Baking the Rover is Not an Option
The next-generation Mars rover will visit the Red Planet to sniff out the smallest traces of organic material – the building blocks of life. Trouble is, the Mars Science Laboratory is made from several kilograms of organic material from Earth. How will mission scientists keep the martian samples clean, and distinguish which molecules are from Mars, and which are from Earth?

Life at the Boundaries
Scientists have found unique microbes living in environments where life was not known before. Both communities - beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and at the floor of the Mediterranean - could have an effect on the global carbon cycle.

Silica Shock Waves
Astronomers have discovered tiny crystals in planet forming disks that indicate shock waves may play a role in planetary formation. The study sheds new light on the evolution of our own solar system.

Carbonate Conundrum
NASA’s Phoenix lander mission is now over, and scientists are analyzing the data collected from its various experiments. Phoenix's discovery of carbonates in the frozen northern soil of Mars indicates the area once could have had liquid water. However, there is no way to tell if the carbonates formed locally, or if they came from somewhere else on the planet and blew in with the wind.

Solar System Snapshot
Astronomers have captured the first infrared pictures of an entire solar system. So far, only three planets have been spotted - and they orbit a star that is only fifty percent larger than our sun.

Seeing a Distant Planet
Astronomers have captured the first visible-light photograph of an extrasolar planet. The planet is about the size of Jupiter, and scientists believe that the system in which it resides could harbor more worlds.

Earth's Mineral Evolution
New research shows that minerals on Earth have co-evolved with life. Up to two thirds of known minerals can be linked to biological activity, highlighting the important connection between the biosphere and the geology of Earth.

A Divining Rod for Mars
Mars may have water underground but exactly where it is located is not known. An instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory will use neutrons to help spy for the water.

Phoenix Stops Phoning Home
After five months, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has stopped communicating. With the seasonal decline of sunlight in the martian arctic, Phoenix no longer has enough power to charge its batteries.

India Arrives at the Moon
Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the moon, has successfully arrived in orbit around the moon. The satellite is now prepared to return valuable information about the lunar environment in preparation for future human missions.