Category: Cosmos
... well, not really, but ... No matter how interesting the big expensive science NASA does is, or how important the work is to understanding our planet and solar system or figuring out important problems, nothing is as cool as seeing your own house on...
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Posted by Greg Laden at 8:05 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Cosmos
This August, Mars Science Robot Curiosity will land on the surface of the Angry Red Planet equipped with a Penny to tell how big things are. The camera at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has its own calibration target,...
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Posted by Greg Laden at 3:08 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Cosmos
Can you imagine driving around on roadless terrain with a four wheel drive vehicle for eight years and not ever changing a tire, getting a tuneup, adjusting the suspension, replacing the hydraulics or brakes, or doing any other service whatsoever on your vehicle? I've actually...
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Posted by Greg Laden at 4:42 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Mars
This is very, very cool. Geologically, there are ways in which minerals move around and get deposited with rock. A common phenomenon is for a crack to form due to cooling of molten rock or an earthquake or something, and then this space gets filled...
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Posted by Greg Laden at 10:21 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Mars
A newly found, buried deposit of frozen carbon dioxide -- dry ice -- near the south pole of Mars contains about 30 times more carbon dioxide than previously estimated to be frozen near the pole. This map color-codes thickness estimates of the deposit derived and...
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Posted by Greg Laden at 4:52 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Mars
A question came up in the comments on the post Mars will pass behind sun, Rover operations affected, and the answer turns out to be very interesting....
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Posted by Greg Laden at 2:59 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Mars
... maybe. Maybe there were vast oceans, and maybe they were occupied by microbes. This, according to reserearch being discussed in Natoial Geographic....
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Posted by Greg Laden at 12:29 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Mars
Rocks examined by NASA's Spirit Mars Rover hold evidence of a wet, non-acidic ancient environment that may have been favorable for life. Confirming this mineral clue took four years of analysis by several scientists. An outcrop that Spirit examined in late 2005 revealed high concentrations...
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Posted by Greg Laden at 9:41 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Cosmos
Or should I say "ice."
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Posted by Greg Laden at 4:41 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Cosmos
This oblique view shows geological layers of rock exposed on a mound inside Gale Crater on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/USGS...
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Posted by Greg Laden at 5:28 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks