destinations on the lower slope of Mount Sharp, Curiosity is approaching a site called "the Kimberley." Scientists on the team picked this l ...
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Searching High and Low for Dark Matter
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 09, 2014 -
There's more to the cosmos than meets the eye. In late February, dark matter hunters from around the world gathered at the University of California, Los Angeles for "Dark Matter 2014."
The annual conference is one of the largest of its kind aimed at discussing the latest progress in the quest to identify dark matter, the unknown stuff that makes up more than a quarter of the universe yet r ...
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Mars on Earth: vacuum chambers mimic the Red Planet
Washington (AFP) March 25, 2014 -
Scientists have built Mars here on Earth - at least within the walls of a simulation chamber that mimics conditions on the Red Planet down to its Martian dust, according to a paper out Tuesday.
The Spanish researchers built a vacuum chamber to reproduce conditions including temperature, pressure, gas composition and radiation on Mars, to help test gear designed for missions to the fourth pl ...
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Journey to Mars Only Possible With International Cooperation
Mexico City (RIA Novosti) Apr 09, 2014 -
Dmitry Znamensky - No single country has the resources to carry out an expedition to Mars, but together mankind does have the technological capability required to realize such an endeavor, according to Russian professor Vyacheslav Turyshev, speaking at Astronautics Week dedicated to the April 12 anniversary of Yury Gagarin's historic first manned spaceflight.
"These tasks cannot be tackled ...
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Mars-mimicking chamber explores habitability of other planets
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 26, 2014 -
A research team in Spain has the enviable job of testing out new electromechanical gear for potential use in future missions to the "Red Planet." They do it within their Mars environmental simulation chamber, which is specially designed to mimic conditions on the fourth planet from the sun - right down to its infamous Martian dust.
Mars is a key target for future space exploration, thanks ...
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India's mission to Mars crosses half-way mark
Bangalore, India (AFP) April 09, 2014 -
India's first mission to Mars successfully crossed the half-way mark on Wednesday, four months after leaving on an voyage to the Red Planet scheduled to take 11 months, the space agency said.
"The spacecraft crossed the half-way mark Wednesday at 9:50am on its journey to Mars," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement from the southern city of Bangalore.
"The spa ...
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Mars One building simulated colony to vet potential colonists
Washington DC (UPI) Mar 26, 2014 -
Mars One is a a private, Netherlands-based push to realize a human colony on the red planet by 2025.
In an email statement to Popular Science Thursday, Mars One announced plans to build a simulated colony here on Earth to vet astronauts and make sure they can withstand the cramped and isolated conditions colonists will have to endure before awarding them their one-way ticket.
The ...
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