-
The first observations were made of Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons.
CNN: Mars' geology 'more like Earth than the moon'
-
The probe was built to land on the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, and scoop up rock to bring back to Earth.
BBC: Signal picked up from Russia's stranded Mars probe
-
With its superior lift capability, the SLS will expand our reach in the solar system and allow us to explore cis-lunar space, near-Earth asteroids, Mars and its moons and beyond.
ENGADGET: NASA's Space Launch System to rocket into deep space, unravel the universe's mysteries (video)
-
"This new heavy-lift launch vehicle will make it possible for explorers to reach beyond our current limits, to nearby asteroids, Mars and its moons, and to destinations even farther across our solar system, " William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.
MSN: Giant deep-space rocket passes key test - Technology & science - Space - Space.com | NBC News
-
Robotic explorers have found evidence of water, a key ingredient for life on Mars and on the moons of Jupiter.
CNN: Bush: 'It is time for America to take the next steps' in space
-
Better, say the doubters, to spend the money on scientific missions, such as Hubble's successors, and leave exploration to the kind of robotic missions that have successfully roved about on the surfaces of Mars and Titan, one of Saturn's moons.
ECONOMIST: The space shuttle
-
If the question is life - and that's one of the most profound questions we can ask, he says - the answer is almost certainly not Mars or an asteroid, but rather the icy moons orbiting distant planets like Saturn and Jupiter.
BBC: Is Nasa looking in the wrong place for life?
-
When Dr Koechlin and his team pointed it at Mars they could distinguish that planet's two tiny moons a task which would require a Newtonian telescope with a mirror at least 30cm across.
ECONOMIST: The search for alien life
-
The ocean on Earth is thought to have been where life started, so these discoveries have led optimists to wonder whether the moons of Jupiter, rather than the deserts of Mars, may yield the first signs of extraterrestrial life.
ECONOMIST: Galileo and Jupiter
-
And new software, plus the ability to vary the projected sizes and brightnesses of planets and moons, makes it possible to simulate the sky from anywhere in the solar system: to see earthrise from Mars, for example, or to watch Jupiter's moons rise and set from a vantage point just above the gas giant's cloud-tops.
ECONOMIST: The joys of indoor star-gazing