European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 7 February | 94 comments (94 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Living off the Planet (none / 0)

ESA Portal - ESA's Mars Express radar gives strong evidence for former Mars ocean

ESA's Mars Express has returned strong evidence for an ocean once covering part of Mars. Using radar, it has detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor within the boundaries of previously identified, ancient shorelines on Mars.

The MARSIS radar was deployed in 2005 and has been collecting data ever since. Jérémie Mouginot, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG) and the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues have analysed more than two years of data and found that the northern plains are covered in low-density material.
"We interpret these as sedimentary deposits, maybe ice-rich," says Dr Mouginot. "It is a strong new indication that there was once an ocean here."
The existence of oceans on ancient Mars has been suspected before and features reminiscent of shorelines have been tentatively identified in images from various spacecraft. But it remains a controversial issue.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Mon Feb 6th, 2012 at 03:58:02 PM EST
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BBC News - ExoMars cooperation between Nasa and Esa near collapse

The American space agency looks set to pull the plug on its joint missions to Mars with the European Space Agency.
Nasa has told Esa it is now highly unlikely it will be able to contribute to the endeavours, which envision an orbiting satellite and a big roving robot being sent to the Red Planet.
The US has yet to make a formal statement on the matter but budget woes are thought to lie behind its decision.
Europe is now banking on a Russian partnership to keep the missions alive.
A public announcement by Nasa of its withdrawal from the ExoMars programme, as it is known in Europe, will probably come once President Obama's 2013 Federal Budget Request is submitted.
This request, expected in the coming days, will give the US space agency a much clearer view of how much money it has to implement its various projects.
"The Americans have indicated that the possibility of them participating is now low - very low. It's highly unlikely," said Alvaro Gimenez, Esa's director of science.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Mon Feb 6th, 2012 at 04:00:16 PM EST
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European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 7 February | 94 comments (94 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)