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The grey mineral on Mars that points to a watery world may be a mirage, say researchers. Grey hematite, the main reason the rover Opportunity was sent to Meridiani Planum on the Red Planet, may in fact be another form of hematite, scientists say, and therefore not such a strong clue to water after all. The debate hinges on how scientists have interpreted data from Opportunity's spectrometer, a device that analyses the rainbows or spectra of light reflected from the mineral's surface. U.S. researcher Dr Laurel Kirkland of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston and team published their work...

NASA to Announce 'Significant Findings' of Water on Mars Tuesday By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer posted: 03:30 pm ET 01 March 2004 NASA will hold a press conference Tuesday to announce "significant findings" about water on Mars based on evidence from its Opportunity Mars rover. "It's going to be the most significant science results that we've had from the rovers, and it's bearing on their primary mission," NASA spokesperson Don Savage told SPACE.com. That mission is to find signs of water that might support life. Will the announcement change how we think about Mars? "Anything of a significant...

Curiosity discovered high levels of manganese oxide minerals in rocks investigated at a location called “Windjana” during the spring of 2014. Manganese-oxide minerals require abundant water and strongly oxidizing conditions to form. “Researchers found high levels of manganese oxides by using a laser-firing instrument on the rover. This hint of more oxygen in Mars’ early atmosphere adds to other Curiosity findings — such as evidence about ancient lakes — revealing how Earth-like our neighboring planet once was,” NASA reported. The newly announced results stem from results obtained from the rovers mast mounted ChemCam or Chemistry and Camera laser firing instrument....

This image shows a digital terrain model of the crater investigated by the University of Arizona's Ali Bramson. Image released August 26, 2015. A giant slab of ice as big as California and Texas combined lurks just beneath the surface of Mars between its equator and north pole, researchers say. This ice may be the result of snowfall tens of millions of years ago on Mars, scientists added. Mars is now dry and cold, but lots of evidence suggests that rivers, lakes and seas once covered the planet. Scientists have discovered life virtually wherever there is liquid water on...

Images reveal 'sea of ice' near Mars' equator Associated Press AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Images relayed by a European space probe reveal the existence of a sea of ice close to the equator of Mars, scientists said Tuesday at a conference in the Netherlands. The existence of water or ice would significantly increase the chance microscopic life may also be found on Mars. The evidence comes from photographs - not yet published - taken last year by the European Space Agency's Mars Express probe currently orbiting the red planet. Scientists have long theorized there was once water on Mars and data...

Microscopic Imager Non-linearized Full frame EDR acquired on Sol 28 of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum at approximately at approximately 12:26:38 Mars local solar time, Microscopic Imager dust cover commanded to be OPEN. NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS VIEW FULL IMAGE "stereo" strip . . . Just below center and just to the left of center notice what appears to be a fractured "spherule". Notice the dark center. This is STRONGLY suggestive of growth by accretion - an increase by natural growth or by gradual external addition . . . a process FREQUENTLY associated with a water environment. This is MY interpretation. But the...