Mars Curiosity Rover
NASA is mostly getting an unpaid vacation this week, as the federal government shutdown has resulted in the space agency's shuttering - except for Mission Control in Houston, which is keeping the astronauts in orbit afloat. The shutdown is an unpleasant birthday gift on the 55th anniversary of NASA's first operational status, on October 1, 1958.
NASA has found water in the soil on the surface of Mars in the first scoop of soil analyzed by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover. The exciting results were published in the journal Science on Thursday.
NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, has completed its longest trek yet, according to CBS News, driving 464 feet to the top of Panorama Point, where it took photographs of Waypoint 1, a collection of interesting rocks en route to the vehicle's final destination: Mount Sharp, a three-mile-high mountain.
In what can only be described as a case of planetary balding, new research indicates that Mars once had a thick, lush atmosphere at one point in time that slowly thinned over time.
This has been a big week for Mars news, with some great (and not so great) videos coming out, made from the images provided by NASA's Curiosity rover. The news this week ranges from the groundbreaking to the unwelcome to the ridiculous. Let's start with the groundbreaking: Mars definitely once had water flowing over its surface.
