News Archive / Tagged: Martian climate

• Martian dust storms may follow predictable patterns

  Laurel KornfeldOctober 7th, 2016

  Global dust storms on Mars may follow a predictable pattern, with an active period likely to begin at the end of this month, according to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) planetary scientist James Shirley.

• New test finds no damp soil at Mars’ seasonal dark streaks

  Jim SharkeyAugust 29th, 2016

  A new study using data collected by NASA's Mars Odyssey mission indicates that there is little water to be found in seasonal dark streaks on Mars. The dark streaks, known as recurring slope lineae or RSL, have been a hot topic in planetary exploration since they were first discovered in 2011.

• Curiosity finishes second Martian year with weather report

  Jim SharkeyMay 14th, 2016

  NASA's Curiosity Mars rover completed its second Martian year at Gale Crater on Wednesday, May 11. The mission's science team commemorated this important milestone by issuing a weather report of the rover's observations of two full cycles of Martian seasons. Having data on at least two seasonal cycles on Mars helps to distinguish seasonal effects from sporadic events.

• MAVEN researchers find contributor to Martian climate change

  Joe LatrellNovember 8th, 2015

  NASA researchers published scientific findings from their work studying the Martian atmosphere in the November 5, 2015 issues of the journals Science and Geophysical Research Letters. Their investigations helped to show that the solar wind is the main contributor to Martian climate change by stripping away the planet's atmosphere. This startling discovery was made using the space agency's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft currently in orbit above the dusty Martian terrain.