The Open University

Mars: mounting evidence for subglacial lakes, but could they really host life?

29 September 2020

David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University, discusses the discovery of subglacial lakes on Mars and if this could lead to finding out if there was, or is, life on the planet. Venus may harbour life some 50km above its surface, we learned a couple of weeks ago. Now a new paper, published in Nature Astronomy, […]

OU team gives go ahead to bring Mars’ moon pieces to Earth

2 December 2019

A UK team led by the Open University has given the green light for Mars’ moon material to be transported to Earth as part of a forthcoming mission. The team, led by the OU’s Dr Manish Patel, a renowned expert on Mars exploration, gave the thumbs up for a new Japanese mission to bring pieces […]

Methane on Mars: a new discovery or just a lot of hot air?

2 April 2019

The discovery of life on Mars would get pretty much everyone excited. But the scientists hunting for it would probably be happy no matter what the outcome of their search – whether life turned out to extinct, dormant or extant. They’d even consider finding no evidence of life whatsoever to be an important discovery. […]

9 ways Open University research helped us understand the world in 2018

18 December 2018

From discovering a new planet to predicting volcanic eruptions; tackling fake news to discovering reading habits of the past, Open University research has been helping us understand more about our world and beyond in 2018. 1. Scientists solved the mystery Amazon methane source A team involving The Open University found that trees growing on Amazon […]

An artist impression oF the surface of the Planet Mars four billion years ago

Scientists discover evidence of a water cycle on ancient Mars

29 August 2018

Scientists from The Open University (OU) have discovered a series of large fan-shaped sediment deposits on the surface of Mars. These suggest that Mars once had large seas on its surface and a water cycle similar to Earth. The research also shows when Mars’ climate went from being hospitable to the cold desert it is […]

Plan to bring back rocks from Mars is our best bet for finding clues of past life

30 April 2018

Sitting with 200 people at the International Mars Sample Return Conference in Berlin recently to discuss the feasibility of bringing samples back from Mars to Earth, I remember the first such conference in Paris ten years ago. Many of the same people were present again, older and possibly wiser, but certainly more grey or bald. […]

Search for methane on Mars starts as ExoMars Mission reaches final orbit

13 March 2018

After a year of extremely dangerous aerobraking, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will reach its final orbit and start collecting data from the atmosphere of Mars. Onboard the Orbiter is an instrument developed by academics from The Open University. Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) will ‘sniff’ the atmosphere for methane – a […]

Scientists find some of Mars’ youngest volcanoes – and discover they could have supported life

26 July 2017

4000 km wide view of Mars’ (colour-coded topgraphy) Coprates Chasma. NASA/USGS/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G Neukum), CC BY-SA It may seem that Mars was once a much more exciting planet. True, there are dust storms and possible water-seeps occurring today, but billions of years ago it was a dramatic place with huge volcanoes, a giant canyon […]

Schiaparelli lander above the surface of Mars

What missing lander means for Europe’s quest to find life on Mars

20 October 2016

Researchers at the European Space Operations’ Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, had another one of those nervous days – waiting to hear first from a probe designed to land on Mars’ surface, and then from the probe’s orbiting mother ship. By the end of the day, the flight engineers and mission scientists were half satisfied – […]

Dr Manish Patel in the OU's Hypervelocity Impact Lab.

Man on a mission: How OU academic launched a career in space

15 October 2016

Dr Manish Patel was inspired by space at a young age; venturing out in the middle of the night stargazing with his dad and his telescope. He studied an MPhys in Physics and Space Science at the University of Kent, more out of interest than as a career. After that, in what he describes as “a […]

OU News