Mars

NASA has made the first-ever recording of the sounds of Mars. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.

Click on the audio to hear the sounds of Mars:

This Thursday a Mars rover will make its descent to the surface of the Red Planet, in an event known to NASA scientists as the “seven minutes of terror.” The Perseverance mission will land in a dry lakebed and look for signs of ancient life, and also collect rock samples which will be stored in hopes of returning them to Earth one day. Aaron Yazzie is a Navajo mechanical engineer and a member of the NASA team. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with him about his journey from Holbrook to Mars.

Listen to an extended 14-minute version of the interview below, in which Aaron Yazzie discusses the "seven minutes of terror," sending a tiny helicopter to Mars, and the search for life on other planets.

The first-ever Mars mission from the United Arab Emirates will arrive at the Red Planet tomorrow. It’s an orbiter that will map the Martian atmosphere and track its weather patterns, with the help of an instrument built by an Arizona team. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with one of the team members, Christopher Edwards of Northern Arizona University, about what happens next.  

Mars is getting crowded. Eight working spacecraft currently explore its surface or orbit above it; and this summer three new missions are headed for the Red Planet. One of those is an orbiter called Hope, the first-ever Mars mission launched by the United Arab Emirates. It’s carrying an instrument built by scientists at Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with NAU’s Christopher Edwards about his hopes for the latest addition to the Mars fleet. 

Scientists at Northern Arizona University mapped frozen water hidden just below the surface of Mars, with the goal of finding the best spots for future astronauts to visit. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.

A new study coauthored by a Flagstaff scientist suggests it’s not possible to terraform Mars with current technology to make it hospitable for people. It all comes down to the carbon dioxide. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.

Mars Rover Curiosity has dug up organic material in rocks just below the surface of what’s believed to be an ancient Martian lake bed.

Some scientists who study Mars also study Northern Arizona. That’s because our lava fields and water-carved canyons are similar to Martian terrain. It’s a good place to test out whether future colonists on Mars would be able to build houses out of local materials. That’s what astronomer Antonio Paris of St. Petersburg College in Florida is doing. He’s traveling the Colorado Plateau collecting soil samples to see if they’ll make good cement. He told KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny, if works here, it might also work on Mars.

A Flagstaff geologist found eight massive ice sheets on the planet Mars, using images from a NASA spacecraft. It’s the first detailed look at the layered structure of Mars’ ice. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports. 

NASA announced two years ago strange dark streaks on Mars might be formed by liquid water. But a new study led by a Flagstaff geologist says that’s not the case. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.