Tootfinder

Detection of Zwan-Wolf effect in the ionosphere of #Mars: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-72251-9 -> NASA’s MAVEN Makes 1st Discovery of Atmospheric Effect at Mars: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/maven/nasas-maven-makes-1st-discovery-of-atmospheric-effect-at-mars/

It might not yet have reached Earth orbit, but #RelativitySpace has announced plans for a mission to #Mars carrying a NASA payload: #Aeolus and scheduled for 2028, will launch a Mars orbiter carrying four NASA-built instruments.

More #Psyche images of #Mars, now with NASA's own processing (but further improved in contrast here) from #GravityAssist went well: with the ion engine on again the spacecraft should reach the asteroid Psyche in August 2029.

Organics in #meteorites: In preparation for ESA’s search for life on #Mars with #RosalindFranklin, researchers from

Expanding Mars’ lithologic diversity - discovery of a garnet-bearing clast in NWA 8171: #Mars: https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/scientists-discover-new-rock-type-on-mars

50 years ago #OTD the #Viking 1 Orbiter with its precious Lander cargo entered into orbit around #Mars: https://www.facebook.com/VikingMarsMission/posts/pfbid034yTJzsyT5ZrNHgsFeNtxrvFDRxRpFQyQfB344patQDdUr7JBCnJZgPBk9sdSuhhNl - the landing came a month later.

🥕 Why Mars astronauts need more than just space greenhouses
#mars

Why Mars astronauts need more than just space greenhouses
Thinking about food systems in deep space likely brings to mind something like The Martian where an astronaut is scratching barely enough food to survive out of potatoes grown in Martian regolith. Or perhaps a fancy hydroponic system on an interplanetary transport ship, with artificial lighting and all the associated technological wizardry. But a new paper published in Acta Astronautica by Tor Blomqvist and Ralph Fritsche points out that growing food is only one small part of the whole cycle of…

Yay, the #Mars close-up images taken by the #Psyche spacecraft during its #GravityAssist two days ago have begun to appear on https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/psyche-raw-images/ - severe image processing required ...

Meanwhile some Slope Streaks in Amazonis Planitia on #Mars from the MRO: https://www.uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_076980_2115 - a paper had proposed this location as a candidate site for recurring slope lineae (RSL), where slope streaks were also observed.

And another #Psyche #Mars image from the #GravityAssist, just in as https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/psyche_images/6658/ - see also https://bsky.app/profile/thomasappere.bsky.social/post/3mm2lwu6qrk23 for a great mosaic from images appearing previously on https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/psyche-raw-images/

Two more #Psyche pictures from the #Mars #GravityAssist two days ago - https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/psyche-raw-images/ is taking off, but a lot of contrast-boosting remains necessary.

Almost like the real thing: Three years before ESA's #ExoMars rover #RosalindFranklin is scheduled to land on #Mars,

Strong nickel enrichment co-located with redox-organic interactions in Neretva Vallis, Mars: #Mars coughs up another maybe-life clue in the form of nickel compounds: https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/31/nickel_found_on_mars/ - Perseverance found the minerals in an ancient river channel, but researchers say geology may still beat biology.

Moments ago #Psyche came closest to #Mars during its #GravityAssist - here is the planet yesterday still as a crescent, in fan processing of the raw images https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/psyche-raw-images/ (full caption and credit in ALT).

Using asteroid early orbital data for rapid mars missions: #Mars: https://t3n.de/news/abkuerzung-mars-route-mission-1740314/ - neue Route könnte Gesamtmission auf 153 Tage eindampfen.

Investigating potential Martian habitats - survival of the halotolerant yeast Debaryomyces hansenii in deliquescence-driven brines: #Mars: https://www.tu.berlin/news/pressemitteilung/neue-hinweise-auf-lebensfreundliche-nischen-auf-dem-mars

Diverse organic molecules on #Mars revealed by the first SAM TMAH experiment: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70656-0 -> NASA’s Curiosity Finds Organic Molecules Never Seen Before on Mars: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/mars-science-laboratory/curiosity-rover/nasas-curiosity-finds-organic-molecules-never-seen-before-on-mars/

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBCRadio3's #NightTracks
Mars Smith, Daniela Mars & Paul Smith:
🎵 Sea in Minor
#MarsSmith #DanielaMars #PaulSmith
https://open.spotify.com/track/1ios4kKpi0eorGMXuLt2vC

Ground penetrating radar observations of ancient large-scale deltaic structures in Jezero crater, #Mars: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz6095 -> Perseverance’s radar revealed ancient subsurface river delta on Mars: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/perseverances-radar-revealed-ancient-subsurface-river-delta-on-mars/ - there may be a river delta hidden under the obvious delta in a Martian crater.

Amapari Marker Band Metal-Enrichments - Potential Mechanisms and Implications for Surface and Subsurface Water and Weathering in Gale Crater: #Mars: https://www.lanl.gov/media/news/0421-ancient-lakes-on-mars

Identifying the topographic signature of early Martian oceans: #Mars: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/bathtub-ring-is-new-evidence-for-an-ancient-ocean-on-mars

A funny incident just happened on #Mars - the drill of the rover Curiosity got stuck in a rock which was then lifted up and moved around a bit before it fell off on its own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztB7lgMxr_g

Magnetic Reconnection as a Potential Trigger for #Magnetotail Flapping at #Mars - Insights From #MAVEN and Tianwen-1 Observations: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026AV002343 -> What Makes Mars’s Magnetotail Flap?
Spacecraft reveal a key driver of up-and-down motions of thin, current-carrying plasma sheets on the nightside of Mars: https://eos.org/research-spotlights/what-makes-marss-magnetotail-flap