Because of the absence of liquid water on Mars’ surface today, those rusty red minerals were thought to arise from dry iron oxides present in the dust, such as hematite. But new analysis of ...

Science News sponsorship position. “Combining the two studies, we can imagine an early Mars with abundant liquid water on the surface, to the point of forming seas or oceans, in a generally cold ...

InSight landed on Mars in November 2018 and was charged with digging into the Martian topsoil, listening to winds and dust devils on the planet’s surface, and—perhaps most productively ...

Scientists may have solved mystery of Mars' red color Mars' surface is covered by iron oxide minerals in the dust. One of those minerals is ferrihydrite, an iron oxide, which is most responsible ...

Until now, its role in Mars' surface composition was not well understood, but this new research suggests that it could be an important part of the dust that blankets the planet’s surface.

When a mudflat crumbles on Earth, or an ice sheet splinters on one of Jupiter's moons (Europa), or an ancient lakebed breaks ...

Water once existed in abundance of at the surface of Mars. How much of that water has been stored in the planet's crust is still unclear, according to a new analysis.

This discovery is intriguing because ferrihydrite typically forms rapidly in the presence of cool water — meaning it must have originated when liquid water still existed on Mars' surface.

But today Mars is cold and dry, with most water now located below the surface. Understanding how much water is stored offers critical information for energy exploration, as well as life ...