Could humans play God and seed life on Mars? – Lichen survive in Mars Simulation Laboratory for 34 days

Scientists at the European Geosciences Union meeting reported that Lichen collected from Antarctica were placed inside Germany’s Mars Simulation Laboratory for 34 days where they were subjected to the same conditions they would experience on the Martian surface – same atmospheric, temperature, radiation, and pressure conditions. They survived.

Curiosity Rover scooped its first soil samples yesterday and while scooping, took a picture of something that NASA cannot identify. It’s a small, silver metallic looking chip or flake of some kind. It could be something left over from the MSL descent mechanisms or some previously unknown soil anomaly.

NASA announced today (on the evening of Sol 51), that Curiosity Rover has found evidence of an ancient flowing stream on Mars at a few sites. Round-shaped rocks, called clasts, have lead Geologists to the conclusion that they have been moved about by water. The clasts are too heavy to have been moved by wind.

This past weekend, on route to Glenelg, the Curiosity Rover’s first target on Mars, Curiosity arrived at the “Jake Matijevic” rock where it stopped and probed the rock with its huge robotic arm to determine its chemical composition. Curiosity also blasted the specimen with its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer. Then Curiosity shot laser pulses at…

It might not be accurately termed “a snowball’s chance in hell” but it comes close. NASA thinks it might be snowing on Mars, just not the sort of snow we’d expect. NASA has obtained evidence that it snows Dry Ice, the stuff we use to simulate fog in haunted houses. That’s pretty cool given that…

Curiosity Rover has certainly left its mark on the planet Mars. Photos taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have been released showing the tire tracks left by Curiosity on the planet’s surface. The bluish color spots are where Curiosity landed (named Bradbury landing after famous science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury) blowing Mars dust away from…

As part of the Mars Science Lab Mission (MSL), Curiosity is now sending back telescopic images from Mars. This image is from a test series used to characterize the 100-millimeter Mast Camera on NASA’s Curiosity rover. It was taken on Aug. 23, 2012, and looks south-southwest from the rover’s landing site. The 100-millimeter Mastcam has…