NASA braces for 'terror' in Mars landing

The biggest, baddest space rover ever built for exploring an alien planet is nearing its August 6 landing on Mars, and the US space agency is anxious for success despite huge risks.

NASA's Mars rover two weeks from landing

(Phys.org) -- NASA's most advanced planetary rover is on a precise course for an early August landing beside a Martian mountain to begin two years of unprecedented scientific detective work. However, getting the Curiosity ...

Mars goal: nail the landing

Three weeks from Sunday night, an amiable, whip-smart engineer named Ray Baker will be staring into his computer screen at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, hopeful and helpless - or, as he puts it, "sweating blood."

Life's molecules could lie within reach of Mars Curiosity rover

Stick a shovel in the ground and scoop. That's about how deep scientists need to go in order to find evidence for ancient life on Mars, if there is any to be found, a new study suggests. That's within reach of Curiosity, ...

NASA's Mars rover zeroes in on August landing (Update)

NASA's Mars rover, nicknamed Curiosity, is zeroing in on its August landing on the Red Planet and aims to touch down closer than expected to its mountain target, the US space agency said Monday.

Organic carbon from Mars, but not biological

(Phys.org) -- Molecules containing large chains of carbon and hydrogen--the building blocks of all life on Earth--have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day. While these molecules have previously ...

WSU astrobiologist proposes fleet of probes to seek life on Mars

A Washington State University astrobiologist is leading a group of 20 scientists in calling for a mission to Mars with "a strong and comprehensive life detection component." At the heart of their proposal is a small fleet ...

Michigan scientists bring special expertise to new rover mission

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two University of Michigan planetary scientists are vital members of the science team of the Mars Science Laboratory, which will study whether the Red Planet was ever capable of harboring microbial life. ...

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