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Mars

Mars, the Red Planet, is the fourth planet from the sun.

Related Topics: Curiosity Mars Rover Mission, ExoMars, India Mars Orbiter Mission, Mars Rover Opportunity, Maven Mars Mission 

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A dune imaged in July 2021 by Zhurong after roving more than 1,600 feet (500 meters).

China's Zhurong Mars rover scopes out dunes on journey south

By Andrew Jones

China's Zhurong rover has quietly clocked up 1,900 feet (585 meters) of driving on Mars and has been using its science instruments to check out nearby geologic features in Utopia Planitia.

The bright white region of this image, captured by Europe's Mars Express spacecraft in December 2012, shows the icy cap that covers Mars’ south pole, composed of frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide.

Mars' buried polar 'lakes' may just be frozen clay

By Charles Q. Choi

Bright reflections that radar detected beneath the south pole of Mars may not be underground lakes as previously thought but deposits of clay instead, a new study finds.

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity sees its shadow on the Martian surface during its 10th flight on July 24, 2021.

NASA's Mars helicopter soars past 1-mile mark in 10th flight over Red Planet

By Tariq Malik

The Mars helicopter Ingenuity flew its 10th flight on Saturday (July 24) to pass its first 1-mile marker.

An artist's depiction of NASA's InSight lander on Mars.

Marsquakes reveal Red Planet has surprisingly large core, thin crust

By Nola Taylor Tillman

The first detected quakes on Mars suggest that the Red Planet has a larger core, potentially thinner crust and slightly different composition than scientists had thought.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flew over these sand dunes and rocks during its ninth flight, on July 5, 2021.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity gearing up for 10th Red Planet flight this weekend

By Mike Wall

Ingenuity's 10th flight on Mars could happen as early as Saturday (July 24).

Perseverance will sample this light colored stone known as "paver stone" when it starts taking samples from Mars.

NASA's Perseverance rover gears up to capture its 1st Mars rock sample

By Chelsea Gohd

NASA's Perseverance rover is preparing to collect its first samples on Mars, a milestone that could happen within the next two weeks, agency officials announced today (July 21).

The European Space Agency's Trace Gas Orbiter has detected no signs of methane in the atmosphere of Mars in more than two and a half years of measurements.

Europe's Mars orbiter finds no trace of methane on Red Planet

By Tereza Pultarova

The European/Russian Trace Gas Orbiter found no signs of gases related to the existence of life in the atmosphere of Mars, according to three recently published studies.

perseverance rover on mars

NASA's Perseverance rover is ready to hunt signs of life on Mars. See the 1st science results today.

By Meghan Bartels

Even as NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has captured the imagination with flight after flight on the Red Planet, the chopper's rover companion has been hard at work doing science.

Jupiter's ocean-harboring moon, Europa, imaged here by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, is widely regarded as one of the solar system's best bets to host alien life.

The search for alien life

By Mike Wall

Here's a look at where the hunt for aliens has been and where it's headed.

The HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this photo of the Curiosity rover on April 18, 2021.

Curiosity rover discovers that evidence of past life on Mars may have been erased

By Ben Turner

The findings from the Curiosity rover could help the Perseverance rover decide which samples to collect for later analysis.

NASA's Curiosity rover took this selfie while inside Mars' Gale crater on June 15, 2018, which was the 2,082nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.

'Alien burp' may have been detected on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover

By Ben Turner

Methane tends to only be made by biological life, so scientists are wondering if the source is from alien microbes.

China's Mars rover Zhurong captured this view of its parachute and backshell on July 12, 2021.

China's Mars rover Zhurong just found its parachute and backshell (video)

By Mike Wall

China's Zhurong Mars rover has given us nice, up-close looks at some of the hardware that helped it land safely on the Red Planet two months ago.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured this image of tracks made by the Perseverance rover during its ninth flight, on July 5 2021.

New photos from the Mars helicopter Ingenuity's 9th flight help refine Perseverance rover science goals

By Tereza Pultarova

A new batch of images from the recent Ingenuity flight is helping NASA scientists to refine science goals for the Perseverance rover as it searches for signs of life on the Red Planet.

NASA's Perseverance rover acquired this image of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter on the floor of Jezero Crater.

NASA is mapping out plans for bigger, more capable Mars helicopters

By Leonard David

Given the highly successful and ongoing flights of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, engineers are turning their attention to future aerial craft for the Red Planet.

On Monday (July 12), the waxing crescent moon will pass about 3 degrees to the north of Venus.

Venus and the moon pass a fading Mars in the evening sky this weekend

By Joe Rao

Catch the trio above the western horizon about 45 minutes after sunset.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured this image, which features tracks made by the Perseverance rover, using its high-resolution color camera during its ninth Red Planet flight, on July 5, 2021.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity spotted a 'heart' in Perseverance rover's tracks on 9th flight (video)

By Mike Wall

Ingenuity spotted a heart-shaped track created when the Perseverance Mars rover took a slight detour, likely to investigate an interesting rock or patch of dirt.

An image taken by the Ingenuity helicopter of its shadow on Mars during the chopper's ninth flight, on July 5, 2021.

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity sails through 9th flight on the Red Planet

By Meghan Bartels

NASA's experimental Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, has now flown nine times on the Red Planet, letting mission engineers test a host of capabilities that could pave the way for more Martian choppers.

Illustration of the terraforming of Mars, to a world not unlike ours.

Could we really terraform Mars?

By Paul Sutter

With its frigid temperatures, remoteness from the sun and general dustiness, changing Mars to be more Earth-like is more challenging than it seems (and it already seems pretty tough).

An image taken by the Perseverance rover showing some of the robot's body, two of its six wheels and a host of tire tracks on Mars, as seen on July 1, 2021.

NASA's Perseverance rover is taking its own wheel for Mars drives

By Meghan Bartels

NASA's Perseverance rover is picking up the pace on Mars thanks to technology that helps the robot avoid running into trouble.

The parachute for the ESA/Roscosmos Mars mission ExoMars successfully deployed during a high altitude drop test.

Europe's ExoMars parachute still experiencing problems in drop test

By Tereza Pultarova

One of the main parachutes of the European ExoMars rover has suffered damage during the latest high altitude drop test, which took place a little over a year before the mission's scheduled launch.