Mars

I really liked the furious debate that broke out recently among astronomers about whether we should send out signals to the universe saying "we're here."

It implicitly assumes that somehow, if your science is really advanced, then interstellar travel is possible.

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover has become the first human-made vehicle to complete a marathon on another planet -- a feat accomplished in a record time of no less than 11 years.
      

India?s famously frugal Mars mission has been extended by around six months thanks to a surplus of fuel on board the spacecraft, the country?s space agency said March 24.

The Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft had been scheduled to wrap up its mission this month after India in September became the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet, all on a shoe-string budget.

The dream of living on the Red Planet has come to naught for Turks - at least for the near future.

"Mars One," a project that aims to put a permanent human settlement on Mars, has chosen 100 people in a third round of voting from an initial 202,586 applicants, but none of the 11 Turks who had originally applied for a one-way ticket to the Red Planet succeeded in making the cut.

Methane, a gas that on Earth comes mainly from living organisms, has been measured for the first time making a sudden spike on Mars, leaving scientists puzzled about its origin.
      

A mountain on Mars may have built up over time from lake sediments, according to NASA scientists who have been studying observations from the Curiosity rover scouring the Red Planet.
      
The latest analysis is based on rocks discovered at the lower edges of Mount Sharp, which is located, rather oddly, in the midst of a crater on Earth's neighboring planet.        

Six people have sealed themselves inside a white vinyl dome in Hawaii to embark on an eight-month test of how their mental health might fare during a mission to Mars.
      

Space enthusiasts planning a move to Mars may have to wait to relocate: conditions on the Red Planet are such that humans would likely begin dying within 68 days, a new study says.

The United States and India, fresh from sending their own respective spacecraft into Mars' orbit earlier this month, agreed to cooperate on future exploration of the Red Planet.

India's spacecraft has beamed back its first photos of Mars, showing its crater-marked surface, as the country glowed with pride Sept. 25 after winning Asia's race to the Red Planet