New insights into the early timelines of rocky planets are emerging, thanks to clues from iron chemistry and primordial atmospheres.
Mars
Posted inNews
These Five Craters May Have Birthed a Third of Martian Meteorites
Researchers have homed in on five craters on the Red Planet that are the likely sources of Martian meteorites.
Posted inNews
Parts of Mars Might Be Younger Than We Thought
Data from InSight’s seismometer suggest more impactors strike the Red Planet than expected.
Posted inNews
Curiosity Digs Up Evidence of a Cold, Wet Martian Past
Amorphous materials, which are rarely studied on Earth, yield insights into the history of Gale Crater and the early Martian environment.
Posted inFeatures
The Past, Present, and Future of Extraterrestrial Sample Return
Retrieving samples from distant solar system bodies has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it.
Posted inNews
Researchers Find Bacterial Communities Deep Beneath the Atacama
Extremophile microbes exist in the gypsum-rich “fringes” of the driest place on Earth.
Posted inNews
Mars Mission’s Monetary Roller Coaster Hits New Lows
In February, the NASA research center laid off more than 500 people, citing congressional budget uncertainties over the controversial Mars Sample Return mission. What is its path forward?
Posted inNews
Martian Jumble May Be Hiding a Giant Volcano
The discovery of Noctis Mons could make the region a target for future Mars missions.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Towards a Unified Framework for Earth, Mars, Titan, and Exoplanets
From a simple set of in situ or synthetic data, a general unified model has been developed to calculate turbulent fluxes and evaporation rates on any rocky body with an atmosphere.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Salty Soil May Release Methane on Mars
Through roving and drilling, Mars Curiosity Rover may be breaking up the ground’s salty, hardened soils that seal methane, possibly causing a temporal, local methane spike.