How Our View of Mars Has Changed from Lush Oasis to Arid Desert
Once thought of as a lush alien world teeming with life and later dismissed as an arid, desolate orb, the Red Planet’s salty, liquid water just might aid in the search for extraterrestrial life
Searching for Life in Martian Water Will Be Very, Very Tricky
The risk of microbial contamination could prevent humans and even robots from visiting the most promising parts of the Red Planet
3 Years into Its Mission, Curiosity's Stunning Martian Panorama
NASA's Curiosity rover provides a beautiful, scientifically appetizing view of what's ahead on Mount Sharp on Mars
Making Space for Everyone: A Q&A with BoldlyGo's Jon Morse
NASA’s former director of astrophysics plans to revolutionize space science with agile, privately funded missions
There's Methane in Them Thar Martian Rocks!
Indigenous methane appears to exist in Martian rocks
Exotic Glass Could Help Unravel Mysteries of Mars
Brown University researchers have detected glass deposits on Mars that might contain evidence of past conditions and, possibly, life
MESSENGER’s Mercurial Swan Song and Other Interplanetary Smash-Ups
On April 30, if all goes well, after running out of fuel to fight off orbital decay NASA’s long-running MESSENGER spacecraft will end its mission to Mercury by crashing into the planet’s surface at nearly 4 kilometers per second.
NASA Goes Big and Bold for Exoplanet Science
A United States federal agency is not necessarily the first place you think of when it comes to answering some of the deepest existential questions for our species.
Putting A New Spin on Space Elevators
Fans of sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke know and love his 1979 classic novel, The Fountains of Paradise. The plot centers on efforts of a visionary structural engineer in the 22nd century, Dr Vannevar Morgan, to construct a space elevator connecting the surface of the earth with a satellite in geostationary orbit, almost a kind [...]
Where Would you Leave a Message From the Stars?
A recent article by Samuel Arbesman in the science magazine Nautilus discusses the extraordinary sounding possibility that – just perhaps – a search for extraterrestrial intelligence could be made by looking at our DNA.
The Grand Texture of Planets
In an idle moment, while staring at a set of solar system data, it occurred to me that it might be interesting to display a set of planetary surfaces on an equal footing, where the overall texture of these worlds was visible (although topography is probably a more [...]
Watch the One-Year Space Station Mission Launch
The mission will help NASA understand how the body could handle a trip to Mars