Browse Archive

  • Changes in Ripples on Martian Dunes in Nili Patera

    Mars Dunes: On the Move?

    03.04.10 - Mars has diversity. In at least one area, Martian sand dunes are actively migrating. In another, they have been stationary for 100,000 years.

  • Dunes and Inverted Crater in Arabia Terra

    NASA Mars Orbiter Speeds Past Data Milestone

    03.03.10 - NASA's newest Mars orbiter has passed a data-volume milestone unimaginable a generation ago and still difficult to fathom - 100 terabits.

  • A radar on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has detected widespread deposits of glacial ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars.

    Radar Map of Buried Martian Ice Adds to Climate Record

    03.02.10 - Extensive radar mapping of the middle-latitude region of northern Mars shows that thick masses of buried ice are quite common beneath protective coverings of rubble.

  • Terrain model of Mars' Mojave Crater

    Enhanced 3D Model of Mars Crater Edge Shows Ups and Downs

    02.17.10 - A dramatic 3D Mars view based on terrain modeling from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data shows "highs and lows" of Mojave Crater.

  • Perspective View of Layered Mound in Gale Crater, Mars

    Layers in a Mars Crater Record a History of Changes

    02.11.10 - Hundreds of exposed rock layers near the center of a Martian crater reveal a record of major environmental changes on Mars billions of years ago.

  • Students, researchers and others can view Mars maps using a new online tool, called HiWish.

    Public Invited To Pick Pixels on Mars

    01.20.10 - Scientists Taking Suggestions on Where to Image the Red Planet Using NASA Satellite

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Resumes Observations

    12.16.09 - Researchers are receiving new science data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter after the spacecraft's six science instruments resumed observations today.

  • Variation in light-toned deposits in a Martian trough

    Deposits in Martian Trough Point to Complex Hydrological Past

    12.15.09 - Variations in composition of light-toned deposits in troughs on Mars suggest a diversity of water-related processes, based on analysis of observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Spacecraft Out of Safe Mode

    12.08.09 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter today has been taken out of the precautionary "safe mode" it had been in since August.

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Team Plans Uplink of Protective Files

    11.24.09 - The team operating NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter plans to uplink protective files to the spacecraft next week as one step toward resuming the orbiter's research and relay activities.

  • New Impact Craters on Mars

    MRO Sees Ice on Mars Exposed by Meteor Impacts

    09.24.09 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars.

  • Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for mapping underground ice-rich layers of the north polar layered terrain on Mars.

    Radar Map of Buried Mars Layers Matches Climate Cycles

    09.22.09 - New, three-dimensional imaging of Martian north-polar ice layers by a radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is consistent with theoretical models of Martian climate swings during the past few million years.

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Preventive Care Continues; Science on Hold

    09.04.09 - During analysis of four safe-mode events this year, engineers for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project have identified a vulnerability to the effects of subsequent events.

  • image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows gullies near the edge of Hale crater on southern Mars.

    Thousands of New Images Show Mars in High Resolution

    09.02.09 - Thousands of newly released images from more than 1,500 telescopic observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a wide range of gullies, dunes, craters, geological layering and other features on the Red Planet.

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Orbiter in Safe Mode Increases Communication Rate

    08.28.09 - Engineers for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project have stepped up the communication rate being received from the orbiter as an early step in the process of determining why the spacecraft spontaneously rebooted its computer on Aug. 26

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Mars Orbiter Puts Itself in Safe Mode Again

    08.26.09 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter put itself into a safe mode Wednesday morning, Aug. 26, for the fourth time this year, while maintaining spacecraft health and communications.

  • This image of Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Mars Orbiter Shows Angled View of Martian Crater

    08.12.09 - The high-resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned a dramatic oblique view of the Martian crater that a rover explored for two years.

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Science Operations Resume

    08.10.09 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been restored to full operations, making intensive science observations of Mars, four days after it unexpectedly switched to its backup computer.

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Orbiter Safe After Computer Swap

    08.07.09 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is in safe mode, a precautionary standby status, and in communications with Earth after unexpectedly switching to its backup computer on Thurs. Aug. 6.

  • artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Mars Orbiter Resumes Science Observations

    06.09.09 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is examining Mars again with its scientific instruments after successfully transitioning out of a precautionary standby mode triggered by an unexpected June 3 rebooting of its computer.