NASA's Curiosity rover has identified a diverse set of organic molecules on Mars, including a nitrogen-bearing compound similar in structure to DNA precursors. The finding strengthens the case that ancient organic material can survive in the Martian subsurface, though it does not prove past life because the compounds could also come from geology or meteorites. Phys.org reports: The study was led by Amy Williams, Ph.D., a professor of geological sciences at the University of Florida and a scientist on the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rover missions. Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012 to find evidence that ancient Mars had conditions that could support microbial life billions of years ago; the Perseverance rover, which landed in 2021, was sent to look for signs of any ancient life that might have formed. Among the 20-plus chemicals identified by the experiment, Curiosity spotted a nitrogen-bearing molecule with a structure similar to DNA precursors -- a chemical never before spotted on Mars. The rover also identified benzothiophene, a large, double-ringed, sulfurous chemical often delivered to planets by meteorites. "The same stuff that rained down on Mars from meteorites is what rained down on Earth, and it probably provided the building blocks for life as we know it on our planet," Williams said. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

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Après des années d'analyse, les scientifiques ont confirmé la détection de molécules organiques dans un échantillon de Curiosity sur Mars. Ce ne sont (toujours) pas des preuves de vie martienne, mais la Nasa estime que cette découverte est importante.

Longtemps considérée comme maudite, la mission européenne ExoMars voit enfin son horizon s’éclaircir. Épaulé par la NASA, le rover Rosalind Franklin s’envolera fin 2028 à bord du rare et surpuissant Falcon Heavy de SpaceX, prêt à traquer d'anciennes traces de vie sous le sol martien.

La photo de l'éclipse solaire observée par l'équipage d'Artémis II est spectaculaire. Mais cette image partagée par la Nasa est encore plus étonnante qu'on pourrait l'imaginer.

Le 14 décembre 1972, les astronautes de la mission Apollo 17 ont quitté la Lune. Depuis, plus aucun humain n'a foulé le sol du satellite de la Terre. Malgré l'enthousiasme suscité en 1969, personne n'est retourné sur la Lune en plus de 50 ans. Le programme Artémis, dont la première mission habitée s'apprête à décoller, pourrait changer cela.

After decades of studying, this week NASA announced "a major step forward in bringing nuclear power and propulsion from the lab to space." NASA will launch the Space Reactor-1 Freedom, the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft, to Mars before the end of 2028, demonstrating advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Nuclear electric propulsion provides an extraordinary capability for efficient mass transport in deep space and enables high power missions beyond Jupiter where solar arrays are not effective. Steven Sinacore, NASA's program executive for Fission Surface Power who will also oversee the SR-1 Freedom mission, emphasized to CNN that "On the ground the reactor is off. There's no radiation coming from it. It doesn't actually turn on until you're up in space, and that's where the radiation comes from." NASA says they aim to develop the capabilities required "for sustained exploration beyond the Moon and eventual journeys to Mars and the outer solar system." And Space Reactor-1 Freedom will carry a fleet of tiny helicopters (much like Ingenuity) to explore Mars, reports Space.com: Whereas Ingenuity was a technology demonstrator, however, the Skyfall fleet will have concrete tasks. Chief among them is scout: If all goes to plan, the little choppers will help NASA assess the potential of their target area (wherever that happens to be) to support human exploration. The Skyfall helicopters will carry cameras and ground-penetrating radar to scout a future landing site, to understand the slopes and hazards for human-scale landers," Steve Sinacore, the program executive for NASA's Space Reactors Office, said during the briefing. "They will also map and characterize the subsurface water ice to find out where the water ice deposits are, along with the size, depth and other important characteristics," he added... And that might not be the end of the line for SR-1 Freedom; NASA may decide to keep flying the spacecraft out into the solar system after it deploys the Skyfall choppers, according to Sinacore. The mission architecture, like much of NASA's exploration portfolio, is not yet finalized.

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Promis il y a un an par Jared Isaacman, le grand virage nucléaire de la NASA est officiel. Avec le projet Space Reactor-1 Freedom prévu pour 2028, l'agence spatiale américaine compte réduire drastiquement le temps de trajet vers Mars. Une révolution technologique décisive pour protéger la santé des futurs astronautes, et qui s'appuie sur des décennies de recherches théoriques.

Promis il y a un an par Jared Isaacman, le grand virage nucléaire de la NASA est officiel. Avec le projet Space Reactor-1 Freedom prévu pour 2028, l'agence spatiale américaine compte réduire drastiquement le temps de trajet vers Mars. Une révolution technologique décisive pour protéger la santé des futurs astronautes, et qui s'appuie sur des décennies de recherches théoriques.

Promis il y a un an par Jared Isaacman, le grand virage nucléaire de la NASA est officiel. Avec le projet Space Reactor-1 Freedom prévu pour 2028, l'agence spatiale américaine compte réduire drastiquement le temps de trajet vers Mars. Une révolution technologique décisive pour protéger la santé des futurs astronautes, et qui s'appuie sur des décennies de recherches théoriques.

sciencehabit shares a report from Science.org: In The Martian, fictional astronaut Mark Watney survives the wasteland of Mars by growing potatoes in lunar soil -- with a bit of help from human poop. The idea may not be so far-fetched. In a preprint posted this month on bioRxiv, researchers show potatoes can indeed grow in the equivalent of Moon dust, though they need a lot of help from compost found on Earth. To make the discovery, scientists first had to re-create lunar regolith -- the loose, powdery layer that blankets the Moon's surface. To replicate that in the lab, David Handy, a space biologist at Oregon State University (OSU), and his colleagues used a mix of crushed minerals and volcanic ash that matched the chemistry of the Moon. But lunar regolith is entirely devoid of the organic matter that plants need to grow. "Turning an inorganic, inhospitable bucket of glorified sand into something that can support plant growth is complex," says Anna-Lisa Paul, a plant molecular biologist at the University of Florida not involved with the work. So Handy and his colleagues added vermicompost -- organic waste from worms -- into the regolith. They found that a mix with 5% compost allowed the potatoes to grow while still emulating the stressful conditions of the lunar environment. After almost 2 months of growth, the team harvested the tubers, freeze-dried them, and ground them up for further testing. Analysis of the potatoes' DNA showed stress-related genes had been activated. The potatoes also had higher concentrations of copper and zinc than Earth-grown ones, which may make them dangerous for human consumption. The plants' nutritional value, though, was similar to traditional potatoes -- a surprise to the scientists, who expected lower levels of nutrition "because the plants might have been working overtime to overcome certain stressors," Handy says.

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Les météorites sont des roches extraterrestres, prisées des collectionneurs et des férus d'espace. Mais, qu'est-ce qu'une météorite exactement ? Quelle différence entre météorite, météore, météoroïde et bolide ?

Mars 2026 commence, avec un nouveau programme astronomique bien rempli. Le mois du printemps sera marqué par une éclipse lunaire et des planètes visibles à l'œil nu. Voici les dates à retenir.