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Join Space.com as we talk the summer of Mars with NASA's Jim Watzin and the Planetary Society's Jim Bell.

Replay: Space.com talks 'Summer of Mars' with NASA, Planetary Society

By Tariq Malik

Join Space.com for our free "Summer of Mars" webinar on today, July 29, at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT).

An artist's depiction of the European-Russian Trace Gas Orbiter circling Mars.

Strange gas signature on Mars may help explain methane mystery

By Meghan Bartels

A Mars orbiter run by the European Space Agency (ESA) has sniffed out two never-before-seen chemical signatures in the Red Planet's atmosphere.

This NASA graphic shows the locations of asteroid 2020 OY4 and Earth during a close flyby of the asteroid on July 28, 2020.

An asteroid the size of a car just zipped by Earth in close flyby

By Tariq Malik

A car-sized asteroid discovered over the weekend flew by Earth today (July 28) at a range close to the orbits of some satellites.

This map shows present-day Earth and deviations in the planet's magnetic field. Strong deviations are represented in yellow-orange, while small deviations are in blue. The star is located on the island Saint Helena.

Weird behavior of Earth's magnetic field over South Atlantic dates back 11 million years

By Samantha Mathewson

What's the deal with the South Atlantic anomaly?

Artist's illustration of NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance on the Red Planet's surface.

NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance is 'go' for launch

By Mike Wall

The $2.7 billion Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission passed its launch readiness review, the last big hurdle to clear before its planned liftoff on Thursday (July 30).

NASA astronaut Bob Behnken snapped this incredible photo of Hurricane Hanna (now classified as a tropical storm) from the International Space Station this past Friday (July 24.) "Snapped this photo of the storm in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday as it was starting to have observable structure from @Space_Station. #HurricaneHanna," Behnken wrote on Twitter.

See Hurricane Hanna from space as seen by astronauts and satellites (video)

By Chelsea Gohd

For astronauts and satellites alike, space is proving to be a perfect vantage point to spot swirling hurricanes.

The USGS Astrogeology Science Center generated a digital terrain model mosaic and orthomosaic of Mars’ Jezero Crater using imagery captured by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The mosaic, a sample of which is shown here, is the basemap onto which surface hazards were mapped. The hazard map is onboard NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance and will be used by the mission’s Terrain-Relative Navigation system to help identify the final, hazard-free landing location within Jezero. 

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will use some of the best Martian maps ever made

By Mike Wall

NASA's next Mars rover Perseverance will explore the Red Planet with the aid of some of the most precise Martian maps ever created.

A snippet of the new solar time-lapse video

Rare ghostly particles produced inside the sun just detected under a mountain in Italy

By Diane Lincoln

For the first time ever, physicists have spotted rare, ghostly particles, called CNO solar neutrinos, produced by a weird kind of fusion inside the sun.

A portion of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope's new image of the cosmic microwave background

Oldest surviving light reveals the universe's true age

By Rafi Letzter

One of the most important controversies in physics remains unresolved after a major new study. But at least we have a new precise number for the universe's age.

An artist's illustration of the K2-138 system, which contains at least five planets orbiting closely around their parent star.

'Mini-Neptunes' may be rocky water worlds

By Elizabeth Howell

A strong greenhouse effect allows these "super-Earth" exoplanets to masquerade as "mini-Neptunes."

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover waits to be lifted onto its Atlas V launch vehicle at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 7, 2020.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance launches this week

By Mike Wall

NASA's $2.7 billion Mars 2020 rover Perseverance, is scheduled to launch Thursday (July 30) during a two-hour window that opens at 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT).

This map shows 11 billion years of the universe's history, with galaxies closest to Earth appearing in purple and blue, and distant galaxies in yellow and red.

Scientists unveil largest 3D map of the universe ever

By Brandon Specktor

Scientists unveiled the largest 3D map of the universe ever, showing its expansion rate over 11 billion years.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of Saturn during its northern hemisphere summer on July 4, 2020.

Behold! Saturn has no summertime blues in this amazing Hubble telescope photo

By Meghan Bartels

Can't get enough of summer? Saturn's northern hemisphere is also in the throes of the season, and the Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning new photo of the ringed planet to celebrate.

These images the JIRAM instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft took on Dec. 26, 2019, provide the first infrared mapping of Ganymede's northern frontier. Frozen water molecules detected at both poles have no appreciable order to their arrangement and a different infrared signature than ice at the equator.

NASA Jupiter probe images huge moon Ganymede like never before (photos)

By Mike Wall

NASA's Juno Jupiter probe has captured unprecedented views of the largest moon in the solar system.

A Chinese Long March 5 rocket launches the China National Space Administration's Tianwen-1 Mars rover, lander and orbiter from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island on July 23, 2020.

China launches ambitious Tianwen-1 Mars rover mission

By Mike Wall

The Tianwen-1 mission launched atop a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center early this morning (July 23), kicking off a seven-month cruise to Mars.

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is prepared for encapsulation in its Atlas V rocket payload fairing at NASA's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 18, 2020.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance is ready for its July 30 launch

By Mike Wall

The flight readiness review is in the books.

An image from a model used in a new study to investigate the origins of plate tectonics on Earth.

How did Earth crack? New study may explain origins of plate tectonics on our planet.

By Chelsea Gohd

In a new study, scientists investigated the origins of plate tectonics and found its history rooted in Earth

A 55- to 60-meter lighting vessel of Chinese origin near North Korean waters. This vessel had its four arm-like structures deployed and flew both North Korean and Chinese flags.

Satellites uncover widespread illegal fishing in Pacific Ocean

By Mike Wall

Orbital observations revealed extensive illegal fishing of Pacific flying squid in the Pacific Ocean around Russia, Japan and North and South Korea in 2017 and 2018.

This image, captured by the SPHERE instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, shows the star TYC 8998-760-1 (top left) accompanied by two giant exoplanets. This is the first time astronomers have directly observed more than one planet orbiting a star similar to the sun.

Multiplanet system around sunlike star photographed for 1st time ever

By Mike Wall

For the first time ever, astronomers have directly imaged multiple planets orbiting a sunlike star.

This illustration (left) depicts a supermassive black hole shrouded by a dust and gas "cocoon." Using X-ray imagery, as depicted in the X-ray image (right), scientists have uncovered 28 supermassive black holes.

Mistaken identity? Researchers uncover true nature of monster black holes

By Chelsea Gohd

Over two dozen misidentified supermassive black holes have finally been revealed in a new, sky-scanning study.