geekosystem

With all the hubbub surrounding the landing of the Curiosity rover, folks tend to forget that it's not the only device operating on the planet. The Opportunity rover's still kicking up there, for example, and it's hauling butt to get the job done. It's been hauling so much butt, in fact, that on Thursday it broke NASA's 40-year-old record for total distance traveled on a world other than Earth.

With humans continuing our long, slow journey into space, it's only a matter of time before children are conceived and born in space, whether it's on a space station like the ISS or a colony on Mars. But future generations of space babies -- and perhaps Martians, technically speaking -- could run into a number of problems. Humans are pretty good at having babies on Earth, because we've been doing it for quite some time, but other environments might not be so kind to developing fetuses, which couldn't be expected to recover from the stretched spines and swollen faces that astronauts return to Earth with so easily.

Mars One has begun their search for four volunteer astronauts to be sent on a one-way mission to Mars in 2023. The search has only been going on for two weeks now, but Mars One already has 78,000 applicants from more than 120 different countries around the world. I questioned who would be interested in this in a previous article. Turns out: A whole lot of people.

Most of us will never go to space, but that doesn't mean we can't send our names there. As part of NASA's MAVEN mission to Mars, they're asking the people of Earth to include their names on a DVD that will orbit Mars. They're also taking poetry submissions in haiku form. Go ahead and let the Universe know you exist. It's free and takes about two minutes.

We love photos from space as much as the next guy, but there are some pictures we probably never need to see. Like when one of NASA's Mars rovers leaves a distinctly phallic line of tracks in the dirt, inscribing what looks for all the world like the sort of crude drawing of a penis you can see on men's room walls the world over on the face of another planet. 

Do you want to be one of the first astronauts to go to Mars? Are you ready to give up on life here on Earth and do your duty helping mankind establish a place for itself among the stars? Well, tune in today at noon EDT where you can find out what it will take to get yourself a one-way ticket to the Red Planet. That's when the Mars One team will make the official announcement detailing their astronaut selection program, and you can watch it live with us right here

A reality show that sends players on a mission to colonize Mars might sound insane, but that's not stopping Mars One from trying it. They plan to land humans on the surface of Mars in 2023. The search for those humans begins this July with an open call for entries to be on the show. One caveat is that Mars One has no plans of returning their astronauts to Earth. Ever.

2013 is still young and has yet to prove its mettle, but 2014 is already looking to do some astronomical upstaging -- particularly with Mars. The Red Planet has been in the news a lot recently, mostly due to the Curiosity rover, but now a threat looms on the celestial horizon. In October of 2014, a massive comet could potentially hit Mars with the force of 35 million megatons of TNT. That's about one-third as powerful as the one that had the dinosaurs' name on it 65 million years ago. Nothing to sneeze at.

You're not on the surface of Mars right now, but that doesn't mean you can't feel like you are. Try playing around inside this interactive 360-degree panorama image of the surface of Mars. You'll feel like the Curiosity rover is your special little Mars buddy and the two of you are on an adventure.

The Mars Curiosity Rover has had some computer problems over the last few weeks that have seen it in and out of safe mode and switched from A-side to B-side computers and back. At last report, the rover was back in safe mode after another software glitch. The latest round of computer problems didn't last long though, and the rover's Twitter account announced it is back in action with it's systems up and running.

Following last week's momentous discovery that the chemistry of Mars could have once supported life, the Curiosity rover is on the fritz again. Engineers at NASA returned the rover to safe mode after noting a malfunction in its software, marking the second time in recent memory that the rover has needed to take a break and get its act together. In all fairness to Curiosity, though, finding evidence that an alien planet could once have supported life is probably tiring work, and we're not inclined to begrudge it a little nap in the wake of its biggest news yet. Little guy is all tuckered out!

This newly released panoramic image of Mount Sharp located in Mars' Gale Crater can provide valuable information to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for further aspects of the Curiosity Rover Mission, but it also kind of looks like Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine from Star Wars, so let's just focus on that.

Today NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced the findings collected by the Mars Curiosity Rover after it analyzed a sample it drilled from a Martian rock, and the news is some of the most exciting yet to come out of the Curiosity mission. The data shows that Mars once had conditions capable of supporting microbial life.

Just what was in that sample of rock the Curiosity rover drilled out of Mars? We don't know yet, but we'll find out later this afternoon, and we'd love for you to join us. Watch with us live at 1:00 pm EST as NASA announces the contents of the rock sample and explains why those results are important. Chances are this won't be the end of the story on whether or not Mars was once capable of supporting life, but it has the potential to be a major piece of that puzzle, and you can watch its reveal live below thanks to the magic of NASA TV.

This morning, we tip our hats to NASA's hardware gurus, who have successfully rebooted the computer that runs the Curiosity rover, letting it get back to work after a few long, nail-biting days operating in 'safe mode' on it's second computer system. While the backup kept the rover running, it was essentially on life support, an unable to do the science we've come to treasure from it. So here's hoping you had a nice nap, Curiosity. Now get back to work -- this ain't no union shop.