Mars
Category archives for Mars
Go Home Mars Rock, You’re Drunk! (Interplanetary Rock Makes Selfie)
Posted by Greg Laden on January 21, 2014 
Look at the rock on the right, and the lack of rock on the left. (Our left.) It is being reported that this jelly-donut size rock appeared out of nowhere on the Martian surface between photographs. There are several possible explanations for this. 1) It grew there. 2) It was ejected from a steam vent…
Actual Mars Rover Press Conference and Release
Posted by Greg Laden on December 3, 2012 
Despite rumors to the contrary, NASA actually does real, non-Parody science! And the famous press conference about Mars Rover happened today, and it was exactly as I predicted. Very, very interesting. PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover has used its full array of instruments to analyze Martian soil for the first time, and found…
NASA Mars Rover Press Results Leaked!
Posted by Greg Laden on December 3, 2012 As you know, NASA is planning a press conference later today, but you don’t have to wait for the big news. It was leaked, and I’ve got it. The NASA Curiosity Mars Rover has discovered something interesting and rather enigmatic. I understand NASA will be asking your help in trying to identify what it is.…
NASA Press Conference Will Announce Voyager Captured by Alien Craft!
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2012 
I’m kidding, I’m kidding, NASA did not say that. But I do think people need to take it down a notch with this whole blaming NASA for doing their press conferences wrong. As far as I know, the Curiosity Martian Laboratory Robot recently approached a non nondescript pile of dirt, analyzed the bejesus out of…
Did Curiosity Find an Artifact on Mars?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2012 Quite possibly. Here’s a picture of it: There’s a pretty good chance that this is a manufactured object and not some natural thingie that formed on the surface of Mars by Mars-esque natural processes. But, if that’s true, then there’s a pretty good chance that the object, formed by an intelligent being, is just some…
Which is more likely to be real, Ghosts or Martians?
Posted by Greg Laden on September 30, 2012 Do ghosts really exist? Is there life on Mars? Despite what one might think, what with large class sizes and the homogenization of culture caused by TV and Fast Food, the fact remains that clumps of high school students organized into classes can vary widely from one another. Each year has its own characteristics, and…
Curiosity Animation
Posted by Greg Laden on September 3, 2012 The “Next Media” animation company used to send me several animations a week (a few a day for a while) but then they were bought out by a major media outlet (can’t remember which one) so most of the emails I get from them now are about how great they are, rather than providing much…
OK, Now they’re just playing around with the hardware…
Posted by Greg Laden on August 27, 2012 Today, NASA did something never before done, and well, not all that impressive. Charles Bolden of NASA spoke some words into a microscope, and this voice stream was sent to the Curiosity Rover on Mars, which then sent it back. Hey, I just spent the last 15 minutes swapping monitors around on my computers, and…
Curious about Curiosity?
Posted by Greg Laden on August 24, 2012 Here’s the last few news reports: August 21: NASA’s Curiosity Studies Mars Surroundings, Nears Drive NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has been investigating the Martian weather around it and the soil beneath it, as its controllers prepare for the car-size vehicle’s first drive on Mars. The rover’s weather station, provided by Spain, checks air temperature, ground…
It worked!
Posted by Greg Laden on August 19, 2012 Never mind the heat shield, the parachute, the thruster-guided landing, all of that. Curiosity went to Mars to carry out experiments using Big Science Gear and now it is confirmed that at least one set of gear works! The method is laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, in which very high power but short burst laser light is…