Mars Archives

December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by Evan Gough

IKEA’s New Collection is Inspired by the Challenges of Living on Mars

An artist's illustration of a Mars settlement. Image: Bryan Versteeg/MarsOne — An artist's illustration of an early Mars settlement. Credit: Bryan Versteeg/MarsOne

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is a simulated Martian habitat in Utah. It’s owned by the Mars Society, and it’s the society’s second such station. The MDRS is a research facility, and while there, scientists must live as if they were on Mars, including wearing simulated space suits.

One group of visitors wasn’t there for science, but for interior design. Two years ago, a trio of Ikea designers spent three days at the MDRS to develop Ikea products for small spaces. As it turns out, they ended up using their experience at the MDRS to help outfit the MDRS itself.

December 3, 2019December 3, 2019 by Evan Gough

Landslides Work Differently on Mars, and Now We Might Know Why

Erosion on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/UA/HiRise

Some landslides, both here on Earth and on Mars, behave in a puzzling way: They flow a lot further than friction should allow them too.

They can also be massive, including a well-preserved one in Valles Marineris that is the same size as the state of Rhode Island. Scientists have speculated that it might be so large because a layer of ice that existed in the past provided lubrication. But a new study suggests that no ice is needed to explain it.

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by Evan Gough

When Martian Storms Really Get Going, they Create Towers of Dust 80 Kilometers High

The yellow-white cloud in the bottom-center of this image is a Mars "dust tower" - a concentrated cloud of dust that can be lofted dozens of miles above the surface. The blue-white plumes are water vapor clouds. This image was taken on Nov. 30, 2010, by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

When a huge dust storm on Mars—like the one in 2018—reaches its full power, it can turn into a globe-bestriding colossus. This happens regularly on Mars, and these storms usually start out as a series of smaller, runaway storms. NASA scientists say that these storms can spawn massive towers of Martian dust that reach 80 km high.

And that phenomenon might help explain how Mars lost its water.

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by Evan Gough

NASA Supercomputer Simulates the Weather on Mars

A screenshot of a NASA simulation of Martian water-ice clouds. Image Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/D. Ellsworth

The Martian atmosphere is a lot different than Earth’s. It’s over 95% carbon dioxide, and contains only trace amounts of oxygen and water vapor. But that trace amount of water vapor still plays a pronounced role in the climate.

November 23, 2019November 23, 2019 by Matt Williams

Using Bacteria to Build a Base on Mars

When it comes to plans for future missions to space, one of the most important aspects will be the use of local resources and autonomous robots. This process is known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), which reduces the amount of equipment and resources that need to be sent ahead or brought along by a mission crew. Meanwhile, autonomous robots can be sent ahead of a crew and have everything prepared for them in advance.

But what about bacteria that can draw iron from extraterrestrial soil, which would then be used to 3D print metal components for a base? That is the idea that is being proposed by PhD candidate Benjamin Lehner of the Delft University of Technology. On Friday (Nov. 22nd), he defended his thesis, which calls for the deployment of an uncrewed mission to Mars that will convert regolith into useable metal using a bacteria-filled bioreactor.

November 20, 2019November 20, 2019 by Evan Gough

Scientists Search for Ancient Fossils in Australia, Practicing the Techniques They’ll Use on Mars

This artist's rendition depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover studying its surroundings. Credit: NASA

NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover is heading to Mars soon to look for fossils. The ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars rover is heading to Mars in the same time-frame to carry out its own investigations into Martian habitability. To meet their mission objectives, the scientists working the missions will need to look at a lot of rocks and uncover and understand the clues those rocks hold.

To help those scientists prepare for the daunting task of analyzing and understanding Martian rocks from 160 million km (100 million miles) away, they’ve gone on a field trip to Australia to study stromatolites.

November 14, 2019November 14, 2019 by Evan Gough

Molecular Oxygen on Mars is Behaving Unusually Through the Seasons. A Sign of Life?

An atmospheric drama has been playing out on Mars lately. Up until now, the main actor has been methane, and its unusual, spiking behaviour. But now Oxygen is taking the stage, and performing some theatrics of its own.

November 13, 2019November 13, 2019 by Evan Gough

Mars 2020 Rover is Going to a Place on Mars That’s Perfect for Preserving Fossils

Jezero Crater on Mars. Lighter colors represent higher elevations. The Mars 2020 rover will investigate the "bathtub ring" of carbonates around the edge of the crater for microscopic fossils. The dark oval is the landing ellipse. Image NASA/MRO

Back in November 2018, NASA announced that the Mars 2020 rover would land in the Jezero Crater. Jezero Crater is a geologically diverse area, with an alluvial fan of sediment deposited by an incoming river. That sediment may contain preserved ancient organic molecules, and the deposit is clearly visible in satellite images of the Crater.

But the crater holds something else that has scientists intrigued, something that doesn’t show up so clearly in visible light images: a “bathtub ring” of carbonates, which scientists think could hold fossils.

October 28, 2019October 28, 2019 by Evan Gough

InSight’s Heat Probe Has Bounced Back Out Of Its Hole

InSight's Heat Probe (HP3) has popped out of its hole. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is sad news. After finding what seemed like a solution to the Mole’s difficulties on Mars, engineers are stymied again. The Mole, or Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) has bounced half-way out of its hole.

It’s like Groundhog Day on Mars. If the Mole bounces out of its hole, it means six more weeks of engineers scratching their heads to come up with a solution.

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019 by Evan Gough

Success! NASA Confirms the Mole is Working Again.

The scoop on InSight's instrument arm exerting pressure on the Mole. This may supply the necessary friction to get the Mole going again. Image Credit: NASA/DLR

After months of setbacks, NASA says that the InSight Lander’s Mole is working again.

InSight landed on Mars on Nov. 26 2018 in Elysium Planitia. Its mission is to study the interior of the planet, to learn about how Mars and other rocky planets formed. InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport) is a NASA mission with other partners, including the DLR (German Aerospace Center.)