NASA’s latest concept rover is a sleek, six-wheeled behemoth that looks uncannily similar to the Batmobile. Recently unveiled at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the futuristic vehicle of four boasts a detachable laboratory that could branch out to look for alien life on Mars. Built to inspire inventive rover designs for the space agency’s…
The first images of the Red Planet were taken on 14th and 15th July, 1965 when Mariner 4 successfully completed the first ever Mars flyby. Today it has become one of the most photographed planets in the solar system, thanks to multiple orbiters, landers and rovers that have been launched over the years. Since 2005,…
The next decade in space exploration is almost exclusively focused on Mars, a planet with atmospheric and surface conditions most conducive to human habitation in the solar system apart from Earth itself. Despite the fact that a trip to and from Venus would likely be 30 to 50-percent shorter in duration than a round trip…
Here at HEXAPOLIS, we have talked quite a bit about the different Mars habitat concepts that designers and scientists have come up over the years. There was the innovative Ouroboros dwelling, conceived by MIT students as part of NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, which is built using the Red Planet's silica reserves. The Sfero House is…
Based on the recent data collected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists have concluded that the planet's lakes and streams actually existed much longer than previously thought. Created by melting snow, these expansive water bodies were still extant nearly a billion years after the end of Mars' 'wet era', according to the new research. (more…)
A year ago, a group of six volunteers embarked on a NASA mission, which required them to stay in isolation inside a special dome-like habitat on the slopes of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano. Designed to replicate the living conditions on Mars, the fourth phase of the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS 4) attempted…
Although deemed impossible only a few centuries ago, space exploration like flight are easily two of mankind’s greatest achievements. In fact, they are glowing exemplars of what the human mind is capable of attaining, when left to its own devices. The outer space has long held an unshakable fascination, originating over 25,000 years ago with…
The universe works in mysterious ways; something that the latest NASA discovery attests to. Astronomers at the space agency have spotted strange patterns of what seem to be dark dunes on the Martian surface. Interestingly, these patterns bear uncanny resemblance to the dots and dashes of Morse code. (more…)
Although only around half the size of Earth, Mars is generating a whole lot of buzz these days, thanks to ongoing research about its surface environment and habitability. Interest in the Red Planet has soared, with astronomers revealing it is only just emerging from a 400,000-year-old ice age. What is more, NASA recently discerned the…
Mars' surface may have been carved up by two, powerful tsunamis that took place billions of years ago. As the scientists point out, these killer waves might have been the result of meteor crashes that rocked the Martian surface. The study, according to the researchers, provides further evidence that the Red Planet once possessed oceans,…