Mars

Life always finds a way

By Will Ferguson, College of Arts and Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – For the first time, researchers have seen life rebounding in the world’s driest desert, demonstrating that it could also be lurking in the soils of Mars.

Dust devils common in Washington – and on Mars

By Nic Loyd, WSU meteorologist, and Linda Weiford, WSU News SPOKANE, Wash. – This time of year, dust devils put on a good show in the flatter, drier parts of the Pacific Northwest. You’ve probably seen these plumes of swirling dust zipping across farmland, open fields, roadsides and even parking lots.

Mars rover team wins second in international competition

By Randy Bolerjack, WSU Everett EVERETT, Wash. – The rust-colored badlands of the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah became a proving ground for aspiring engineers from around the world over the weekend. And at the end, students from the Washington State University North Puget Sound at Everett Mars rover team stood on the second-place […]

WSU Mars rover team advances in international competition

By Randy Bolerjack, WSU North Puget Sound at Everett EVERETT, Wash. – For 13 months, Engineering Club students at Washington State University Everett have spent countless hours designing, building, testing and rebuilding a Mars rover meant to be able to work alongside human explorers on the surface of the Red Planet.

Scientists publish case study for growing food on Mars

By Eric Sorensen, WSU science writer PULLMAN, Wash. – Scientists at Washington State University and the University of Idaho are helping students figure out how to farm on Mars, much like astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, attempts in the critically acclaimed movie “The Martian.”

WSU a finalist in NASA mission to Mars competition

PULLMAN, Wash. – A student team from Washington State University is in New York this week as one of 30 national finalists in NASA’s $2.5 million 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge to design an environment for Mars exploration using robotics and 3D printers.

Exploring the limits of life in the universe

By Will Ferguson, College of Arts & Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – Bizarre creatures that go years without water. Others that can survive the vacuum of open space. Some of the most unusual organisms found on Earth provide insights for Washington State University planetary scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch to predict what life could be like elsewhere in […]

Sterilizing Mars spacecraft is largely a waste of money

WSU’s Schulze-Makuch PULLMAN, Wash. – Two university researchers say environmental restrictions have become unnecessarily restrictive and expensive – on Mars. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, astrobiologists Alberto Fairén of Cornell University and Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University say the NASA Office of Planetary Protection’s “detailed and expensive” efforts to keep Earth microorganisms off […]

Topics: WSU changing course; Martians; H2O

Following are links to several recent media articles regarding WSU faculty and staff, as well as items of general interest in higher education news. To see a full article, just click on the corresponding live URL link. Seattle Times — Washington State’s new president has university changing course. Washington Voices: Editorial views from across the state, […]