Free Spirit! Video from JPL
For the past two months, one of the Mars rovers has been stuck in some loose sand. This video shows scientists testing out different ways that they could try to get the rover out and moving again. It’s really important for them to test things out before actually trying it, or they could end up getting the rover stuck for good! It’s hard to drive, especially when you’re millions of miles away!
Want to explore Mars? You don’t need to build a multimillion dollar satellite or send a rover. Instead all you need is a web browser and Google Mars:
Click on the image to try!
Also, if you have the latest version of Google Earth on your computer, you can access Google Mars in 3D! Highly recommended!
The Cluster B classes have been studying the planets in our own solar system and finding out why Earth is so unique and special. But could there be planets somewhere else in the universe that we could live on? Recently scientists announced that they have found some…
The red glowing object is Gliese 581, a red dwarf star. There are several rocky planets orbiting it, each named for the star – Gliese 581c, Gliese 581d, and Gliese 581e. Last week, scientists announced that “d” and “e” were the planets most like Earth that have ever been found.
Here’s a video showing the whole system:
This next video shows some planets that orbit around other stars, that could be like our own planet Earth. These stars are very far away and it is currently too hard to take a picture of them, much less go there. The video also talks about why Venus and Mars didn’t end up having life, the way Earth did.
I was so excited about the oceans upgrade to Google Earth that I almost missed the even more amazing update – Google Mars is now 3D and available through Google Earth.
What we’ve all been waiting for! Scientists have known for years that there might be water on Mars in the form of ice, but this is the first time that we have tested actual soil and found water in it. The discovery was announced yesterday, along with news that Phoenix will add five more weeks to its mission and end in September, not August.
Current thinking is that if there is no water on a planet, there cannot be life. On our planet, wherever there is water, there IS life. No one is expecting to find little green men here – we are talking about tiny bacteria or single celled life forms, not Martians with flying saucers. We’re also more likely to find evidence of PAST life than current living things.
But, we have a reason to look! Congrats to JPL and NASA for this discovery.
Exciting news from Phoenix, the robot sent to the North Pole of Mars to dig for ice and liquid water. Ice has been found! At first scientists were not sure whether the photos showed ice or salt. But when the mystery item disappeared into the air, they knew it had to be water. Water can’t stay liquid on Mars because there is too little air pressure. It just boils away.
So now we know for sure that there is ice on Mars… what else is under the surface waiting for us to dig up?
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