Wish You Were Here.

ESA’s Mars Express sends back some impressive postcards from Mars. “Over the last five years its stereo, high resolution camera has taken thousands of images of the surface, revealing the planet’s awe inspiring beauty in unprecedented detail.”

How Red Does Your Garden Grow?

“‘There’s nothing about it that would preclude life. In fact, it seems very friendly,’ said mission scientist Samuel P. Kounaves of Tufts University. ‘We were flabbergasted.‘” Hope y’all like asparagus: Early tests by the Mars Phoenix seem to indicate that the Martian soil is more nutrient-rich than anyone expected. “Carbon-based organic material, however, has not been found and may be impossible to detect with the equipment now on Mars.“

Red Rain Coming Down.

“It’s with great pride and a lot of joy I announce today we have found proof that this hard material really is water ice and not some other substance.” Signs have pointed in that direction for awhile now, and particularly since the Phoenix landed. But now, it seems we have really, truly, definitively found ice on Mars. “The next questions to answer are what chemicals, minerals and organic compounds might be mixed in with the water. ‘Just the fact that there’s ice there doesn’t tell you if it’s habitable,’ Smith said. ‘With ice and no food it’s not a habitable zone. We don’t eat rocks — we have to have carbon chain materials that we ingest into our bodies to create new cells and give us energy. That’s what we eat and that’s what has to be there if you’re going to have a habitable zone on Mars.‘”

Ice, Ice, Baby?

“‘We were expecting to find ice within two to six inches of the surface,’ said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in a statement. ‘The thrusters have excavated two to six inches and, sure enough, we see something that looks like ice. It’s not impossible that it’s something else, but our leading interpretation is ice.’” Well, it sure looks like ice. The Phoenix Mars Lander seems to have found its quarry almost immediately after landing. And where there’s water…

Flight of the Phoenix.

“In my dreams it couldn’t go as perfectly as it went tonight, we went right down the middle.” Touchdown: NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, soon to look for water in the Martian Arctic, lands without incident in the Vastitas Borealis plains. Congrats!

Phoenix Rising.

NASA prepares a probe, named Phoenix, to dig for water on Mars. “Upon reaching Mars in May 2008, the spacecraft is to land just as the winter ice begins to recede around the polar cap.”

Red Surf?

New photos released by NASA from the Mars Global Surveyor seem to suggest the possibility of surface water on Mars, which would make any attempt to visit — or colonize — the red planet considerably easier (although, obviously, it’s still no walk in the park.)

Martian Melee.

“‘We certainly have not convinced the community, and that’s been a little bit disappointing,’ said David McKay, a NASA biochemist and leader of the team that started the scientific episode.” Ten years later, CNN summarizes the simmering scientific dispute over a Martian meteorite, and the possible (albeit now seemingly quite unlikely) signs of life within.

Cartography of Mars.

“‘The idea is to look at Mars and not think of it as a mysterious alien place,’ Christensen said.” Along the lines of Google Moon, one can now journey to Google Mars.

Nothing Ever Happens on Mars.

“I think that this mission will re-write the science books on Mars.” More happy space news following the discovery of water on Enceladus: NASA successfully pilots the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter into Martian orbit. “It was picture perfect. We could not have planned it any better.” (Phew…looks like everyone successfully converted to metric this time.)