mars

NASA must be reading our minds again, because its newly announced Tweetup contest to see the launch of the Mars Rover is a space geek's dream come true.

The two-day Tweetup for 150 NASA Twitter followers is set to correspond with the expected launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover on Nov. 25 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As with all space launches, viewing the live launch is dependent on the day's weather. The actual Tweetup and socializing with other winners begins on Nov. 23 at the Kennedy Space Center, complete with a guided tour and the opportunity to speak to the scientists and engineers behind the space program.

Curiosity is expected to arrive on our galactic neighbor in August 2012 at the Gale crate for a two-year mission. The rover's main duties are to investigate "whether a selected area of Mars offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life and for preserving evidence about life if it existed."

Registration for the Tweetup begins noon on Wednesday, Oct. 5, and closes at noon Friday, Oct. 7. The 150 participants will be randomly selected from the online registrations.

Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

It's been seven years since the first exploration rover touched down on the Martian landscape, and they have been broadcasting photos and information from the red planet ever since, giving us a new look at what lies on the surface. Find out a little more of what we've learned about Mars since the explorer rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been on the job.

1. There's water in them 'thar hills — Well, almost. The Spirit rover's right front wheel broke a few years into the project, which may have been devastating to the mission. The team learned how to drive the rover backwards, which led them to finding evidence of water thanks to salt deposits just below the surface.
2. It could have harbored life at one point — The Marian soil consists of magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride, which are also found in gardens here on Earth.
3. Martian Winters are harsh — Mars has two permanent polar ice caps that consist of ice. During a pole's Winter (which lasts about twice as long as Earth's), when they are subjected to continuous darkness, the temperatures get so cold that a transparent one-meter thick layer of dry ice form above ground. The Spirit rover survived three of these Winters!

See a few more fun facts about Mars after the break.

After its successful debut of Coconut M&M's, Mars has unveiled Twix Coconut, just in time for warmer weather. Much like the lethal combo of chocolate and caramel, in my mind, the tropical fruit and the Summer season go hand in hand. On my last trip to the drugstore, I couldn't resist picking up one of the new candy bars as a grab-and-go treat. But does it live up to its limited-edition hype? To find out the verdict, read on.

It's been a while since I've consumed a traditional candy bar, but I'm a sucker for comparison taste tests, so when we received a shipment of Milky Way's latest product, Simply Caramel, I was dying to compare it to the original.

Unlike the classic Milky Way, which contains a layer of nougat under a layer of caramel, the interior of the Milky Way Simply Caramel is — you guessed it — nothing but caramel. I was expecting it to taste a bit like Rolos, only in bar form. In the end, I wasn't too far off — compared to a Rolo, the Simply Caramel had a milder, less pronounced caramel flavor.

It's ironic that the Simply Caramel has 2 grams more fat and 25 more calories than its original counterpart, because it seems to be skimpier on the flavor (and is actually 0.14 ounces lighter than its original counterpart). The original has an added textural component with the nougat, and more of a fudgey chocolate flavor. In the end, I'll stick to what I know best — a classic Milky Way.

Have you tried the new candy bar? What were your thoughts?

Want to go to Mars without ever leaving Earth? You're in luck! The European Space Agency (ESA) is looking for six international volunteers to participate in a simulated voyage to Mars. The catch: you will have to live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia for 520 days.

The project, which sounds like a perfect premise for a reality show, will investigate the psychological and medical implication of such a long journey. It will include the full round-trip to Mars, and a 30-day stay on the planet. Just think, it takes almost a year to get there, and then you just get to stay for 30 days! Bummer! The hope is that the findings can be used to actually send humans to Mars sometime in the future.

The simulation begins in 2010. Would you ever consider signing up?

If you've got a sweet tooth, you may be forced to reckon with a bitter truth. In a letter sent to US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, several of the country's largest food companies, including General Mills, Kraft, Hershey, and Mars, said the United States could "virtually run out of sugar" if the government doesn't let up on sugar import limits.

To keep prices within reason for domestic sugar farmers, the government only allows unlimited sugar imports from the Mexican market without paying tariffs. Global shortages of the commodity have led to a skyrocket in price, culminating in a 28-year high this week. Sugar purchased from other countries, such as Brazil, is limited by a quota. If those restrictions aren't eased, food manufacturers say they'd be forced to hike prices, slash jobs — and run out of sugar to make items such as cereal, cookies, and chocolate. However, the USDA appears to be taking this plea with a grain of sugar, claiming early this week that domestic supplies were increasing.

With opposing interests, it's hard to know what to think. Who do you believe — and would America be better off with less sugar?