io9

Will Phoenix Mars Rover Disappear Like the Last Mars Polar Lander?

What happened to Polar Lander, the last Mars rover that NASA tried to land in the Martian polar region, where it hopes that the Phoenix rover will touch down on May 25? The mysterious fate of the lander that simply disappeared moments before reaching Mars has been the subject of both scientific and UFO-logy debates. … Continued

io9Books & Comics

io9 Talks to Jason McNamara About Martian Outlaws and Pop Culture Gods

In the year 3535, Mars is in pretty bad shape. Its proud past as a vacation spot for the rich and famous long forgotten, stripped of its natural resources, the red planet has become a home for – as Cher would say – gypsies, tramps and thieves who think that our pop culture is their … Continued

io9

US Army Sargeant Volunteers Unit to be First Colonial Marines

Being a member of the US military in Afghanistan takes it’s toll after a few years. So last week, Sergeant First Class William Ruth of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division proposed an alternative mission for his soldiers: let them be the first humans to colonize another planet. In his letter (below) to an editor at … Continued

io9

The Ninteenth Century Madman Who Invented Martians

He was the man who launched a thousand imaginary rocketships to Mars — in the nineteenth century, before anybody knew the word “Martian” and War of the Worlds hadn’t been written yet. Percival Lowell, a wealthy Bostonian, spent his youth traveling Japan and Korea before having a nervous breakdown and recovering by falling in love … Continued

ScienceSpace & Spaceflight

NASA Releases Dirty Photos of Spirit Rover Solar Panels

Hey Pig Pen. Yeah, you, the Mars Spirit Rover with the red Martian dust all over your solar panels. We’re filing a post on a bathtub later today, so why don’t you take the hint and use one? What’s that? You’re millions of miles away and potable water may or may not be somewhere on … Continued

io9

NASA Mission to a NEO: Bad Idea

Ever since the Columbia disaster, NASA’s been hurting for some good press in the crewed spaceflight program. Agency scientists think they have the answer — sending a crewed mission to a Near Earth Object (NEO) once the new Orion spacecraft begins missions in 2015. What are they thinking?! It’s hard to imagine a worse approach … Continued

io9

Suicide Mission to Mars? Astrobiologists say “No Thanks”

Astrobiologists seem to have trouble putting their money where their mouths are. Generally among the most ardent supporters of planetary exploration, around 2/3 of them got cold feet yesterday at the Astrobiology Science Conference 2008. During a talk entitled “A One-way Mission to Mars,” famous cosmologist Paul Davies asked the audience who among them would … Continued

io9

Mars in the Nineteenth Century

Using telescopes, astronomers have been mapping the surface of Mars in surprising detail for over 100 years. This map of the entire Martian globe, showing everything from Mare Australe to Mare Boreum, was made in 1890. Now you can check a satellite photo to see how accurate it really was. Here’s a recent satellite photo … Continued

Tech News

Russian Monkeys May Get to Mars First

Forget about the Constellation missions to Mars, because the first Earthlings set to arrive to the Red Planet may be monkeys: macaques from the Sochi Institute of Medical Primatology, who may get back as fully grown primate overlords, or just prove that humans would be able to resist the 17-month trip in weightlessness and isolation, … Continued

io9

Dunes of Mars

In yet another cool image from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter near Mars, we see these dunes on the planet’s surface. This image comes from the Hellespontus region of Mars, where sand from local mesas has been molded into these shapes by high intensity winds. No word yet on whether the famous … Continued

io9

Earthlings’ Next Home: Phobos?

NASA scientists have been arguing for years that Martian moons Phobos and Deimos may be the best place to in the solar system for humans to colonize. Some would argue even better than our own Moon. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera snapped two awesome color shots of what might be humanity’s next home during … Continued

Tech News

Earth’s First Close Encounter of the Alien Kind Will Be More Toaster Than Number Six

Forget little green men, Vulcans or super-sexy Number Six’s slinking about the ‘verse in little red cocktail dresses—some scientists say our first encounter with E.T. will likely involve a simple robot. For proof, says Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, you need only to look at our own species’ advances in robotics. But … Continued

io9

Please Help Us Send Google To Mars

If only today’s announcement from Google and Virgin were true. Supposedly Google and Virgin Inc. are teaming up to create Virgle, a scheme to settle Mars by about 2015, possibly because Mars is the last place Google can keep its server farms the right temperature. In this video, Google founders Sergey and Larry ask you … Continued

io9

The Triumphant Journeys of Martian Robots

Since 1960 we’ve been attempting to explore the red planet, and along the way there have been countless failures and lost spacecraft that attest to just how hard it is to fly those 35 million miles from here to there. However, there have also been success stories, like the twin rovers Opportunity and Spirit, who … Continued

ScienceSpace & Spaceflight

NASA Leaving Spirit Mars Rover to Die Due to Budget Cuts

Sad news today from NASA: Spirit, the Mars rover, is perfectly functional and waiting for instructions that it’ll never receive on a sunny hillside on the red planet. It’s being left to die due to budget cuts. UPDATE: Looks like NASA has changed their mind. Physorg reports that “it has rescinded a letter that recommended … Continued

io9

Meet the First Realistic Martian Woman

What would we have to do to our bodies if we wanted to live on Mars? io9 consulted scientists, our imaginations, and a designer, and came up with the most realistic-possible portrait of a Martian colonist who might truly exist on the Red Planet in 100 years. She’s really tall, doesn’t have to wear a … Continued

Tech News

Air Force Predictions for 2063 (1963)

The 1963 book, 2063 A.D., includes the predictions of Brigadier General Irving L. Branch. Branch was a commander at the Air Force Flight Test Center and predicted that by 2063 exploration of the near planets (Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn) will have been accomplished with manned vehicles. He also predicted that the moon and Mars … Continued

Tech News

Orion Crew Test Module Timelapse Build

This timelapse video shows the construction of the first Orion crew module, the spacecraft that will take humanity to the moon and Mars. As you can see, this version is not the full ship, as it lacks all computer, engine and support systems, not to talk about the proton torpedoes and turbolasers. However, the Apollo-style … Continued

io9

Cocktails in Space on “Your Trip to Mars,” 1952

Movies about the red planet may be currently on the wane, but back in 1952, Mars still fascinated the general public. In August of that year, Major Alexander P. de Seversky imagined “Your Trip to Mars” for readers of Pageant magazine. “The date, while still somewhat hypothetical, is certainly well before the year 2000 A.D.,” … Continued

ScienceSpace & Spaceflight

A One-Way, One-Person Mission to Mars: Who Wants In?

Would you go on a mission to Mars? What about if it was a one-way mission? And you were by yourself? Yeah, that changes things a bit. Well, that’s exactly what former NASA engineer Jim McClane suggests, saying that it’s worth considering and removes many of the hurdles keeping us from the Red Planet now. … Continued