Peering beneath the ice at the north pole of Mars has now revealed the red planet may be surprisingly colder than was thought. Any liquid water that might exist on Mars therefore might be hidden deeper than once suspected, closer to that world's warm heart, researchers suggested. An international team of scientists used the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to probe the north pole of the red planet with radar. The ice cap there goes about 1.2 miles deep (2 km) and is roughly the size of Pakistan at 310,000 square miles large (800,000 square km). These scans revealed the polar cap has up to four layers of ice rich in sand and dust, each separated by clearer sheets of nearly pure ice. Each dirty and clean layer is some 1,000 feet thick (300 meters).

International planning is under way to reinvigorate plans for a Mars sample return mission, with researchers assessing science priorities and strategies to maximize the scientific output from such an undertaking. Over the last several years, an armada of orbital and surface missions has revealed Mars to be surprisingly more complex than once thought, imbued with a variety of distinct environments — each of value in terms of possible scientific payback given a sample return effort. Mars samples returned to state-of-the-art Earth laboratories are considered by many to be the only way to unravel a host of unresolved questions about the red planet. A sample return mission also is viewed by many as a key tool to help space agencies prepare for future human expeditions to Mars.

A prototype module for a private space station has passed an orbital milestone after completing its 10,000th trip around the Earth. Genesis 1, an inflatable module built by the Las Vegas, Nev.-based firm Bigelow Aerospace, passed the 10,000-orbit mark as it nears the beginning of its third year of unmanned operations, its builders announced late Thursday. Bigelow Aerospace launched Genesis 1 atop a converted intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12, 2006 to test its ability to self-inflate and operate in Earth orbit. Led by businessman Robert Bigelow, owner of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain and other enterprises, Bigelow Aerospace followed Genesis 1 with a successor, Genesis 2, in June 2007. That module also continues to function as designed.

Radiation Shield Technologies has been granted a new patent for Demron, the protective garment that shields users from alpha and beta radiation, gamma rays, x-rays, and other nuclear emissions. The flexible, cool, and lightweight suit provides all the protection of a lead apron with a new level of comfort, and without any dermal or inhalation risks. Its malleability, thinness, and effectiveness allow it to be used for full-body nuclear, biological, and nuclear-biological chemical suits, tactical anti-nuclear vests, and high-energy suppression blankets. Several governments have ordered suits for use in emergencies that involve radiation, and scientists have even earmarked it for use in future missions to Mars.

NASA's Mars-bound Phoenix spacecraft is gearing up for a landmark landing near the martian north pole this month to find out whether the region could have once supported microbial life. Phoenix is on course for a planned May 25 touchdown in the martian arctic that, if successful, will mark the first powered landing on Mars since NASA's hefty Viking 2 lander set down in 1976. But first, the probe is expected to fire its thrusters several times in the next few weeks to fine-tune its flight path. "It's scary how smooth it's been," said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "The vehicle has just been behaving beautifully."

One issue the presidential candidates are not saying much about is space exploration. But some scientists, military experts and intelligence analysts say the next president may well determine whether America keeps an edge in space. Last year, the United States managed 16 space launches; Russia had 22; China blasted off 10. Their space program is still behind, says Robert Zubrin, one of America's strongest proponents for Mars travel, but it is rocketing.

SFC William H. Ruth of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division stationed somewhere in Afghanistan wrote in response to SPACE.com Senior Editor Tariq Malik’s story Monday about Prof. Stephen Hawking’s belief in extraterrestrial life and he has a suggestion for NASA: “Please forward this to the proper channels. I have read Stephen Hawking’s latest remarks on space travel and the importance of it to human survival. The problem is, NASA is going about it all the wrong way. Here is an idea: Send battle-hardened, strong-minded soldiers and marines on the long trips into space. We are conditioned to live with the bare minimal (of) life’s necessities and are trained to be prepared for … the worst conditions that any environment could throw at us. Hell, me and my men will go, set up a colony somewhere and await colonists to arrive. Me and most of my men are on our 3rd or 4th deployment into a combat area. We are scouts, reconnaissance specialists. We go before everyone else and spend time living off the land. Sounds just like the type of men needed for a long colonization journey.

A vanished glacier with a mysterious calling card suggests Mars went through many ice ages in its very recent past. A fresh look at images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicates thick glaciers may have existed in the past 100 million years in the planet's equatorial region, but vanished after planetary wobbles changed the climate in certain areas. "We've gone from seeing Mars as a dead planet for three-plus billion years to one that has been alive in recent times," said Jay Dickson, a geologist at Brown University and lead author of the study. "[The finding] has changed our perspective from a planet that has been dry and dead to one that is icy and active."

There's a growing buzz in the astrobiology community that ancient hydrothermal springs may have been spotted on Mars. Thanks to the eagle-eyed work of Carlton Allen and Dorothy Oehler of NASA's Johnson Space Center, "spring-like" mounds have been found in Vernal Crater in Arabia Terra on the red planet. The high-powered zoom lens of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has picked up the features - two possible ancient hydrothermal springs are viewed as light-toned, elliptical structures. The martian features have a striking similarity to spring mounds here on Earth, such as those in Dalhousie, Australia.