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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
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The first observations were made of Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons.
CNN: Mars' geology 'more like Earth than the moon'
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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
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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
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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