Mars
Planning Missions to Mars and Beyond
Margaret Race is a biologist and environmental ecologist who works with NASA and the SETI Institute. Her focus is planetary protection and science policy--avoiding cross-contamination of planets and moons during space missions in our solar system. Dr. Race will join us at Newark Library for a talk and program that the entire family can enjoy. Come learn what goes into planning missions to Mars…
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
JR Skok, Research Scientist at the SETI Institute, will give a talk about the search for life in the Martian Hot Springs. For more information, visit https://eps.ucsc.edu/news-events/igpp-seminar/fall-2018.html
Our Journey Toward Mars
Our journey toward Mars and beyond will be humanity’s greatest adventure. It will determine the fate of our species and the extent of our legacy. This journey is already underway. Humans have walked on the Moon and have survived long-duration spaceflight. Our spacecraft have explored the Solar System and mapped its routes and resources. Now we are on the verge of a revolution in space exploration…
Mars is Ready for its Close-Up
Want to go to Mars? You may have to book a seat and wait a few years (or more). But here’s the good news: Mars is coming to you. Or at least, it’s getting closer to you … closer than it’s been since 2003. This is simply a consequence of the fact that Earth and Mars are on orbital racetracks around the Sun, and while the Red Planet paces down the course at 15 miles per second, Earth – which…
Possible Underground Lake Discovered on Mars
A new study published on the journal Science suggests that there may be a liquid water lake below the ice on Mars’ south pole. While water is thought to have once been abundant on Mars billions of years ago, this is the first to be found. Researchers used radar data from an instrument called MARSIS to look below the surface of Mars. MARSIS is on board a European Space Agency spacecraft called…
Destination Mars – Putting American Boots on the Surface of the Red Planet
Dava Newman, who sits on the SETI Institute's Board of Trustees will testify. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, will convene a hearing titled “Destination Mars – Putting American Boots on the Surface of the Red Planet” at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The hearing will focus on the National Aeronautics and Space…
'Alien spaceship' on Mars: What some say looks like a crash site is evidence of volcanism, not Vulcans
Mars has long been everyone's hands-down favorite in the search for extraterrestrial life. It's got rocky landscapes, National Park-worthy canyons, and a general appearance that resembles Arizona stripped of vegetation and convenience stores. It's no wonder then that amateur explorers have spent years in front of their laptops scrutinizing this world for clues to life. The online photos they…
Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series: When Mars Was Like Earth: Five Years of Exploration with NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover
This Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series event has passed, but a video of the lecture can be found here. Dr. Ashwin Vasavada, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk. More than five years after its dramatic arrival at Mars, the car-sized Curiosity rover continues to reveal Mars as a once-habitable planet. Early in Mars' history, rivers and…