[Tuesday, April 1, 2008] Google and Virgin Group today announced the launch of Virgle Inc., a jointly owned and operated venture dedicated to the establishment of a human settlement on Mars.

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[Wednesday, April 2, 2008] The House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics will hold a hearing to review the status of NASA's Exploration initiative and examine issues related to its implementation.

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[Wednesday, April 2, 2008] Human crews will be called upon to use a variety of skills and tools to traverse the Martian surface - including those often associated with hiking, mountaineering and technical climbing.

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[Friday, April 4, 2008] For astronauts there is one danger in space that does not end when they step out of their spacecraft. The radiation that permeates space unattenuated by Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere.

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[Saturday, April 5, 2008] A new analysis of impact cratering data from Mars reveals that the planet has undergone a series of global volcanic upheavals. These violent episodes spewed lava and water onto the surface, sculpting the landscape that Mars Express looks down on today.

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[Monday, April 7, 2008] Spirit has reached its final position for the coming Martian winter and has no plans to move before the next Martian spring. During the next few months, the rover will increasingly go into a "hibernate" mode as the sun continues to dim.

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[Monday, April 7, 2008] Opportunity has completed scientific studies of the undisturbed surface of a rock target informally named "Dorsal" in the "Gilbert" rock layer inside "Victoria Crater."

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[Monday, April 7, 2008] Spirit is feeling the strain of juggling activities on Mars in the face of declining power levels as the winter Sun sinks lower on the horizon.

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[Monday, April 7, 2008] Opportunity is wrapping up its scientific investigation of the outcrop exposure known as "Gilbert_A" at the bottom of "Duck Bay," the lowest traversable portion of the crater's interior. Duck Bay is a recess in the walls of "Victoria Crater."

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[Wednesday, April 9, 2008] The jarosite group minerals have received increasing attention since the discovery of jarosite on the martian surface by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

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[Wednesday, April 9, 2008] In the time since the Viking life-detection experiments were conducted on Mars, many missions have enhanced our knowledge about the environmental conditions on the Red Planet.

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[Wednesday, April 9, 2008] The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, run from The University of Arizona, has produced a new color stereo view of Phobos, the larger and inner of Mars' two tiny moons.

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[Thursday, April 10, 2008] NASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25th landing on the Red Planet.

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[Sunday, April 13, 2008] "I have to go hit the road via snowmobile to get back to the McGill High Arctic Research Station (MARS) which is where we are staying. It is not far, but it is a bit cool right now -25C - which for this time of year is not too bad."

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[Tuesday, April 15, 2008] A study from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center demonstrates that the high-energy radiation found in space may lead to premature aging and prolonged oxidative stress in cells.

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[Wednesday, April 16, 2008] Spirit is feeling the strain of juggling activities on Mars in the face of declining power levels as the winter Sun sinks lower on the horizon.

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[Wednesday, April 16, 2008] Opportunity has finished grinding into the surface and acquiring microscopic images of a rock target informally named "Gilbert," at the bottom of the alcove inside "Victoria Crater" known as "Duck Bay."

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[Thursday, April 17, 2008] NASA requested that a committee under the auspices of the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board carry out an assessment of NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP).

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[Thursday, April 17, 2008] ESA's Mars Express radar sounder, MARSIS, has looked beneath the martian surface and opened up the third dimension for planetary exploration.

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[Tuesday, April 22, 2008] "To those of us who have committed our lives to the proposition that the exploration and development of space, recent events have a familiar and depressing feel."

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[Wednesday, April 23, 2008] Brown University researchers have found compelling evidence of thick, recurring glaciers on Mars, a discovery that suggests that the Red Planet's climate was much more dynamic than previously believed - and could change again.

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[Wednesday, April 23, 2008] The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) is flying onboard the MRO mission. HiRISE investigates deposits and landforms resulting from geologic and climatic processes and assist in the evaluation of candidate landing sites.

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[Wednesday, April 23, 2008] A small motor in the robotic arm of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity that began stalling occasionally more than two years ago has become more troublesome recently

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[Tuesday, April 29, 2008] If you smacked a frozen chocolate bar on a table, it would break into bite-size pieces resembling the terrain in this Martian crater.

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[Tuesday, April 29, 2008] If Mars had an on-line Web site for ads, one of them might say something like this: "Wanted: Gentle space-age dust removal system to clean solar cells without leaving grit behind. Please direct inquiries to NASA."

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