Marss

Mars’s influence on Earth may be greater than we thought. In fact, the Red Planet, located over 140 million miles away from Earth, could actually be driving giant whirlpools in the deepest parts of our oceans. New research has revealed that changes in the deep-sea currents found on Earth appear to coincide with times when Mars and Earth interacted while orbiting the Sun.The culprit of this influence is something we call resonance. Astronomers describe resonance as a phenomenon where two orbiting bodies – in this…

ESA’s Mars Express has provided new insights into Mars’s Medusae Fossae Formation, revealing deep layers of water ice, the largest such discovery in the region. This ice could significantly impact our understanding of Mars’s climate history and is crucial for future human exploration. Credit: Planetary Science Institute/Smithsonian InstitutionRecent Mars Express data reveals the Medusae Fossae Formation contains extensive water ice layers, offering new clues about Mars’s past and supporting future exploration.Windswept…

How thick is the crust of Mars? This question is what a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters attempted to answer as it reported on data from a magnitude 4.7 marsquake recorded in May 2022 by NASA's InSight lander, which remains the largest quake ever recorded on another planetary body.As it turns out, this data helped provide estimates of Mars's global crustal thickness, along with a unique discovery regarding the crust in the northern and southern hemispheres, and how the interior of Mars produces its…

Where did the moons of Mars come from? That’s a question scientists still can’t answer. We know that Earth’s moon was likely formed from a giant impact on our planet about 4.5 billion years ago. Some moons in the solar system, such as several of Jupiter’s smaller satellites, appear to be captured asteroids. It remains unclear which of these two formation routes holds true for Mars’s moons, Phobos and Deimos—but we may soon have an answer. A Japanese spacecraft launching next year will attempt to bring samples back from…

Seen from space, regions of Mars around the south pole have a bizarre, pitted "Swiss cheese" appearance. These formations come from alternating massive deposits of CO2 ice and water ice, similar to different layers of a cake.For decades, planetary scientists wondered how this formation was possible, as it was long believed that this layering would not be stable for long periods of time.But in 2020, Peter Buhler, a Research Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, and a team of researchers figured out the dynamics of…

PTI Bern (Switzerland), October 28Vulcanism or volcanic activity still plays an active role in shaping the Martian surface, scientists said after detecting low-frequency quakes in the planet’s innermost part indicating a potentially warm source comparable to molten lava.The scientists analysed a cluster of more than 20 recent marsquakes that originated in the Cerberus Fossae graben system, a region consisting of a series of rifts or…

Mars is well-known for its seasonal dust storms, which can sometimes grow to encompass the entire planet.In June 2018, the dust storms became so severe that they obscured most of the planet's surface, causing NASA to lose contact with Opportunity, which eventually proved fatal to the record-breaking rover.  Understanding these storms and what causes them is critical to ensuring that solar-powered robotic missions continue to operate and future crewed missions can remain safe.Specifically, scientists are looking for…