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- Dry ice slabs carve linear grooves down Mars dunes
- Was nitrogen in the early Mars atmosphere a key to ancient habitability?
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- Aeolis Serpens, Mars’ longest sinuous ridge, is an ancient riverbed
- Most deltas on Mars created by short, catastrophic floods
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Tag Archives: MER
Dust drifts: new windblown feature on Mars?
Mars has ample loose material blowing around on its surface, a fact which has been known and studied for decades and more. However scientists have paid little attention to sedimentary deposits of dust. New work using detailed images from the … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged dunes, dust, eolian, HiRISE, LPSC 2013, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MER, wind
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Not-so-everlasting hills
When the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit reached the top of Husband Hill in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater on August 22, 2005, it stood 107 meters (351 feet) above its landing site. Yet if recent work is right, the … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Columbia Hills, Gusev Crater, HiRISE, Husband Hill, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Navcam, Pancam, Spirit
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“Blueberries” could date when Meridiani rocks were last wet
The relative amount of three chemical elements contained in Martian “blueberries” might offer scientists a way to date when these spherules were last inundated with water, according to recent research. Rich in the iron mineral hematite, blueberries are small concretions, … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged concretions, Curiosity, Gale Crater, hematite, jarosite, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory, MER, Meridiani Planum, Opportunity, water
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Opportunity discovers water-precipitated gypsum at Cape York
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found thumb-wide veins of gypsum in a rock layer at Cape York, the Endeavour Cater rim segment where it will spend the coming Martian winter. The discovery was announced at the fall meeting of … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Crater Lake, Endeavour Crater, gypsum, Homestake, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Opportunity, Tisdale, Transvaal
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High ground on Cape York rim segment named Shoemaker Ridge
Scientists with the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity have given the name of Shoemaker Ridge to the highest “spine” of the Cape York segment of Endeavour Crater’s rim. The rover arrived at Cape York in early August and has been exploring … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged craters, Endeavour Crater, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Meridiani Planum, Opportunity, Shoemaker Ridge
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Jarosite: key to ancient temperatures?
The water-related mineral jarosite is occurs both on Earth and in sediments on Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists have found that by measuring the isotope ratio of argon-40 to argon-39 in the rock — a technique that can be applied to … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged climate, jarosite, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Opportunity, temperature, water
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Commemorating Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
The cast and crew of scientists and engineers who designed, built, and operated the Mars rover Spirit for its 2,210 days in Gusev Crater held a commemoration and celebration for the rover at its birthplace, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, on … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Gusev Crater, Home Plate, hot springs, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, silica, Spirit
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Will Opportunity find dunes on the move?
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is driving toward the rim of Endeavour Crater on Meridiani Planum. Twenty-two kilometers (14 miles) wide, Endeavour is largely obliterated, with only about half its rim remaining as low hills rising above the plain. The crater’s … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged dunes, Endeavour Crater, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Opportunity
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Meteorites: Keys to bygone Mars climates
The sky falls on Mars, too, just as it does sometimes on Earth. In its long crosscountry drive over the pool table expanse of Meridiani Planum, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has encountered more than a dozen meteorites, all of them … Continue reading
Home Plate: Worth a second visit?
In Gusev Crater’s Columbia Hills, explored by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, a low plateau about 100 yards wide dubbed Home Plate has turned out to be a Pretty Big Deal. Although a deep bed of soft sand on its … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged geysers, Gusev Crater, Home Plate, hot springs, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, silica, Spirit
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