Laser-altimetry data that show two large impact craters and their ejecta aprons on the Tharsis Plateau of Mars and two of its huge volcanoes: grey-brown-red-orange-yellow-green = high-to-low elevations. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Arizona State University)
“In some circles, only unmanned exploration of Mars would be considered acceptable”
“To Mars!” was the watchword of the Russian rocket pioneer Friedrich Tsander,
In the last of his series on Mars, Duncan Lunan looks at the possibility of life on the planet
Europe’s Mars Express is still in orbit around the red planet, where it was joined by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
“The two moons of Mars were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall. The largest crater on Phobos, the inner moon, is named ‘Stickney’, the maiden name of Asaph Hall’s wife, who encouraged him to keep looking when he was ready to give up. “
“When Mariner 9 approached Mars in 1971, to become the first probe to orbit the planet, Mars was at its closest to the Sun and in the grip of a dust storm more severe than any we’ve seen since”
“Mars has only half the diameter of the Earth, but because it has no oceans, its surface area is actually greater than the Earth’s land surface. “
The lake-bed sediments of Gale Crater on Mars from NASA’s Curiosity rover (credit: NASA/JPL, California Institute of Technology)
“Yasuhiro Oba and colleagues may have found the missing link between interstellar space, planet formation and the synthesis of life through the mechanisms that resolve the ‘water paradox’ outlined by Michael Marshall.”
