Future robotic missions to Mars hoping to peer beneath its surface in search of signs of life should target recent impact craters, where falling meteorites have done the drilling for them.
Mars
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Water Beneath the Surface of Mars, Bound Up in Sulfates
Researchers present maps of hydrogen and sulfur that hint at water locked in hydrous sulfates in Mars's southern hemispheric soil.
Posted inScience Updates
Volatiles in Mars: Constraints, Questions, and Future Directions
Workshop on Volatiles in the Martian Interior; Houston, Texas, 3–4 November 2014
Posted inResearch Spotlights
"Knobby Terrain" a Sign of Mars's Explosive Past
Newly identified knobby terrain related to ancient volcanoes on Mars hint that pyroclastic ash and rock flowed down slopes early in the red planet's history.
Posted inNews
Traces of Glass-Eating Microbes Found in Ancient Lake Bed
A serendipitous discovery of tiny tunnels in lava that cooled rapidly under fresh water could help scientists search for life on Mars.
Posted inNews
MAVEN Unlocks Secrets of the Martian Atmosphere
In its first month, NASA’s orbiter saw effects of the solar wind at low altitude and tracked a plume of gases escaping into space
Posted inAGU News
Learn about the MAVEN Mission to Mars at the 2014 Public Lecture
The 2014 AGU Public Lecture will feature a panel of expert scientists who will speak about the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Measuring Solar Wind Interactions in Mars’s Exosphere
An updated analytical technique gave researchers a new look at ion cyclotron waves in Mars’s extended hydrogen exosphere.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Manganese Deposits on Mars Suggest a Highly Oxidized Past
Data from the Curiosity rover suggest that the surface of Mars has experienced more strongly oxidizing conditions than previously thought.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Minerals in Martian Meteorite Illuminate Magnetic Mysteries
What causes the magnetic anomalies found on Mars? Scientists find revealing analogues in a tiny sample of Martian rock that could help answer this question.