Mars Stuff

As reported in this blog, the Mars Odyssey orbiter had a software glitch recently and its computer went into safe mode, as it was supposed to do.

The problem has now been fixed, and the orbiter is back in the exploration business. Its next project will be following up on the discovery of several cave entrances found on the flanks of one of Mars' huge volcano complexes. The particular caves so far found are likely too high on the mountain to be useful, but they confirm caves exist on Mars. Caves at lower elevations could provide sheltered environments for martian life or for future human explorers. Extensive caverns, at the very least, could provide relatively easy access to the subsurface of Mars.

Meanwhile, another orbiter, the MRO, has snapped the sharpest images yet of landslides scientists thought provided evidence for flowing water on Mars within the latest few years. The new images are inconclusive, but they suggest the landslides may have resulted from flowing lava instead of flowing water. That, in turn, suggests a drier Mars down through the ages. Instead of oceans of water in the past, there may have been only lakes.