Posted: Fri, May 31 1:14 PM ET (1714 GMT)
Exposure to cosmic radiation on missions to Mars could exceed NASA's current limits for astronauts, scientists reported this week. Researchers used data collected by an instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) during its voyage from Earth to Mars last year to examiner the radiation environment astronauts would be exposed to on missions to the Red Planet. The data indicated the radiation was dominated by galactic cosmic rays, highly energetic particles that cannot be easily blocked by shielding. The MSL data indicated that the radiation exposure on a crewed Mars mission would likely exceed NASA's current exposure limits, which limit exposures to levels that would increase the risk of cancer by three percent. Decreasing the travel time is considered the best way to deal with the radiation exposure concern, a solution that would require advanced propulsion technology.

Related Links:

•  Washington Post article
•  New York Times article
•  Science News article
•  New Scientist article
•  NASA press release

Posted: Sat, May 18 10:02 AM ET (1402 GMT)
A nine-year-old Mars rover has broken the NASA record for the longest distance driven on the surface of another world. NASA announced this week that the Opportunity Mars rover has now driven 35.76 kilometers, breaking the previous record of 35.744 kilometers set by the Apollo 17 lunar rover in 1972. Opportunity broke the record as it set out on a multi-week trek from the Cape York section of the rim of Endeavour Crater, where the rover had been working since mid-2011, to a point 2.2 kilometers away called Solander Point. The rover, which has been on the Martian surface since January 2004, remains in good condition. The record for the longest distance driven by any vehicle on another world belongs to the Soviet robotic rover Lunokhod 2, which drove 37 kilometers on the Moon in 1973.

Related Links:

•  Discovery.com article
•  Houston Chronicle article
•  Los Angeles Times article
•  CNET News.com article
•  NASA/JPL press release

Mars rover Opportunity in "standby" mode
Posted: Wed, May 1 5:10 AM ET (0910 GMT)
Communications with the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity resumed this week with the discovery that the veteran spacecraft was in "a type of standby mode," JPL...

Mars images show evidence for Soviet-era lander
Posted: Fri, Apr 12 9:35 AM ET (1335 GMT)
Space enthusiasts coming through images from a NASA orbiter have found evidence of what they believe is a 1970s Soviet spacecraft that lost contact immediately...

Curiosity rover resumes science operations
Posted: Thu, Mar 28 6:34 AM ET (1034 GMT)
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity resumed science operations this week after overcoming some technical problems, but will soon go on hiatus because of a break...