Apparently it had bigger oceans than Earth, but the water was very salty.

I'm actually more exited about the new Mars bar

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...gat-layer.html

Out of interest I read the other week that most countries were scaling back their space programmes because they believe we're alone in the Universe. There seems to be plenty of projects going on though, especially considering that we're in a giant recession.

Lets get this straight.

It has 21.6% fewer calories - but is 22.4% lighter. So gram for gram - its actually more calorific than a normal mars bar at 4.53 cal per gram vs 4.48 cal per gram for the normal one.

Hmmmmmm

That's unlikely because evidence of life would probably be in the form of microbial microfossils that Curiosity isn't able to detect. The rover's main aim is to look at the geological and hydrological history of Mars by examining different rock layers that have been laid down at different times.

That'll give an indication whether conditions on Mars were perhaps more conducive to the evolution of life billions of years ago. That said, as there are no obvious signs of life surviving today despite decades of investigation, I suspect that Mars is pretty much a barren, sterile world.

It would be nice to have an actual sample and return mission like the Soviets' Luna 16 mission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_16 which got them Moon rock independently of the Americans and that might help to determine if any trace fossils exist.


Yes, and here's what an earlier, warmer and wetter Mars could have looked like:
http://blogs.sundaymercury.net/weird...mb-450x450.jpg
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/ex...ocean_mars.jpg
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/un..._on_mars_3.jpg


However, space projects usually comprise a small proportion of any nation's budget and they're also getting cut and scaled back too. NASA, for example, has had to abandon a number of projects and is turning to the private sector to eventually get astronauts to the International Space Station: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_%28spacecraft%29

Despite the cutbacks, some more missions to Mars are planned:
Mangalyaan - Spectrometers and atmospheric sensors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalyaan
MAVEN - Martian atmosphere explorer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAVEN_%28spacecraft%29
InSight - Martian seismometer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InSight
ExoMars - a geological and astrobiological mission comprising an orbiter, stationery lander and rover http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExoMars

Other missions under development/consideration include:
MetNet - small automated meteorological stations on Mars http://metnet.fmi.fi/index.php
Phootprint - a soil sample and return mission from Mars' largest moon Phobos http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/mar...y/0.3.Vago.pdf /!\ ALERT! Large Adobe Pdf download full of nice pictures!


...and your point is, Einstein?

Curiosity Rover‏ @MarsCuriosity
Mars #3D: Grab your red-cyan glasses to see terrain, my parachute & backshell in 3-D via @HiRISE [pic] http://twitpic.com/b2wq3v

http://www.ustream.tv/NASAJPL
NASA live now

The most interesting part of the Curiosity mission so far has been the penis that it drew on the surface.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...s-on-mars.html

I jest, of course

It's quite sad that it's already nearing the end of its mission, I hope it manages to extend its own usefulness in some way.