http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/mars/ Planet Mars News. Read astronomy articles on how Mars could have once supported life, the Mars Rover and more. See images and read full-text articles on Mars exploration. en-us Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:05:02 EST Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:05:02 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/mars/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209111111.htm Engineers have found the root cause of a computer reset that occurred two months ago on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and have determined how to correct it. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:11:11 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209111111.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209100806.htm The camera at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has its own calibration target, a smartphone-size plaque that looks like an eye chart supplemented with color chips and an attached penny. When Curiosity lands on Mars in August, researchers will use this calibration target to test performance of the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI. MAHLI's close-up inspections of Martian rocks and soil will show details so tiny, the calibration target includes reference lines finer than a human hair. This camera is not limited to close-ups, though. It can focus on any target from about a finger's-width away to the horizon. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:08:08 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209100806.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209100422.htm The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded a scene on Jan. 29, 2012, that includes the first color image from orbit showing the three-petal lander of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit mission. Spirit drove off that lander platform in January 2004 and spent most of its six-year working life in a range of hills about two miles to the east. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:04:04 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209100422.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207151800.htm ESA's Mars Express has returned strong evidence for an ocean once covering part of Mars. Using radar, it has detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor within the boundaries of previously identified, ancient shorelines on Mars. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:18:18 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207151800.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120203092006.htm Mars may have been arid for more than 600 million years, making it too hostile for any life to survive on the planet’s surface, according to researchers who have been carrying out the painstaking task of analyzing individual particles of Martian soil. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:20:20 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120203092006.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120127172736.htm The largest solar particle event since 2005 hit Earth, Mars and the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft traveling in-between, allowing the onboard Radiation Assessment Detector to measure the radiation a human astronaut could be exposed to en route to the Red Planet. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:27:27 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120127172736.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125160623.htm Some images of stark Martian landscapes provide visual appeal beyond their science value, including a recent scene of wind-sculpted features from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:06:06 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125160623.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125093619.htm Eight years after landing on Mars for what was planned as a three-month mission, NASA's enduring Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is working on what essentially became a new mission five months ago. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:36:36 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125093619.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120111111111.htm NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft successfully refined its flight path Wednesday with the biggest maneuver planned for the mission's journey between Earth and Mars. Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:11:11 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120111111111.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120109192512.htm NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will spend the next several months at a site informally named "Greeley Haven." The name is a tribute to planetary geologist Ronald Greeley (1939-2011), who was a member of the science team for the Mars rovers and many other interplanetary missions. Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:25:25 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120109192512.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120106130334.htm NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will spend the next few months during the coldest part of Martian winter at Greeley Haven, an outcrop of rock on Mars recently named informally to honor Ronald Greeley, a professor of planetary geology, who died Oct. 27, 2011. Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:03:03 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120106130334.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111216115022.htm Dust avalanches around impact craters on Mars appear to be the result of the shock wave preceding the actual impact, according to a new study. Small impacts might therefore be more important in shaping the Martian surface than previously thought. Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:50:50 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111216115022.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215135929.htm A team of scientists from Oregon has collected microbes from ice within a lava tube in the Cascade Mountains and found that they thrive in cold, Mars-like conditions. They have characteristics that would make the microbes capable of living in the subsurface of Mars and other planetary bodies. Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:59:59 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215135929.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111213190202.htm The Radiation Assessment Detector, the first instrument on NASA's next rover mission to Mars to begin science operations, was powered up and began collecting data Dec. 6, almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule. RAD is the only instrument scheduled to collect science data on the journey to Mars. The instrument is measuring the energetic particles inside the spacecraft to characterize the radiation environment an astronaut would experience on a future human mission to the Red Planet. Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:02:02 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111213190202.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111213164612.htm NASA's car-sized Curiosity rover has begun monitoring space radiation during its 8-month trip from Earth to Mars. The research will aid in planning for future human missions to the Red Planet. Curiosity launched on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Mars Science Laboratory. The rover carries an instrument called the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) that monitors high-energy atomic and subatomic particles from the sun, distant supernovas and other sources. These particles constitute radiation that could be harmful to any microbes or astronauts in space or on Mars. The rover also will monitor radiation on the surface of Mars after its August 2012 landing. Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:46:46 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111213164612.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207182151.htm An improved tool debuts Dec. 7 for viewing channels, dunes, boulders and other features revealed in the huge image files from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:21:21 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207182151.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207182031.htm NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, deposited by water. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet environments on Mars. Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:20:20 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207182031.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201220357.htm Excellent launch precision for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission has forestalled the need for an early trajectory correction maneuver, now not required for a month or more. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:03:03 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201220357.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111126155300.htm NASA began a historic voyage to Mars with the Nov. 26 launch of the Mars Science Laboratory, which carries a car-sized rover named Curiosity. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas V rocket occurred at 10:02 a.m. EST (7:02 a.m. PST). Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:53:53 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111126155300.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121142455.htm NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission has the potential to be the most productive Mars surface mission in history. That's due in part to its nuclear heat and power source. The rover Curiosity's scientific instruments will get their lifeblood from a new radioisotope power system. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:24:24 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121142455.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121135658.htm Images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show sand dunes and ripples moving across the surface of Mars at dozens of locations and shifting up to several yards. These observations reveal the planet's sandy surface is more dynamic than previously thought. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:56:56 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121135658.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111108212639.htm The latest image released from Mars Express reveals a large extinct volcano that has been battered and deformed over the eons. By Earthly standards, Tharsis Tholus is a giant, towering 8 kilometers above the surrounding terrain, with a base stretching over 155 x 125 km. Yet on Mars, it is just an average-sized volcano. What marks it out as unusual is its battered condition. Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:26:26 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111108212639.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111106142036.htm The record-breaking simulated mission to Mars has ended with smiling faces after 17 months. Mars500's six brave volunteers stepped out of their 'spacecraft' Nov. 4, 2011 to be welcomed by the waiting scientists -- happy that the venture had worked even better than expected. Mars500, the first full-length, high-fidelity simulation of a human mission to our neighbouring planet, started 520 days earlier, on 3 June 2010, at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow. Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:20:20 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111106142036.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102145736.htm A new NASA study suggests if life ever existed on Mars, the longest lasting habitats were most likely below the Red Planet's surface. A new interpretation of years of mineral-mapping data, from more than 350 sites on Mars examined by European and NASA orbiters, suggests Martian environments with abundant liquid water on the surface existed only during short episodes. These episodes occurred toward the end of a period of hundreds of millions of years during which warm water interacted with subsurface rocks. This has implications about whether life existed on Mars and how the Martian atmosphere has changed. Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:57:57 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102145736.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020105922.htm The discovery of the mineral jarosite in rocks analyzed by the Mars Rover, Opportunity, on the Martian surface had special meaning for a team of scientists who study the mineral here on Earth. Jarosite can only form in the presence of water. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:59:59 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020105922.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111012132701.htm Researchers have directly determined the surface temperature of early Mars for the first time, providing evidence that's consistent with a warmer and wetter Martian past. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:27:27 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111012132701.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111012083440.htm One of the supposedly best understood and least interesting landscapes on Mars is hiding something that could rewrite the planet's history. Or not. In fact, about all that is certain is that decades of assumptions regarding the wide, flat Hesperia Planum are not holding up very well under renewed scrutiny with higher-resolution, more recent spacecraft data. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:34:34 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111012083440.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011145955.htm While NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was traveling from Victoria crater to Endeavour crater, between September 2008 and August 2011, the rover team took an end-of-drive image on each Martian day that included a drive. A new video compiles these 309 images, providing an historic record of the three-year trek that totaled about 13 miles (21 kilometers) across a Martian plain pocked with smaller craters. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:59:59 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011145955.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006113408.htm Analysis of data collected by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft leaves no room for doubt: the Martian atmosphere of contains water vapor in a supersaturated state. This surprising finding will enable scientists to better understand the water cycle on Mars, as well as the evolution of its atmosphere. Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:34:34 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006113408.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006085328.htm The European Space Agency’s Venus Express spacecraft has discovered an ozone layer high in the atmosphere of Venus. Comparing its properties with those of the equivalent layers on Earth and Mars will help astronomers refine their searches for life on other planets. Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:53:53 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006085328.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111005145425.htm In preparation for launch later this year, the "back shell powered descent vehicle" configuration containing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has been placed on the spacecraft's heat shield. Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:54:54 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111005145425.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110914171756.htm The Mars rover Opportunity, which was designed to operate for three months and to rove less than a mile, has now journeyed more than seven years crossing more than 21 miles. Today, it is poised at the edge of a heavily eroded impact basin, the possible location of clay minerals formed in low-acid wet conditions on the red planet. Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:17:17 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110914171756.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110913094509.htm A view of a memorial to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center towers was taken on Mars on Sept. 11, 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:45:45 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110913094509.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110902105724.htm The initial work of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity at its new location on Mars shows surface compositional differences from anything the robot has studied in its first 7.5 years of exploration. Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:57:57 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110902105724.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110902104746.htm The European Space Agency's Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars' past, wetter climate. Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:47:47 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110902104746.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110901140954.htm NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project continues to press ahead with launch preparation activities, planning to use additional time before encapsulating the rover in the launch vehicle's nose cone. Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:09:09 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110901140954.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830111221.htm Scientists are expressing confidence that questions about life on Mars, which have captured human imagination for centuries, finally may be answered, thanks in part to new life-detection tools up to 1,000 times more sensitive than previous instruments. Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:12:12 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830111221.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110828192644.htm A green thumb and a little flair as a gourmet chef may be among the key skills for the first men and women who travel to the Red Planet later this century, according to one scientist. Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:26:26 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110828192644.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110824133536.htm NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has captured new images of intriguing Martian terrain from a small crater near the rim of the large Endeavour crater. The rover arrived at the 13-mile-diameter (21-kilometer-diameter) Endeavour on Aug. 9, after a journey of almost three years. Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:35:35 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110824133536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110810141226.htm After a journey of almost three years, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the Red Planet's Endeavour crater to study rocks never seen before. Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:12:12 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110810141226.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110808221310.htm The NASA Mars rover Opportunity has gained a view of Endeavour crater from barely more than a football-field's distance away from the rim. The rim of Endeavour has been the mission's long-term goal since mid-2008. Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:13:13 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110808221310.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110805082955.htm A newly released image from the European Space Agency's Mars Express shows the north pole of Mars during the red planet’s summer solstice. All the carbon dioxide ice has gone, leaving just a bright cap of water ice. Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:29:29 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110805082955.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110804142118.htm Observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars. Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:21:21 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110804142118.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110804141653.htm Dark, narrow features running down slopes in the warmer regions of Mars point to the possibility of salty water as the causing agent. Never observed before and strongly associated with the warmer seasons on Mars, the features show growth, suggesting they may form near the surface today in rare times and places.Never observed before and strongly associated with the warmer seasons on Mars, the features show growth, suggesting they may form near the surface today in rare times and places. Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:16:16 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110804141653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110722111111.htm NASA's next Mars rover will land at the foot of a layered mountain inside the planet's Gale Crater. The car-sized Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity, is scheduled to launch late this year and land in August 2012. The target crater spans 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter and holds a mountain rising higher from the crater floor than Mount Rainier rises above Seattle. Gale is about the combined area of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Layering in the mound suggests it is the surviving remnant of an extensive sequence of deposits. Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:11:11 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110722111111.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719210440.htm More than seven years into what was planned as a three-month mission on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has driven more than 20 miles, which is more than 50 times the mission's original distance goal. Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:04:04 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719210440.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110623145709.htm NASA's next Mars rover, also known as Curiosity, has completed the journey from its California birthplace to Florida in preparation for launch this fall. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:57:57 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110623145709.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622133335.htm Southern California's high desert has been a stand-in for Mars for NASA technology testing many times over the years. And so it is again, in a series of flights by an F/A-18 aircraft to test the landing radar for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission. Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:33:33 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622133335.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110617124013.htm Earlier this month, ESA's Mars Express performed a special maneuver to observe an unusual alignment of Jupiter and the martian moon Phobos. The impressive images of this rare event are now available.. Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:40:40 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110617124013.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110615080207.htm A new scenario describing a key step in the formation of the solar system has been proposed by a French-American collaboration. According to this model, Jupiter migrated towards the Sun to the position where Mars is today before beginning its outward migration to its current location, much further away. This is how the researchers explain the formation of the asteroid belt as well as the size difference between the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars). The scientists are now seeking to include in this scenario Uranus and Neptune, which are the most distant planets in the solar system. Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:02:02 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110615080207.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110610131834.htm The European Space Agency and NASA have announced the scientific investigations selected for their 2016 ExoMars lander demonstrator. They will probe the atmosphere during the descent, and return the first ever data on electrical fields at the surface of Mars. Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:18:18 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110610131834.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110609145440.htm When NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reaches the rim of a large crater it is approaching, its arrival will come with an inspiring reminder. This crater, Endeavour, became the rover's long-term destination nearly three years ago. Opportunity has driven about 11 miles (18 kilometers) since climbing out of Victoria crater in August 2008, with Endeavour crater beckoning to the southeast. The rover has about 2 miles (about 3 kilometers) to go before reaching the rim of Endeavour. Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:54:54 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110609145440.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110605132437.htm Planetary scientists have long wondered why Mars is only about half the size and one-tenth the mass of Earth. As next-door neighbors in the inner solar system, probably formed about the same time, why isn't Mars more like Earth and Venus in size and mass? A new paper provides the first cohesive explanation and, by doing so, reveals an unexpected twist in the early lives of Jupiter and Saturn as well. Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:24:24 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110605132437.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110603114247.htm A drive of 482 feet (146.8 meters) on June 1, 2011, took NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity past 30 kilometers (18.64 miles) in total odometry during 88 months of driving on Mars. That's 50 times the distance originally planned for the mission and more than 12 times the distance racehorses will run at the Belmont Stakes. Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:42:42 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110603114247.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110601211557.htm Two digital color cameras riding high on the mast of NASA's next Mars rover will complement each other in showing the surface of Mars in exquisite detail. They are the left and right eyes of the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, instrument on the Curiosity rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, launching in late 2011. Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:15:15 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110601211557.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525131705.htm Mars developed in as little as two to four million years after the birth of the solar system, far more quickly than Earth, according to a new study. The red planet's rapid formation helps explain why it is so small, say researchers. Wed, 25 May 2011 13:17:17 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525131705.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525122156.htm NASA has ended operational planning activities for the Mars rover Spirit and transitioned the Mars Exploration Rover Project to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit's still-active twin, Opportunity. Wed, 25 May 2011 12:21:21 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525122156.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110506100931.htm Newly released images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express show Nili Fossae, a system of deep fractures around the giant Isidis impact basin. Some of these incisions into the martian crust are up to 500 m deep and probably formed at the same time as the basin. Fri, 06 May 2011 10:09:09 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110506100931.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110505162906.htm The team exploring Mars via NASA's Opportunity rover for the past seven years has informally named a Martian crater for the Mercury spacecraft that astronaut Alan Shepard christened Freedom 7. On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted Freedom 7 in America's first human spaceflight. Thu, 05 May 2011 16:29:29 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110505162906.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110428124048.htm The geological penetrator CHOMIK (Polish word for hamster), built for the purpose of collecting a soil sample from one of the Martian moons, has completed the first stage of preparations. Following successful tests, the flight model has been handed over to Moscow. The device will now be integrated with the manipulator of the Phobos Sample Return mission lander and will fly towards Mars in a few months. Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:40:40 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110428124048.htm