Mars
NASA
RECENT COVERAGE
Planning a Mars Mission
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
(May 8, 2001) NASA has taken a small step toward a possible unmanned Mars mission that would return samples of Mars rock and dust to Earth.
Odyssey Off to Mars, Seeking Water and a Bit of Redemption
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
(April 8, 2001) The Mars Odyssey spacecraft rocketed away on a journey of 286 million miles and what NASA hopes will be a mission of redemption.
Chastened, NASA Readies New Mars Craft
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
(April 3, 2001) Back to Mars, back to the search into its mystifying past and present, but this time the goal of exploration is more cautiously modest than before.
Mars Calamity May Have Created Conditions for Life
By REUTERS
(March 16, 2001) Volcanic activity on a colossal scale deformed Mars during an early period in its history, but also may have spawned the warm and wet environment that experts think is necessary to foster
life, researchers said on Thursday.
Evidence Is Cited for Life on Mars, but Some Demur
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
(February 27, 2001) Scientists at the Johnson Space Center at Houston say they have found fresh evidence of life on Mars, but other researchers immediately disputed the claim.
Advocates Want Humans Sent to Mars
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
(February 15, 2001) As chairman of the Ohio chapter of the Mars Society, Lyle Kelly helps lead a drive to persuade the U.S. government to commit to human exploration and settlement of the red planet.
NASA Wrapping Up Mapping Mission of Mars
By REUTERS
(February 1, 2001) NASA's Mars Global Surveyor is close to finishing its main mission, after having gathered tens of thousands of images of the Red Planet.
Meteorite Helps to Explain Mars Water Puzzle
By REUTERS
(January 25, 2001) Mineral grains from a Martian meteorite ejected from the red planet 175 million years ago are giving scientists new clues about water on the planet.
New Layers of Evidence Suggest Mars Had Water
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
(December 5, 2000) A new analysis of spacecraft photography of Mars appears to show that in its earliest history, much of the planet was a land of lakes and shallow seas and that this left distinct layers
of sedimentary rock where a fossil record of Martian life, if it ever existed, is most likely to be preserved.
Gerald Soffen, Chief Scientist for Mars Missions, Dies at 74
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
(November 27, 2000) Gerald A. Soffen, a biologist who was chief scientist for the Viking missions that searched for signs of life on Mars in the 1970's, died on Wednesday at George Washington University
Hospital in Washington.
Martians Landing on Earth? If You Mean Bacteria, Maybe
By KENNETH CHANG
(October 31, 2000) Each year a ton of fist-size and larger rocks from Mars land on Earth, and of those, a few make the trip quite quickly, in as little as one year. May some of those at some time have
carried some Martian life to Earth?
Shaken NASA Offers New Plan for Mars Exploration Missions
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
(October 27, 2000) Shaken by two failed Mars missions last year, NASA spent most of this year trying to restore morale, reform management and formulate a new strategy for exploring the planet over the
next 15 years, culminating in flights to bring back soil and rock samples from Mars.
Science Q&A: Rocks From Mars
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
(September 5, 2000) The best idea scientists have of the geochemistry of Mars comes from the two Viking robots that landed on Mars in 1976. Findings from the robots' weeks of readings of things like
the Martian atmosphere are compared with the chemical signatures of meteorites found on Earth.
NASA to Send Large Rover to Explore Surface of Mars
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
(July 28, 2000) With new, tantalizing evidence of possible running water on Mars in the recent past, NASA has decided to send at least one and perhaps two large robotic roving vehicles to scout the planet's
surface for signs of water, past or present.
Reports of a Dead Mars Are Greatly Exaggerated
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
(July 25, 2000) Over decades of exploration, Mars came to be seen as dead geologically and probably devoid of living things. Now, rather suddenly, the red planet is showing new signs of life.
Evidence of Water Invigorates Study of Mars
By WARREN E. LEARY
(June 23, 2000) The standard description of Mars as cold, desolate and dry may have to be revised slightly. It now appears that Mars may have reservoirs of liquid water hidden under parts of its icy surface,
a finding that could profoundly affect the search for life there, scientists said.
Orbiter Spots Signs of a Recent Flow of Water on Mars
By WARREN E. LEARY
(June 22, 2000) A spacecraft orbiting Mars has sighted grooved surface features suggesting a relatively recent water flow on the planet, a finding that could redirect efforts to find evidence of past
or present life there, experts said.
Leader Chosen for New Mars Program
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
(April 11, 2000) Prompted by criticism over failed missions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has chosen Dr. Firouz Naderi, a veteran manager of space projects, to head a newly formed
Mars program aimed at improving future robotic explorations.
Poor Management by NASA Is Blamed for Mars Failure
By WARREN E. LEARY
(March 29, 2000) The Mars Polar Lander spacecraft probably failed last year because its descent engine shut down prematurely, but the mission's loss can ultimately be blamed on inadequate management,
testing and financing, independent experts told NASA.
Cool Your Jets, NASA, a Review Panel Urges
By WARREN E. LEARY
(March 14, 2000) Recent failures in two Mars missions suggest that NASA is pushing too hard to do more with less money, and jeopardizing success by paying inadequate attention to the risks of things that
could go wrong, review panels said.
Evidence Builds That Mars Lander Is Source of Mystery Signal
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
(February 1, 2000) Evidence is growing, though slowly, that the lost Mars Polar Lander is the source of the mystery signal that NASA began investigating last week, and the space agency plans to step up
efforts to talk to the craft in hopes that it is alive on the red planet.
Mystery Signal Spurring Hopes for Mars Craft
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
(January 27, 2000) A mysterious signal has sent NASA racing to try to re-establish contact with the lost Mars Polar Lander and hoping against hope that the wayward $165 million spacecraft might still
be alive and struggling to communicate with Earth from a landing site on Mars.
Fall Into Martian Canyon Is Among Possible Fates of Lost Probe
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
(January 7, 2000) The lost $165 million Mars Polar Lander may have fallen into a canyon nearly a mile deep and five miles wide that yawns across the Martian landing site, NASA officials said yesterday.
But they added that they could not rule out a long list of other possibilities, including a simple rough landing, the failure of the descent system or an explosion just before entry.
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