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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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The last-quarter moon will be in conjunction with Mars on June 12 at 2:24 a.m. EDT (0624 GMT). Catch them together in the predawn sky on June 13.

See Mars rise with the 'half' moon early Saturday morning

By Hanneke Weitering

The last-quarter moon will make a close approach to the Red Planet in the predawn sky on Saturday (June 13), providing a celestial treat for early birds and night owls.

This image of the rocket-powered descent stage sitting on top of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover was taken in a clean room at Kennedy Space Center on April 29, 2020. The integration of the two spacecraft was the first step in stacking the mission's major components into the configuration they will be in while sitting atop of the Atlas V rocket.

NASA delays launch of Mars rover Perseverance to July 20

By Mike Wall

The liftoff of the Perseverance Mars rover has been pushed back three days to deal with a faulty crane at the launch site.

A southern portion of Mars' Holden Crater, as imaged by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Mars rock layers swirl in gorgeous crater photo

By Mike Wall

A sliver of Martian geological history takes center stage in a striking photo of a Red Planet crater.

Six views of the Martian moon Phobos captured by NASA's Odyssey orbiter as of March 2020. The orbiter's THEMIS camera is used to measure temperature variations that suggest what kind of material the moon is made of.

Mars' moon Phobos looks like cosmic candy in these NASA photos

By Mike Wall

New thermal imagery of the Mars moon Phobos could help shed light on the satellite's mysterious origin.

An image taken on June 3, 2020, shows the arm of the InSight lander gently pushing the heat probe into Mars.

The 'mole' on Mars is finally underground after a push from NASA's InSight lander

By Meghan Bartels

There's a light at the end of the tunnel for the first mole to burrow into the surface of Mars, scientists hope.

Artist's illustration of NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance exploring the Red Planet. Perseverance's three-week launch window opens on July 17, 2020.

Life on Mars? Meet the new rover built to give us the answer

By Roger Wiens

NASA's Curiosity rover has shown that Mars was habitable billions of years ago. And NASA is about to launch another rover, called Perseverance, to look for signs of Red Planet life.

An artist's illustration of Mars with rings and part of the solar system's ringed planet club.

Martian moon's orbit suggests the Red Planet had a ring

By Elizabeth Howell

A cycle of moon formation through ring systems could explain the slightly tilted orbit of Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons.

An artist's depiction of SpaceX Starships on Mars.

SpaceX wants to send people to Mars. Here's what the trip might look like.

By Meghan Bartels

Even as SpaceX prepares to launch astronauts for the first time, the company is sharing its dreams for human spaceflight on a much grander scale: missions to Mars.

An artist's illustration of the center of Mars

New Marsquake study could shatter theories on how Mars was born

By Gemma Lavender

A team of researchers at the University of Tokyo has revealed tantalizing details about Mars’ seismic activity for the very first time.

Artist's impression of a city on Mars, which SpaceX wants to help establish with its Starship transportation system.

Colonizing Mars may require humanity to tweak its DNA

By Mike Wall

Genetic enhancement could allow humanity to push surprisingly far out into the final frontier.

Conical hills on Mars may be evidence of mud volcanoes, scientists say.

Mud volcanoes may spew on Mars, scientists say

By Mike Wall

Some Mars volcanoes may erupt with mud rather than molten rock, a new study suggests.

An image shows aerial views of a pit crater chain hiding a lava tube in New Mexico (top) and a similar formation on Mars (bottom).

These lava tubes could be the safest place for explorers to live on Mars

By Rafi Letzter

The Martian surface is a radiation hot zone. But ancient lava tubes might offer explorers safety from the cosmic bombardment

The dark streaks on some Martian slopes known as recurring slope lineae — imaged here by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — may be caused by salty liquid water, some scientists think.

Mars may be wetter than we thought (but still not that habitable)

By Mike Wall

Mars is wetter than previously thought, but not in a way that boosts its life-hosting potential, a new study suggests.

This image of Mars, captured by the HiRISE instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, features Izola mensa, an outcrop in the northwestern rim of Hellas Basin.

Mars orbiter finds evidence of ancient, long-lived rivers on the Red Planet

By Hanneke Weitering

Rivers could have been raging on ancient Mars for hundreds of thousands of years, a new study finds.

This image of the rocket-powered descent stage sitting on top of NASA's Perseverance rover was taken in a clean room at Kennedy Space Center on April 29, 2020. The integration of the two spacecraft was the first step in stacking the mission's major components into the configuration they will be in while sitting atop of the Atlas V rocket.

NASA starts packing Mars rover Perseverance ahead of July launch

By Mike Wall

Percy keeps rolling through milestones here on Earth.

The Hope spacecraft as seen during preparations for launch.

The UAE is going to Mars. Here's the plan for its Hope orbiter.

By Meghan Bartels

The United Arab Emirates had its sights set on Mars the day before it launched its second satellite ever.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie on Feb. 26, 2020. The crumbling rock layer at the top of the image is the Greenheugh Pediment, which Curiosity crested on March 6.

NASA budget cuts at Mars threaten 'crisis' for Curiosity rover and prolific orbiters

By Mike Wall

Budget cuts may force NASA's Curiosity rover mission to slam on the brakes just as it's reaching its highly anticipated home stretch.

A rock fragment of Martian meteorite ALH84001 (left). An enlarged area (right) shows the orange-colored carbonate grains on the host orthopyroxene rock.

Building blocks of life found in famous Mars meteorite

By Mike Wall

The famed Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001 contains 4-billion-year-old organic molecules, the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it, a new study suggests.

Vaneeza Rupani (inset), a junior at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama, came up with the name Ingenuity for NASA's Mars Helicopter (an artist's impression of which is seen here) and the motivation behind it during NASA's "Name the Rover" essay contest.

Meet Ingenuity: Alabama teen names NASA's pioneering Mars Helicopter

By Mike Wall

The little chopper that will launch toward the Red Planet this summer with NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance is named Ingenuity.

The logo for the China National Space Administration's Tianwen-1 Mars mission features a stylized "C" for China.

China reveals name, logo for its 'Tianwen' 1st Mars landing mission

By Robert Z. Pearlman

China revealed the name and logo for its first mission aimed at landing on the planet Mars to mark the 50th anniversary of its first satellite launch.