Students make business plan for getting to Mars
Several dozen MIT students are writing a business plan for a $50 billion mission to Mars they envision as a joint venture between NASA and ThinkMars, a company the students hope to start.The student...
View ArticleMIT researchers help create best-yet map of Mars terrain
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Researchers have known for some time that Mars has a deep dent in its southern hemisphere. Until recent measurements yielded a highly accurate, global map of the red planet's...
View ArticleMars conference slated for October 1-3 at MIT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass--Astronauts, scientists, and other people interested in the human exploration of Mars will convene October 1-3 at MIT for "Mars Week," a student-run conference.The conference, designed...
View ArticleBuzz Aldrin proposes a future for space travel
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin (PhD 1963) presented his vision for the future of space travel and planetary colonization at Mars Week, a student-run conference held at MIT on October 1-3. Dr. Aldrin,...
View ArticleSpace mission will explore effect of Mars' gravity on mammals
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Students and researchers at MIT are designing a space mission to learn about the effects of Mars-level gravity using pint-sized astronauts.The 15 mouse-trounauts will orbit Earth for...
View ArticleLeapin' over the Moon to Mars?
President Bush's announcement on Jan. 14 of a new NASA initiative for sending humans to Mars via a moon base sent reporters scurrying for experts who could comment on the feasibility of such a...
View ArticleIt's time to rock and rove for MIT's Grotzinger
A geologist's concept of time is slow, layered and measured in tens of thousands of years, but geologist John Grotzinger is growing accustomed to a new measurement -- sols.He traveled 3,000 miles by...
View ArticleMaria Zuber joins presidential space exploration commission
Professor Maria T. Zuber, head of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, has been appointed to the Presidential Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration...
View ArticleGrotzinger describes evidence of Mars water
Rocks on Mars' surface were once "soaked in water," NASA announced yesterday in a press conference laying out the latest findings from the Opportunity rover mission.MIT's Professor John Grotzinger, a...
View ArticleConsider one-way Mars mission, Gavin says
The following article was originally published Feb. 10 in "What Matters," a monthly alumni opinion column on the MIT Alumni Association web site. It is reprinted here with permission. For more...
View ArticleMars work gets a lift from MIT
Louis Pasteur once said about science that "chance favors only the prepared mind." His words rang true for Professor John Grotzinger this year, when he began analyzing images of Mars rocks for...
View ArticleMIT-NASA team to test first interplanetary laser communication link
A NASA-MIT Lincoln Laboratory team will forge the first laser communication link between Mars and Earth. This unique experiment, part of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, will greatly benefit the...
View ArticleRobots serve humans on land, in sea and air
MIT's version of the "robotoddler" is just the latest MIT entry in the world of robots that can move themselves in a variety of settings. There's still a long way to go before today's robots evolve...
View ArticleSo cool: Study shows Mars in 4-billion-year freeze
The current mean temperature on the equator of Mars is a blustery -69 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists have long thought that the Red Planet was once temperate enough for water to have existed on the...
View ArticleMIT researchers visit Mars on Earth
At 75 degrees north latitude, Devon Island lies high above the Arctic Circle, a few hundred miles from the magnetic North Pole. A true polar desert, it is also the largest uninhabited island on Earth....
View ArticleIAP: Life on Mars could be human, someday
If space is the final frontier, the first step in colonizing it is a one-way trip to Mars for 12 dedicated settlers, says an MIT graduate student who works for the nonprofit Mars Homestead...
View ArticleMars group launches high-flying fundraiser
Those who cannot afford the million-dollar price tag attached to space tourism will be happy to learn that at least their names--and their logos--will be able to travel into space for a much smaller...
View ArticleMIT observations give precise estimate of Mars surface ice
An MIT-led team of planetary scientists has found that the southern pole of Mars contains the largest deposit of frozen water in the inner solar system, outside of Earth.The new results show that...
View ArticleMIT to lead ambitious lunar mission
MIT will lead a $375 million mission to map the moon's interior and reconstruct its thermal history, NASA announced this week.The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission will be led by...
View ArticleMIT, Harvard offer solution to Mars enigma
Planetary scientists have puzzled for years over an apparent contradiction on Mars. Abundant evidence points to an early warm, wet climate on the red planet, but there's no sign of the widespread...
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