Combining data from several of the Perseverance rover’s spectroscopic sensors offers a more accurate means to classify carbonate minerals that may hold hints of ancient life.
Mars
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mars Has Far Fewer Minerals Than Earth Does
The development of plate tectonics and life on Earth provided avenues for mineral evolution that did not occur on Mars, resulting in relatively limited mineral diversity on the Red Planet.
Posted inScience Updates
The Nitty-Gritty Forces That Shape Planetary Surfaces
Scientists are coming up with ingenious ways to compare terrestrial sand dunes, dust storms, and rain with their counterparts on Mars and Titan.
Posted inNews
Tiny Martian Moon May Be a Chip Off the Old Block
A close approach to Deimos reveals that its surface does not look like that of an asteroid, hinting at a Martian origin.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Dust in the (Martian) Wind
The InSight Lander, on Mars, intentionally dumped sand over its seismic instrument’s tether and the wind sorted the particles by size as it blew them away.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Hand Magnets Destroy the Magnetic Record of Meteorites
Meteorite collectors often use strong magnets for classification, but this approach destroys crucial evidence of processes active in the early solar system.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A New Origin Story for Mars’s Burns Formation
The Red Planet’s Grasberg and Burns formations have different compositions today, but they may have started out the same way.
Posted inNews
(Probablemente) No podremos decir si Marte tiene vida
Los equipos de última generación no siempre pueden identificar la vida que habita en los lugares más parecidos a Marte en la Tierra, lo que hace que los científicos se pregunten cómo se se podría hacer mejor en el Planeta Rojo.
Posted inNews
Asteroid Impacts Could Have Warmed Ancient Mars
Hydrogen released during large impacts might have boosted Mars’s surface temperature above freezing for thousands or even millions of years, enabling liquid water to flow over the Red Planet.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Martian Rocks May Record Ancient Wind Directions
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover images of abraded surface rocks may retain records of ancient wind directions, providing important ground-truth to our understanding of Mars’ recent climate history.