One speaker, the former chief scientist of NASA, spoke up for NASA's Earth science program as broadly beneficial and affordable within the agency's existing budget.
Mars
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Mars Got Its Layered North Polar Cap
Orbital wobbling shaped the dome of ice and dust at the planet's north pole.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Martian Mantle Models Pave the Way for NASA's InSight Lander
The most detailed simulations to date of how heat flows through Mars's interior are good news for the upcoming lander and will help scientists interpret its data.
Posted inScience Updates
Seeking Signs of Life and More: NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission
The next Mars rover will be able to land near rugged terrain, giving scientists access to diverse landscapes. It will also cache core samples, a first step in the quest to return samples to Earth.
Posted inNews
Freezing Mars's Core—in the Lab
Mars's core, widely thought to be at least partially molten, may eventually solidify completely, and researchers have turned to lab experiments to find out how.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mars's Atmosphere Matches Earth's Turbulent Nature
Mars is even more like Earth than we thought, according to a statistical analysis of the planet's swirling atmosphere.
Posted inNews
Schiaparelli Lander Likely Crash-Landed on Mars
After its thrusters shut off prematurely, the European Space Agency's newest lander probably crash-landed from 2–4 kilometers above the surface.
Posted inNews
European-Russian Mission Reaches Mars: Lander’s Fate Yet Unknown
Although the mission’s lander might not have survived, the new Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft will explore clues that may indicate extraterrestrial life.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mars’s Climate May Have Been Wet Much Later Than Thought
Water-carved valleys may be relatively young, challenging assumptions about the history of the Red Planet's climate.
Posted inNews
A Flip-Flopping Climate Could Explain Mars's Watery Past
A new hypothesis might reconcile two opposing theories that have tried to explain Mars's mysterious history for more than 40 years.