mars exploration

December 2nd 2025

Tropical Storms Drenched Mars for Millions of Years, Strange Pale Rocks Suggest

NASA's Perseverance rover found rocks on Mars that on Earth usually form in tropical environments.

Space & Spaceflight Margherita Bassi Dec 2

September 11th 2025

An artist's illustration of the Mars Sample Return mission infrastructure

NASA Says This Martian Rock Holds Potential Signs of Life. Here’s What Must Happen Next

The case for the Mars Sample Return mission has never been more clear.

Space & Spaceflight Ellyn Lapointe Sep 11

September 10th 2025

Spotted features of Cheyava Falls rock on Mars

Perseverance Rover Finds Potential Sign of Ancient Life in Martian Rock

During a press conference today, NASA presented findings from the initial analysis of a Martian geological sample, touting it as possibly "the clearest sign of life that we have ever found on Mars."

Space & Spaceflight Ellyn Lapointe Sep 10

September 9th 2025

Part of the Martian surface featuring a rock with a hole drilled into it

NASA to Make Major Announcement About Martian Rock Sample on Wednesday. Here’s How to Watch

NASA will hold a press conference to discuss an enigmatic Martian rock that contains possible biosignatures.

Space & Spaceflight Ellyn Lapointe Sep 9

December 20th 2024

NASA’s Proposed Mars ‘Chopper’ Is Ingenuity on Steroids

The otherworldly helicopter, with its 36 blades, is the size of an SUV—a major upgrade from Ingenuity's four blades.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie Dec 20

December 13th 2024

Perseverance Rover Escapes Its Giant Martian Crater. Here’s What Happens Next

The rover trekked nearly 2,000 feet to get out of the crater, where it will explore a 4-billion-year-old environment.

Space & Spaceflight Isaac Schultz Dec 13

December 10th 2024

Warm and Sunny Weather on Mars Could Mean Disaster for Future Missions

Scientists have identified surprising weather patterns underlying Mars' notorious dust storms.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie Dec 10

August 12th 2024

Martian Tremors Provide Strongest Evidence Yet of Liquid Water

Seismic speed data from NASA's decommissioned InSight lander strongly hints at the presence of liquid water on Mars.

Space & Spaceflight Adam Kovac Aug 12

October 19th 2020

Hell Yes, InSight’s Heat Probe Is Now Completely Buried on Mars

There’s some happy news to report from the Red Planet, as the stubborn Mars InSight heat probe, known as “the mole,” is now completely buried. It’s an encouraging development, as the surrounding dirt could coax the device into drilling deeper through the Martian crust. The ongoing saga of the InSight lander’s Heat Flow and Physical…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Oct 19

September 13th 2020

Soon We Might Get to See Mars in 8K

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and broadcaster NHK are teaming up to develop a space camera capable of filming in 4K and 8K resolutions to capture Mars like it’s never been seen before. Meanwhile, 8K video remains prohibitively expensive back down here on Earth, so if you’re going to get some ridiculously high-resolution footage, it…

Space & Spaceflight Alyse Stanley Sep 13

August 10th 2020

Hilary Swank Is on a Mission to Mars in the Emotional First Trailer for Netflix’s Away

She’s boldly going where no one has gone before, but doing so means leaving the people she loves the most. We’ve got the first trailer for Netflix’s Away, a new series that sees Hilary Swank joining the first manned mission to Mars—a three-year journey that will test the limits of its crew, as well as…

Trailers Beth Elderkin Aug 10

July 14th 2020

Five Things to Know About UAE’s First Mission to Mars

The Emirates Hope Mission, scheduled to launch this Friday, is the first Arab attempt to reach the Red Planet. Here’s how the UAE will endeavor to make history. Note: Due to bad weather, the launch has been delayed to Sunday July 19 at 5:58 p.m. EDT (2:38 p.m. PDT). The Hope spacecraft, or Al Amal,…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Jul 14

July 8th 2020

NASA Calls a Time Out as InSight’s Heat Probe Hits Another Snag on Mars

After some mild progress, the Mars InSight heat probe, known as “the mole,” is no longer descending into the Red Planet. NASA is pressing pause on this part of the mission for now, freeing InSight’s robotic arm for other important jobs. The saga of the self-hammering heat probe began in late February 2019, some 13…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Jul 8

March 12th 2020

ExoMars Mission Pushed to 2022 Due to Technical Delays and of Course, Covid-19

Unfinished tests and complications arising from the coronavirus pandemic have forced the European Space Agency and Russia’s Roscosmos to postpone the launch of ExoMars, a collaborative mission to land a rover on the Red Planet and search for signs of life. Going into this year, it wasn’t clear if ExoMars would be ready for launch…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Mar 12

March 4th 2019

China Plans to Launch Its Own Mars Probe Next Year

China’s space agency plans to launch a probe to Mars next year, following its recent successful landing on the Moon’s far side, according to a statement from one of the country’s prominent space scientists. The announcement came ahead of the meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, essentially a governmental advisory group of representatives…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Mar 4

February 28th 2019

Spacecraft Spots Evidence That Groundwater Once Saturated Mars

Scientists report finding evidence for an ancient planet-wide groundwater system on Mars, according to a new study. The clues appeared in images taken by Mars orbiters. Studies continue to find evidence that Mars was once wet, from the chemical composition of its dirt to valleys seemingly cut by ancient rivers. But how much water and…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Feb 28

February 13th 2019

It’s Official: NASA Says Mars Rover Opportunity Is Dead

NASA declared at a press conference today that its Opportunity rover is officially no longer functional, marking the end of an era while celebrating the wildly successful Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. The Mars Exploration Rover team made its final, unsuccessful attempt to reach the Opportunity rover last night. Scientists, science communicators, and science fans…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Feb 13

February 4th 2019

InSight’s Marsquake Detector Gets a Nifty Dome to Protect It From the Harsh Martian Environment

A dome placed over InSight’s seismometer will now protect the sensitive device from Martian wind and extreme temperature fluctuations. Since NASA’s stationary InSight lander made it to Mars on December 19, mission controllers have been steadily deploying its various instruments. During the past several weeks, the team has been adjusting the Seismic Experiment for Interior…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky Feb 4

January 26th 2019

Wake Up, Oppy! NASA Sends New Commands to Mars Opportunity Rover

NASA’s beloved Mars rover Opportunity has been silent for months after getting swept up in an enormous dust storm on the Red Planet last summer, and NASA engineers have been pinging the rover to answer to no avail. Now, NASA says it will send new commands to the resilient explorer in hopes of making contact,…

Space & Spaceflight Catie Keck Jan 26

December 27th 2018

All the Incredible Stuff Happening in Space in 2019

The past year saw tremendous advancements in humanity’s capacity to explore space, and 2019 promises to be no different. From mysterious Kuiper Belt objects and Martian probes to historic rocket launches and daring efforts to touch the Sun, here’s what the next 12 months have in store. New Horizons will encounter Ultima Thule The year…

Reviews George Dvorsky Dec 27

mars exploration

Tropical Storms Drenched Mars for Millions of Years, Strange Pale Rocks Suggest

NASA Says This Martian Rock Holds Potential Signs of Life. Here’s What Must Happen Next

Perseverance Rover Finds Potential Sign of Ancient Life in Martian Rock

NASA to Make Major Announcement About Martian Rock Sample on Wednesday. Here’s How to Watch

NASA’s Proposed Mars ‘Chopper’ Is Ingenuity on Steroids

Perseverance Rover Escapes Its Giant Martian Crater. Here’s What Happens Next

Warm and Sunny Weather on Mars Could Mean Disaster for Future Missions

Martian Tremors Provide Strongest Evidence Yet of Liquid Water

Hell Yes, InSight’s Heat Probe Is Now Completely Buried on Mars

Soon We Might Get to See Mars in 8K

Hilary Swank Is on a Mission to Mars in the Emotional First Trailer for Netflix’s Away

Five Things to Know About UAE’s First Mission to Mars

NASA Calls a Time Out as InSight’s Heat Probe Hits Another Snag on Mars

ExoMars Mission Pushed to 2022 Due to Technical Delays and of Course, Covid-19

China Plans to Launch Its Own Mars Probe Next Year

Spacecraft Spots Evidence That Groundwater Once Saturated Mars

It’s Official: NASA Says Mars Rover Opportunity Is Dead

InSight’s Marsquake Detector Gets a Nifty Dome to Protect It From the Harsh Martian Environment

Wake Up, Oppy! NASA Sends New Commands to Mars Opportunity Rover

All the Incredible Stuff Happening in Space in 2019

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