But part of the problem with the definition - I mean, as an example - is that if you look at Mars - if Mars - if we discovered a Mars-sized object out beyond the orbit of Pluto, it couldn't be a planet, because over the age of the solar system it wouldn't have time to clear its orbit.
Just as Mars -- a desert planet -- gives us insights into global climate change on Earth, the promise awaits for bringing back to life portions of the Red Planet through the application of Earth Science to its similar chemistry, possibly reawakening its life-bearing potential.
"He's promising a trillion-dollar tax cut and a trip to Mars... and he has a half-trillion-dollar deficit, " said Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean.
And in perhaps the week's oddest story, the Dutch nonprofit Mars One announced that it is now accepting applications for a four-person Mars colony with hopes of establishing a permanent settlement on the Red Planet.
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Using a ground-piercing radar sensor aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a team of scientists created 3-D maps of an equatorial region known as Elysium Planitia and the channels that run underneath the plains.
The exhibit also features a console that gives visitors the feeling of flying around Mars and zooming in on its surface features, as well as a Mars terraforming game that runs on a multi-touch table.
To anyone watching from Mars, part-backing a debt issue today would look awfully similar.
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It would be the first time a Mars-bound craft uses the braking maneuver.
Chocolate manufacturing giant Mars has distanced itself from the famous deep-fried Mars bar by seeking a disclaimer.
Data from the Sharad (SHAllow RADar) instrument (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), document that some of these glacial-like features, which you find at Mars' mid-latitudes, have a significant volume of ice left below a surface of rock debris.
The radiation exposure from a Mars journey is similar to getting a full-body CT scan every five or six days, said lead researcher Cary Zeitlin of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo.
The Mars landing was a high-profile gamble by NASA on a novel landing procedure.
When they get back, the space vehicle will hopefully have provided enough data to pinpoint a potential drilling area so it can drill, collect and analyze rock samples using onboard tools -- a feat never-before attempted on Mars.
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This is the first view scientists have had of a fluvial system - one relating to a river or stream -- from the surface of Mars.
Earlier this year, NASA pulled out of an ambitious, joint U.S.-European effort to land a next-generation rover on Mars and eventually return some samples to Earth.
"It happened probably right at the end of the formation of the four terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, " said Craig Agnor, a co-author on the Francis Nimmo study.
It might sound like a weird cross between a hollywood storyline and a Craigslist personal add, but non profit organization Inspiration Mars Foundation is seeking a man and a woman to take part in a 501-day mission to Mars.
Rover mission managers named the outcrop as a tribute to Mars scientist Ronald Greeley (1939-2011), who served as a mission team member and taught planetary science at Arizona State University.
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Because of the time needed for a radio signal from Earth to reach the rover -- about 14 minutes at Mars' current position -- "We don't command the rover with a joystick or a steering wheel in real time, " Tompkins said.
Mars said it receives a 4-to-1 return on investment for its Nascar sponsorship.
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Mars-Jones accepted his prize of a year's supply of potted shrimp at a ceremony in a London pub.
Mars found heart-health benefits with a research blend of gently processed cocoa that is similar to CocoaVia but without the extract added.
Mars-Jones's prize included a golden hatchet buried in a book-shaped cake.
The main source of meteorites, Chinese folklore notwithstanding, is the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, a rough-and-tumble region of our solar system in which would-be planets are upset by Jovian gravity.
The new images -- taken over several years -- reveal the channels which were carved out by flooding over an estimated 500 million year period -- a time when Mars was thought to be cold and arid.
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The scheme has also attracted interest as a possible long-term power source for a manned mission to Mars.
This 2D puzzle-platformer is a wonderful spelunking space-adventure through the caverns of Mars in the year 2097.
Mars also sells Cirku, a 15-calorie packet containing cocoa extract with a fruit flavor that you mix with water.
Starring John Simm, Life On Mars tells the story of a modern-day policeman who finds himself transported to the 1970s.
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Not to say the cast of Veronica Mars is a bunch of homeless do-nothings, but many are less busy than they used to be.
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