Mars

We have found a time capsule in the form of salt in Chile. And now finding life on Mars is closer

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As we continue to explore how to get to Mars with Artemis II As a critical engineering and logistics bridge in the form of a long-term trial of interplanetary travel, science continues to search for traces of life on the red planet. And it is not easy: although 3.37 billion years ago an ocean covered half the planetMars is today a dry planet devastated by radiation. The question is where to look for that life. The answer, as incredible as it may seem, may be more than 3,500 meters high in the north of Chile, in the Salar de Pajonales, a landscape that is also desolate where there is a range of extreme temperatures ranging between -23 °C and 26 °C, one of the highest solar radiation recorded on Earth, there is hardly any precipitation and winds that exceed 100 km/h. And yet, there is life. There a research team has discovered that plaster constitutes the perfect refuge for life. Spoiler: Gypsum is a common mineral both on Earth like on mars. The discovery. According to this research, gypsum is not only a sedimentary rock, but also a biological repository. Thus, this mineral is capable of harboring both current life in the form of microorganisms that live within the crystals and preserving molecular fossils and microscopic structures. A kind of time capsule that protects organic material from degradation for millions of years. Why is it important. The consequence of this finding in space research is direct: if gypsum is a “magnet” for biological preservation in hyperaridity conditions, the scientific community knows that the abundant sulfate deposits on Mars (such as Gale crater) are a magnificent place to continue searching for traces of extraterrestrial life. If there was life on Mars, gypsum is a likely place to house its traces. Context. The Salar de Pajonales seems like a place from another planet: it is in high mountains where ultraviolet radiation is high, there is extreme aridity and thermal fluctuations reminiscent of the conditions on Mars from billions of years ago, when the red planet began to dry out. In this scenario, life has learned to hide from the unfriendly surface in a lifestyle endolithic to survive. Thus, the mineral functions as a solar shield and moisture reserve. How have they done it. To read what the rocks contain, the Tebes-Cayo team has applied a kind of high-precision molecular and mineral archaeology: With habitability and climate analysis with a meteorological station that recorded data every 20 minutes for 40 years monitoring water activity. Using x-rays, petrography and microfluorescence to create thin sections to distinguish minerals and their distribution without destroying the sample. With microscope, isotopes and DNA sequencing to identify the microorganisms, the trapped corpses and to confirm that the carbon found has a biological and not a geological origin. Yesyes, but. We already know that gypsum is the ideal candidate to search for life on Mars, but that is based on a hypothetical premise: that it ever existed. On the other hand, and although the Salar de Pajonales is reminiscent of the Red Planet, the conditions on Mars are even more extreme than in Chile (there is almost no atmosphere and it is even colder), which may have affected the preservation in a different way. And then there is the practical application: it is one thing to detect these biosignatures in the high mountains of Chile and another to use a robot thousands of kilometers away for the same purpose. In Xataka | Europe has thought of throwing three robots into a volcanic lava tube and now colonizing the Moon or Mars is closer In Xataka | If the question is “how are we going to build houses on Mars” the answer today is “with bricks made of urine” Cover | Luiza Braun and BoliviaIntelligent

We haven’t colonized Mars yet and we already know how to build bricks to live there: with urine and bacteria

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Humanity has between an eyebrow and an eyebrow to reach Mars and eventually plant a colony there. Missions like NASA’s Curiosity rover have been scanning its surface for years for signs of past habitability (with promising findings that leave big unknowns) and the program Artemis II It is the technological springboard towards the first manned mission to Mars. Sooner or later there will come a day when humanity sets foot on Mars and the conditions to inhabit it are met (or manufactured). So the next question will be: how do we make a house there? It’s not so much a question of design, but of survival. A research team is already working on it and believes they have the solution, which they have published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. The concept. The research work from Politecnico di Milano, the University of Central Florida and Jiangsu University consists of using two bacteria that work together: one is capable of surviving in extreme conditions and produces oxygen and the other that turns human urine into stone. This promising duo is capable of manufacturing bricks directly from the Martian soil, without the need for kilns, factories or bringing materials from Earth. Why it is important. Because from an engineering point of view, moving materials and machinery over long distances (as long as going to Mars) makes the cost skyrocket and becomes technically unfeasible. Furthermore, building them with the materials available on Mars is not (yet) an option. So this concept solves those two problems and some others, such as energy consumption. According to the paperbiocementation consumes up to 7 times less energy than melting soil with microwaves and almost 50 times less than thermal sintering. Finally, because it is convenient: it converts human metabolic waste into construction material, thus solving the logistical problem of what to do with that waste. Context. Because the different space agencies have the arrival to Mars in the 2030-2040 decade on their roadmap. Biocementation (microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation) has been under study for two decades for uses such as stabilize soils, stop desertification either build with less carbon dioxide. This research transfers this knowledge to space and has its applications on Earth in the form of more sustainable construction, soil repair or self-healing concrete. chow they did it. This point is essential because the research team has neither built anything on Mars nor in the laboratory, using real regolith. This is a perspective paper, reviewing the known knowledge about this technique to provide a concept analyzing the Martian regolith from data from robotic missions. From that point and after identifying the deficiency of calcium oxide with respect to terrestrial cement, they have studied what biological routes can compensate for it. That’s where your proposal comes from, with the combination of Chroococcidiopsis + Sporosarcina pasteurii as the most promising, which is accompanied by a conceptual design of a bioreactor and 3D printing nozzle integrated with autonomous robotics. Yes, but. The previous point makes the first handicap clear: this combination of batteries has never been tested, neither on Mars nor in the laboratory. And on Mars the scenario is tricky: the reduced gravity weakens the microstructure of the resulting material (at least, conventional cement) and the perchlorates in the Martian soil are toxic to organisms. As if that were not enough, the temperature range in which bacteria can operate is narrow. Additionally, the water required may not be suitable. There is also no long-term stability data for this crop. If we talk about technological maturity, this project is in a primitive phase: a concept on paper financed with a long road ahead. In Xataka | China has found a “vital” element to colonize Mars: it resists in lethal conditions for other forms of life In Xataka | We have a serious problem in our plans to colonize Mars: the astronauts’ blood is mutating Cover | Rain Morales and Planet Volumes

Three findings about astronauts’ blood have set off all the alarms. Going to Mars will be more dangerous than expected

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We do not want to recognize it, we are not willing to accept it, we refuse to see it; but no, we are not made for space. And our persistence, in the context of large, long-duration manned missions, can cost us dearly. The last reminder has been the blood. The blood? Indeed. Three recent findings (accelerated destruction of red blood cells, platelet dysfunction in microgravity and somatic mutations of hematopoietic stem cells) make it clear that we still have a long way to go before we can enter the depths of outer space without putting our lives at risk. A giant elephant shaped like hematological syndrome. Because this is important, it is not a small health problem. None of that: we are talking about a whole hematological syndrome that affects us on numerous physiological fronts. And it makes sense: the blood leaves a lot to be desired. Is too prone to clots and too slow to clot when it is needed. Plus, he’s not very good at putting up with things either. in space more red blood cells are destroyed than are produced and that generates persistent anemia that can take up to a year to recover. This year it took place the first medical evacuation from the ISS and everything suggests that it will not be the last. A very real problem. That’s what the evacuation of Colonel Mike Finckethat space medicine is not a theoretical question. Even more so, taking into account that every time there will be more people up thereorbital health has become a key issue. What’s new? There is no big news, really: what is new is that an overall vision is now beginning to emerge. And that is giving us a clear idea of ​​the problems we face. For example, space increases the risk of thrombosis and bleeding simultaneously: they are two completely opposite things that have no clear pharmacological approach. And then? Simply be cautious. The new era of space exploration is going to expose us to the evils of space like never before. If we are not prepared, the ‘Gelsinger effect‘ may end up setting everything back a couple of decades. Image | Bradley Dunn In Xataka | NASA astronaut remains hospitalized after returning from space on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft

Mars was the great space battleground between China and the US. Now it’s the Moon (and the stakes are too high)

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For years, Mars has been the great horizon of space exploration: the inevitable destination to which, sooner rather than later, humanity had to head. Earlier this year, Elon Musk, one of the main drivers of that narrative, assured that The United States could land on the red planet within a period of between five and ten years. In parallel, in China, different voices from its aerospace sector They located the first manned mission Mars around 2033. The message was clear: the race for Mars was already underway. On paper, deadlines are as stimulating as they are challenging. Because sending humans to Mars is not a simple evolution of what has already been achieved, but rather a leap in scale. NASA itself has detailed the enormous technical complexity involved in a mission of this type: from entry, descent and landing systems capable of landing heavy loads in an extremely tenuous atmosphere, to infrastructure that guarantees energy, communications and life support during prolonged stays. Depositing a one-ton rover is not the same as lowering dozens of tons of habitable modules and critical equipment. The race no longer looks at Mars, it looks at the lunar south pole However, while Mars made headlines, the real strategy has been taking another direction. As the NASA Artemis Program and the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program have consolidated calendars, investments and technological milestones, the focus has shifted to a more immediate and pragmatic objective: the Moon. Everything seems to indicate that It’s not about giving up Marsbut to assume that the most sensible path goes through intermediate stages. In both cases, the satellite is emerging as a technological test bed, logistics platform and operational experience before facing a journey of months and millions of kilometers. The new space race, therefore, is not being fought, at least for the moment, at tens of millions of kilometers, but at a few 400,000 kilometers away. This proximity changes the equation: it reduces transit times, facilitates the shipment of supplies and allows us to react to unforeseen events with reasonable margins. But, above all, it opens the door to something that is beginning to take shape: the birth of a lunar economy. Permanent bases, scientific experiments, transportation contracts and infrastructure development could make the Moon not only a destination, but a key node of human expansion in space. The epicenter of this new phase is not just any place, but the environment of the Shackleton craterat the lunar south pole. A permanent darkness, as we can see in the photo that accompanies this article, has fueled the hypothesis that in its shadow areas it could keep water ice. This possibility explains why both the United States and China are targeting this region in their next landings, with the stated objective of studying and, eventually, taking advantage of these resources. In practical terms, we talk about water for consumption, generation of oxygen and production of hydrogen and oxygen as a propellant, whenever technology and economic viability allow it. Illuminated rim and shadowed interior of Shackleton Crater The question, then, is not just what is at the south pole, but what changes if those resources are confirmed as usable. In this scenario, the Moon would cease to be solely a scientific destination and would become a functional piece within space architecture. We are not yet talking about industrial exploitation, but about something more basic: reducing absolute dependence on the Earth in each mission. This nuance introduces a real economic dimension to the lunar race, because it alters the logic of costs, transportation and planning of future operations. This is where the notion of an Earth-Moon supply chain stops sounding futuristic and starts to fit into concrete timetables. Although the lunar economy, with its own supply chainmay seem like a distant concept, its foundations are beginning to be built. On the American side, that architecture is beginning to take shape with very specific missions. Firefly Aerospace launched its Blue Ghost 1 module on January 15integrated into the initiative NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services. This is a mission that aims to demonstrate what a cargo delivery system would look like for our satellite when it lands on the moon on March 2. In parallel to these cargo missions, Blue Origin is preparing its own movement towards the lunar south pole. The company founded by Jeff Bezos is working on the first demonstration flight of its cargo module Blue Moon Mark 1known as MK1, scheduled for early 2026. The eight-meter-high lander will take off aboard the rocket New Glenn and will need to validate key systems before any more ambitious operations. It should be noted that the mission does not involve resource extraction, but it is a necessary step to operate in the environment where expectations about the ice are concentrated. Render of a multidome base under construction on the Moon The good news is that the MK1 has been tested at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, including thermal vacuum chamber simulations to replicate the extreme conditions of space and the lunar surface. If it passes this phase and the final integration with the launcher, the ship could become a relevant asset for future missions to the south pole. Another important fact is that the US agency you have already selected this module for transport the VIPER rover in 2027whose task will be to search for volatiles such as water ice in permanently shadowed regions. On the Chinese side, the centerpiece is the mission Chang’e 7conceived as a more complex deployment than a simple lander. The mission is targeting August aboard a Long March 5 rocket and will include an orbiter, a lander, a rover and a small jump probe. The set aims to operate in the vicinity of the lunar south pole, where experiments aimed at studying the surface and searching for signs of ice in permanently shadowed regions will be concentrated. Render of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander and VIPER If the schedule holds, China could make these measurements before the American … Read more

Europe has thought of throwing three robots into a volcanic lava tube and now colonizing the moon or Mars is closer

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While the mission Artemis II Its objective is for human beings to return to the moon after more than half a century later, space agencies continue to investigate how to reach other planets and there space robotics is essential because well: space in general and places like Mars are the most inhospitable for life. So a European research group in which, among other entities, the European Space Agency participates, has introduced an autonomous robotic system inside a volcanic lava tube in Lanzarote, like collects this paper published in Science Robotics. Their conclusions bring us closer to a future colonization of the Moon or Mars. The context. Neither Mars nor the Moon have a flat desert surface, but rather they constitute volcanic worlds where there are underground cavities formed millions of years ago by liquid lava. We are not talking about small cavities precisely: there is space for a city to fit in as long as low gravity allows sizes of kilometers, how this study explains. Lava tubes are present on the Moon, on Mars and also on Earth, without going any further we can find some in Hawaii or the Canary Islands, precisely where the research was carried out: The lava tube of La Corona de Lanzarote has sections that reach 30 meters wide and high, come on, that It’s a cave like a cathedral. Why is it important. Because the space environment is harsh: there are extreme temperatures, radiation and meteor showers, a crude combination that makes it difficult for life to exist or simply to establish an eventual foundation for human civilization. On the other hand, if there is any remains of life or frozen water left, these caves are the ideal place to look for it. These structures are strategic because they function as natural shielding against ionizing radiation, extreme thermal flows and meteorites. So the next generation of robots will have the mission of exploring those underground lava tubes on Mars and the Moon to see what their conditions are like. The Lanzarote experiment. Anyone who has been to Lanzarote will know that it has places that seem taken from outer space. That is where the La Corona lava tube is where three different robots with different roles began their characterization mission without GPS or sunlight: The lookout stays outside mapping the entrance. The Explorer: It is essentially a cube full of cameras that you drop into the hole to look before anyone else. The speleologist, who rappels down to enter the darkness at a depth of 235 meters. The discovery. That they did 3D mapping as they progressed was just one of the objectives of this mission, led in the technical section by the German Center for Artificial Intelligence. But what is as important as how: the robots were not controlled with a remote control, but rather functioned autonomously, making their own decisions on the fly. Their performance in collaborative tasks is essential since in space the radio signal takes minutes to arrive from Earth. First Lanzarote, then Mars. The test carried out on heterogeneous and cooperative space robotics was a success, although there is still room for improvement regarding navigation without light and how the sensors respond to interference from the environment. In Xataka | Mars has just entered the exclusive club of planets with rays. This is discouraging news for NASA. In Xataka | We knew that Mars has gravity. Now we have just discovered the unexpected effect it has on the Earth’s climate Cover | dfki

If the question is whether there was life on Mars, NASA has a new explanation: it depends

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NASA’s Curiosity rover has been shedding light on Mars since August 2011, making authentic discoveries on its surface, in your clouds and of course, about its potential habitability. And if its younger brother Perseverance found a few months ago “the clearest sign of life we ​​have seen on Mars”, one of Curiosity’s latest discoveries is not so clear. What Curiosity found. Since 2012, Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater, a place where there was a lake billions of years ago. In March 2025, while the rover’s integrated laboratory was analyzing a clay rock there, they found the presence of decan, undecan and dodecan. What’s that? Alkanes, that is, long chain hydrocarbons formed by hydrogen and carbon atoms. Why is it important. Because Curiosity’s discovery is the largest organic compounds ever found on the red planet and its size is such that its existence can hardly be explained by simple chemistry. On Earth, these types of hydrocarbons are usually fragments of fatty acids produced by living beings. However, on Mars, its origin is not so clear: it is reasonable to think of a biological origin, but with current evidence there is no confirmation. Biology or geology? The degradation of fatty acids causes the appearance of these hydrocarbons one way or another, but their presence does not imply that they necessarily come from a living organism. In fact, on Earth they can also be generated by geological processes. In short: detecting organic molecules on Mars does not mean finding life. Correlation does not imply causation. A “reasonable” hypothesis. So they analyzed the known non-biological sources of these organic molecules looking for an explanation for these quantities found. Since none of them fully explained this abundance, in this recent study published in Astrobiology that the research includes have raised a “reasonable” hypothesis: that living beings could have formed them. Among the known sources are molecules from meteorites that crash into the surface of Mars, cosmic dust, geological chemistry such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis plausible on early Mars or ultraviolet radiation, which in addition to destroying organic components can also form them, are some of the candidates. The method. To reach these conclusions, the team of scientists combined laboratory experiments, mathematical models and data from the rover, which allowed them to go back in time 80 million years to estimate how much organic matter existed at the beginning, before cosmic radiation destroyed it. The amount they were able to reconstruct far exceeds what unknown non-biological processes can generate. Of course, it does not affirm that there was life, nor are there fossils or biomarkers of course. In fact, their conclusion is clear: more studies are needed to conclude on the absence or presence of life on Mars. In Xataka | There are those who believe that 50 years ago we found life on Mars (and then accidentally destroyed it) In Xataka | China is getting closer to surpassing NASA in its Martian mission. And just invited other countries to join Cover | NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The obsession with Mars disappears and the priority is now a “self-sustaining city” on the Moon

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For nearly two decades, SpaceX’s mantra has been unequivocal: colonize Mars. The red planet was not just a destination, it was the reason for being of the company and one of the clearest objectives in Elon Musk’s mind. But this has completely changed, since Musk himself has confirmed what had been rumored among investors: priorities have changed to focus on something simpler. A new city. SpaceX has put the handbrake on immediate Martian colonization to focus all its efforts on a closer and more pragmatic objective: building a “self-sustaining city” on the Moon in less than 10 years. And the reason is not just economic, it is a question of pure and simple orbital physics. The window problem. The change of focus, as explained by Elon Musk himselfresponds to the need for quick results. In the case of aerospace engineering, the speed of development depends on how many times you can test, fail, and test again. And this is where Mars is a real logistical nightmare. As detailed, to travel to Mars efficiently you have to wait for the orbital alignment of the planets to occur, which happens once every 26 months. Something to which we must add a trip of approximately six months, so it is not easy to have missions in a row, but rather they would have to be spaced almost three years apart. The windows of the Moon. While Mars needs a large amount of time to deliver results, the Moon is much easier, since Elon Musk himself recognizes that the launch window is constant. Specifically, every 10 days approximately A new mission can be launched that has a travel time of just a few days. Musk summarizes it with industrial logic: the Moon allows us to iterate much faster. If the goal is to secure the future of civilization with a colony outside Earth, the lunar path is the fast track. A lunar city. The goal is not to put a flag back on the lunar surface, but to establish a city that is capable of growing on its own autonomously. According to ABC Newsthe plan involves prioritizing lunar missions with a possible first unmanned lunar landing around 2027, with a view to having that permanent presence in less than a decade. This finally aligns Musk’s personal interests with government contracts. Let’s not forget that SpaceX has a multi-million dollar contract with NASA to the Artemis programwhere the Starship HLS will be the vehicle in charge of lowering the astronauts to the lunar surface. By making the Moon SpaceX’s “civilization” priority, Musk ensures that the development of its giant rocket serves both its customers (NASA) and its new private roadmap. Among investors. Like any good company of this type, behind it is a large number of people who must be accountable and, above all, offer immediate benefits. In this case, SpaceX formally notified its investors last Friday about this change of course: unmanned missions to Mars, initially planned for the end of 2026, are postponed indefinitely. For Wall Street and the big funds, this turnaround is music to their ears for two key reasons. The first of them is that the Moon offers a modelable revenue narrative and deadlines that depend on signed contracts, as is the case with Artemis and NASA. The second is that investors need security so that they continue investing money in the company. In this case, this change of course protects the company’s astronomical valuationwhich seeks to consolidate itself in the billion-dollar club after the boost of xAIeliminating the immediate risk of a failed mission to Mars. What about Mars? This decision does not mean goodbye to the original dream of the company and of Musk himself, but rather it is a reality check. For now, Musk maintains the goal of trying to build a city on Mars within 5 to 7 years, but the narrative has changed: Mars is no longer the first critical step, but the second. In this way, the Moon will serve as a testing ground, a spaceport and, above all, as the place where humanity will learn to live outside of Earth without having to wait two years for supplies if something goes wrong. Images | SpaceX In Xataka | SpaceX is known for its rockets. What is less known is its growing and striking fleet of aircraft

We know it as “the red planet”, but 3.37 billion years ago Mars was almost as blue as Earth

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The mystery of Mars and water has a new chapter. The missions like Curiosity in the Gale crater they show clear evidence for the existence of liquid water lakes for thousands or millions of years. That climate models show that the early Mars It was a cold place. with temperatures significantly below the freezing point, it was elucidated with seasonal ice shields. However, among the pending subjects of Mars astronomy is knowing how much there was water and when was there. Mars was (half) blue. A recent study published in the scientific journal npj Space Exploration echoes the discovery of a “tide line” that explains that there was once an interconnected water system. Ignatius Argadestya, the lead author of the study, explains that although today Mars is a dry and reddish planet: “our results show that in the past it was a blue planet similar to Earth.” In fact, they have been able to demonstrate the existence of the deepest and most extensive ocean that has existed on Mars to date, account the scientist that half the red planet was once blue: “an ocean that extended across the planet’s northern hemisphere.” Valles Marineris in Hi-Res The “deltas” of Mars. More specifically, they have investigated geological formations called deposits with steep front located in the region of Valles Marineristhe largest canyon system in the solar system. Using very high resolution images from Cassis of the European Space Agency and the CTX and HiRISE from NASA (the latter provides a maximum resolution of about 25 to 30 centimeters per pixel), have been able to identify these deposits with identical morphology to the river deltas that we see in rivers such as the Ebro or the Danube when they flow into the sea. Thus, on Mars there was a time when water flowed from the mountains through branching channels until it reached a kind of lake or sea, where sediments were deposited. These deltas end in an abrupt step that is located at exactly the same altitude at different points on the planet, between -3750 and -3650 meters with respect to the reference level of Mars. About 3.37 billion years ago. This is not a geological coincidence, it is that at one time there was a body of water like a sea that maintained a stable level for a long time: it is a mark of the shore of a primeval Mars, since these deposits were formed between the Late Hesperian and Early Amazonian periods. According to the research team, that was the time in the history of Mars with the greatest availability of liquid water on its surface. Why is it important. Already had applied previously the existence and size of this Martian ocean, but its conclusions come with more precise and direct evidence. In addition, they have been able to determine when the water peak occurred on Mars. The deltas found constitute a magnificent base to study their sediments in depth in search of traces of life because where there is water, there could be life. On the other hand, among the next steps is to understand how Mars went from having an ocean that occupied half the planet to being a frozen desert. In fact, there are already clues: the research team detected desiccation cracks and dunes on these channels, which indicates that after this aquatic period, there was a progressive drying until they became arid. In Xataka | Mars has just entered the exclusive club of planets with rays. This is discouraging news for NASA. In Xataka | We had been wondering for decades how Mars could have water, cold and life. Today we finally have an answer Cover | Javier Miranda

We knew that Mars has gravity. Now we have just discovered the unexpected effect it has on the Earth’s climate

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I don’t need to tell you that the Earth’s climate is not constant and it is not just because of the climate change: If we look at it in perspective, throughout the history of the planet it has gone through glaciations and warm periods. Many of these changes find explanation in the Milankovitch cycles or orbital variations, that is, the slow changes in the Earth’s orbit and the inclination of its axis due to the gravitational attraction of other planets. The surprising influence of Mars. It was known that the giant Jupiter or the nearby Venus are largely to blame, but now we have discovered another secondary actor that has gained importance: Mars, as explained this study collected in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and led by scientist Stephen Kane. What’s surprising about it? That Mars only has 10% of the mass of the Earth, hence there are simplified climate models that downplay its importance. The simulations. The hypothesis is: what would happen to the Earth’s orbit if Mars were much larger or did not exist? Since human research teams do not have millions of years to wait, they used simulations with a solar system model of ten million years each to study gravitational interactions. The only factor they changed in each simulation was the mass of Mars: from zero (Mars does not exist) to being ten times larger than Earth. Mars “weighs” much more than we think. And the results were conclusive: Mars is directly responsible for the “Great Cycle”, a 2.4 million year gravitational beat in which Mars rhythmically stretches and shrinks the Earth’s orbit, acting as a metronome that regulates the amount of solar radiation received and regulates the frequency of ice ages. Without Mars, that cycle would not exist. However, Kane nuance: “It doesn’t mean that without Mars the Earth wouldn’t have ice ages, but it would completely change the frequency with which they occur.” But if Mars were giant, Earth’s climate cycles would also change: they would be shorter and more extreme, going from an ice age to suffocating heat waves. In short, life adaptation would become more complicated. What would not change, according to the study, is the “great Jupiter – Venus cycle”, the 405,000-year gravitational pattern driven by a secular resonance of both planets that acts as the “master clock” of the Earth’s climate as it is the most stable and constant cycle in the planet’s geological history. Why is it important. Knowing better the influence of the planets around us on the climate is good news that helps us better understand our past and be able to glimpse the future with more precision. But it has an impact on the search for habitable exoplanets: it is not enough to find something similar to Earth, but you also have to look at its neighbors and pay attention to the fine print. That is, if it has a “Mars-type” planet nearby but of great mass, its climate has every chance of being too chaotic for life. In Xataka | Mars has just entered the exclusive club of planets with rays. This is discouraging news for NASA. In Xataka | We had been wondering for decades how Mars could have water, cold and life. Today we finally have an answer Cover | Photo of Planet Volumes in Unsplash

NASA has already used it to plan routes for the Perseverance rover on Mars

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Over the last few years, artificial intelligence has crept into our routines as a practical tool: generate images, summarize, analyze, program. But in recent times it is crossing a more demanding frontier, that of systems that make decisions with physical consequences in the real world. And that also includes space. NASA JPL just announced that the Perseverance rover has completed the first drives on another world whose route was planned by AI. In terms of planetary exploration, we are not talking about a great leap in distance, but about something more delicate: proving that a technology designed to interpret information and propose actions can begin to be integrated, with supervision, into the way in which other worlds are explored. What exactly did the AI ​​do. The test materialized in two drives carried out on December 8 and 10, 2025, both inside the crater Jezero. In those two days, the team incorporated AI models with visual capacity for a very specific task: proposing waypointsthat is, the intermediate locations on which the driving plan is then built and sent to the rover. This type of planning is normally done manually by specialists who analyze images and data of the terrain. On this occasion, AI generated these waypoints so that Perseverance could safely navigate a complex area, under the leadership of the rover’s own operations center at JPL and in collaboration with Anthropic. A basic limitation. Mars is far away, and you can’t drive a rover like a remote-controlled car. JPL itself remembers that the red planet is, on average, about 225 million kilometers from Earth, a distance that generates delays in communication and makes real-time control unfeasible. For this reason, the missions operate with a different logic: the terrain is analyzed, routes are drawn in sections and instructions are sent through the Deep Space Network. The rover executes them and the result is confirmed with a delay. It is a well-proven workflow, but it is also slow, especially when the goal is to advance through complex areas without putting the vehicle at risk. The milestone figures. JPL details that, in the first demonstration on December 8, 2025, Perseverance advanced about 210 meters. In the second, on December 10, he traveled around 246 meters. In total, just over four hundred meters in two days. It is not an epic feat nor does it pretend to be. What is relevant is that these routes were based on a different scheme than usual: the planning was built from the aforementioned waypoints and the rover then executed the plan on terrain that requires precision because it does not forgive mistakes. A demonstration that AI continues to gain ground. “This demonstration shows how far our capabilities have advanced and expands how we will explore other worlds,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. And he finished with an idea that serves as an editorial guide for the entire experiment: “Autonomous technologies like this can help missions operate more efficiently, respond to challenging terrain, and increase scientific performance as distance from Earth increases.” For now, the demo is limited, but it’s hard not to read it as a warning. Autonomy is no longer discussed only in laboratories, it is also being tested on Mars. In context. We are not talking about any AI. Claude, Anthropic models, have been gaining ground as a tool for programming tasks for some time, becoming a reference option, even threatening ChatGPT. And that reputation has not stayed in the developer community: according to Mark Gurman (Bloomberg), Apple would be beginning to integrate it in a structured way into its AI strategy for Xcode; and, according to Insider, Meta has incorporated Claude into “Devmate”, an internal debugging-oriented tool. Images | NASA | Anthropic In Xataka | Anthropic has rewritten his 25,000-word “Constitution” for Claude. It is the manual for how AI should behave

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