The Open University

Mission accomplished! Scientist’s joy at being handpicked for European Space Agency role

20 June 2023

An Open University scientist has been handpicked by the European Space Agency (ESA) and offered a Fellowship to continue her studies into how the surface of Mars is shaped by wind. Dr Elena Favaro is a postdoctoral research assistant at the OU who specialises in aeolian geomorphology – the process by which wind contributes to […]

We know there is water on Mars – what next?

31 July 2018

The age old question of whether Mars has ever supported life is the focus of the latest research from scientists at The Open University (OU). With over half a million pounds of funding from the UK Space Agency, they will be exploring the chemistry of the martian environment to determine if life has ever existed, […]

Mars and the ice-filled crater on its surface

26 April 2018

An ice-filled Martian crater is visible in the first photographs of Mars transmitted from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). After a year of extremely dangerous aerobraking, the ExoMars TGO began transmitting photographs of the surface from its camera system, known as CaSSIS (Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System). The first photograph taken by the ExoMars TGO […]

Scientists discover evidence of recent water flows on Mars

22 November 2017

A team of scientists led by The Open University has discovered evidence of recent glacial meltwater on Mars, despite the widely-held view that the recent climate was too cold for ice to melt. Planetary scientists from the OU, in collaboration with University College Dublin, the University of Cambridge and the University of Nantes (CNRS), have […]

What formed the recent Martian landscape? Latest research might have the answer

27 October 2017

Scientists from the OU have discovered a new phenomenon that could explain the long-debated mystery of how recent land features on Mars are formed in the absence of significant amounts of water. Dr Jan Raack explains more: What is this research all about? “Experiments carried out in our Mars Simulation Chamber, which is able to […]

There could be snow on Mars – here’s how that’s possible

22 August 2017

Given that there are ambitious plans to colonise Mars in the near future, it is surprising how much we still have to learn about what it would be like to actually live on the planet. Take the weather, for instance. We know there are wild fluctuations in Mars’s climate – and that it is very […]

OU academic hunts for Martians with BBC Radio 4

6 March 2017

As part of a special week of Mars programmes on BBC Radio 4, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, Monica Grady, presents a 30 minute special programme about the search for life on the Red Planet on Monday 6 March 2017, 21:00. In Hunting the Martians, Professor Grady explores the balance of evidence for Mars […]

BBC Inside Science features OU academic on water on Mars

1 September 2016

The quest to discover whether life exists, or has existed, on the Planet Mars has been one of the driving forces of space science research for decades. In a special interview with BBC Inside Science, co-produced by The Open University, Senior Lecturer at The Open University, Dr Matthew Balme, introduces us to his collaborative research, which has […]

Dr Manish Patel in the recording studio.

Ground control to Major Manish. OU academic to record single for space mission

1 April 2016

There has been Band Aid, USA for Africa and Peter Kay’s Animated All Star Band. But today a new name is being added to the list of legendary charity single artists. Manish Patel, Senior Lecturer in Space Science at The Open University, is putting aside his academic research and picking up the microphone to record […]

Mars and me: a day in the life of a PhD student

18 March 2016

In the same week the European Space Agency (ESA) launched its ExoMars Mission, we spoke to OU PhD student Rhian Chapman about dust storms on the Red Planet and her fascination with space: the final frontier… Name: Rhian Chapman Age: 33 Hometown: Shepperton, Surrey What is the focus of your PhD and what stage are you […]

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