NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “life on mars

  2. SAM I Am


    Lifting SAM Instrument for Installation into Mars RoverThe Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for information about chemicals that are important to life and other chemical indicators about past and present environments. Credit: NASA
    When the Mars Science Laboratory rover ‘Curiosity” lands on Mars in August 2012, its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument will “follow the carbon” to better understand the past and present habitability of our planetary neighbor. SAM sits in the belly of the rover and will be fed solid samples by the robotic arm. It is one of 10 science instruments on Curiosity that all work together to study the past and present habitability of Mars.

    SAM will have the sensitivity for measuring organic molecules at a level of a few parts per billion, but...

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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  3. Mars Mission Lifts Off


    Atlas V leaving KennedyCuriosity is on its way to Mars! The Atlas V has cleared the tower as it lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Credit: NASA/JPL

    NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and its Curiosity rover have blasted off on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The mission is now on its way to Mars. The historic launch took place on Saturday, November 26, 2011. The MSL spacecraft successfully separated from the Atlas V Centaur stage at 44 minutes 6 seconds after launch.

    “The launch vehicle has given us a great injection into our trajectory, and we’re on our way to Mars,” said Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in...

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    Source: [NASA]

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  4. Mars Science Laboratory


    Artist concept of MSLThis artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity Rover

    The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is the next major mission in NASA’s long line of Mars explorers. MSL is larger than any previous Mars surface mission, and will deliver the next generation of complex lab instruments to Mars. The mission is of immense importance to NASA’s astrobiological objectives at Mars, and will help scientist determine whether or not past or present life could have gained a foothold on Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory, along with its Curiosity rover, is truly NASA’s first astrobiology mission since the Viking landers...

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    Source: [Link]

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  5. Islands of Life, Part I


    Atacama Panorama. Credit: Henry Bortman
    The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the driest places on our planet, and astrobiologists have long studied this unique location as an analog environment for ancient Mars. Astrobiology Magazine’s field research editor, Henry Bortman, recently traveled to the Atacama desert with a group of scientists who are studying microorganisms living in stubby, knob-shaped rocks made of pure halite. In the first in a series of reports, the team takes a road trip to one of the Atacama’s ‘wettest’ regions to collect samples and study how soil bacteria might act to colonize halite and other rocks.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  6. Testing Mars Missions in Morocco


    Morocco desert. Credit: Leslie Mullen
    A group of scientists recently gathered in a remote region of Morocco to test instruments being developed for a mission to Mars. The arid and varied Morocco landscape provides plenty of opportunities for scientists to test the limits of the many instruments that will be included in the ExoMars effort.

    ExoMars is a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), and will study the martian atmosphere, geology, and water cycle, and also search for signs of past and present life. The mission will include an orbiter, a lander and two rovers.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  7. Breaking the Ice in Antarctica



    Members of NASA’s IceBite team will be in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys this month testing a drill developed by Honeybee Robotics for possible use on a future mission to the arctic northern plains of Mars. The IceBreaker drill is designed to obtain samples for scientific analysis of ice and soil from as much as a meter (3 feet) below the surface. Astrobiology Magazine will be providing the public with the opportunity to ask questions of the IceBite team while they are in the field. Simply visit www.astrobio.net and click the “Ask a Scientist” button in the stories and...

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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  8. Drilling Down into Mars



    NASA’s Phoenix lander revealed water ice mere inches beneath the martian surface, and chemical evidence from the landing site strongly hints that the region is habitable. But learning whether there is life in martian ice will require drilling — and drilling on Mars will be anything but easy.

    As part of the IceBite Project, funded by NASA’s ASTEP program, a company in Brooklyn, NY, is designing and testing a series of drills to determine the optimum configuration for boring into subsurface martian ice.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  9. Detecting Our Martian Cousins


    Microfluidics Chip
    Some scientists believe that if life exists on Mars, it could have been delivered there from Earth on interplanetary meteorites. With funding from NASA’s ASTEP program, a team of researchers is now putting together an instrument that could test this theory. The Search for Extraterrestrial Genomes (SETG) project would send an instrument to Mars to search soil or ice samples for the presence of Earth-like DNA. SETG will have its first field test this year.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  10. Eigenbrode Earns Chief Technologist’s Top Prize


    EigenbrodeThe Office of the Chief Technologist selected scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode as its 2009 “IRAD Innovator of the Year” for her work verifying that a new sample-preparation method would benefit the SAM instrument on MSL. Image Credit: Chris Gunn
    NASA Goddard scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 IRAD Innovator of the Year award. Her work has added important capabilities to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, which will be included on the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). Dr. Eigenbrode’s work will allow MSL to analyze large carbon molecules if they are discovered on Mars, and could play an important role in determining the potential for past or present life on the Red Planet.

    When MSL reaches Mars in 2012, the rover will analyze samples...

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    Source: [Link]

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  11. Arctic Preparations for Mars


    Previous missions to Mars have been searching for signs that Mars once had liquid water, and potentially habitats for life. The next generation of martian rovers will search for signs of past or present life on Mars more directly. Technologies for such missions are now being tested in the remote arctic.

    Part 1: AMASE 2009 Expedition Takes Off
    Part 2: Roving the AMASEing Arctic
    Part 3: The AMASEing Adventure Continues
    Part 4: Amase-ing Life on the Ice
    Part 5: Goddess of the Arctic

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  12. Baking the Rover is Not an Option


    NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is now being prepared for its 2009 voyage to Mars, where the rover will sniff about for traces of organic material. The mission is designed to accurately “see and taste” the martian environment like never before, and could determine if the building blocks of life are present at the planet’s surface. The problem is that many of the substances MSL is made from can release molecules that might interfere with experiments. Many steps had to be taken during the mission’s design and preparation in order to to address this issue of contamination.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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