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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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NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. The spacecraft will serve as a vital relay for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity's landing on Aug. 5, 2012. [Related: <a href=http://www.space.com/16385-curiosity-rover-mars-science-laboratory.html>Mars Rover Curiosity Landing Coverage</a>]

Is the end near for Mars Odyssey? Trump's proposed 2021 budget could doom long-lived mission

By Nola Taylor Redd

The proposed 2021 budget could cancel Odyssey by default due to timing challenges.

This image of the titanium nameplate on the robotic arm of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover was taken at a payload servicing facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center soon after being attached on March 4, 2020.

What's in a name: Why NASA chose 'Perseverance' for its next Mars rover

By Mike Wall

NASA didn't name its next Mars rover Perseverance just because 'Percy' is a cute nickname.

Artist's illustration on NASA's 2020 Mars rover, now officially known as Perseverance, on the Red Planet.

Meet 'Perseverance': NASA's Mars 2020 rover has a new name

By Mike Wall

NASA's next Mars rover — a life-hunting, sample-caching robot scheduled to launch this summer — is officially called Perseverance, agency officials announced today (March 5).

A portion of a 1.8-billion-pixel panorama whose composite images were captured by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1, 2019.

See Mars like never before in this highest-resolution panorama ever from the Curiosity rover

By Mike Wall

The Curiosity team just released a 1.8-billion-pixel panorama that features "Glen Torridon," a region on the flanks of Mars' 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) Mount Sharp.

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

NASA will reveal the new name of its Mars 2020 rover on Thursday

By Mike Wall

Sorry, "Rover McRoverface" is not among the nine finalists.

Photographs taken by MarCO-B as it approached Mars in November 2018.

RIP, MarCO! The world's first cubesats to Mars are gone for good

By Meghan Bartels

In September 2019, NASA started the second half of an epic game of Marco Polo; early this month the agency declared it over for good.

A view of Nördlinger Ries, a 15-mile-wide (24 kilometers) impact crater in southern Germany that was created by a meteorite impact 15 million years ago.

15-million-year-old crater on Earth reveals clues about Mars' watery past

By Samantha Mathewson

Meteorite samples from an ancient impact site in Germany may offer new clues about the history of oceans and life on Mars.

An artist's impression of the effect of a solar storm on Mars, as charged particles strip away it atmosphere.

Mars lander reveals new details about the Red Planet's strange magnetic field

By Elizabeth Howell

The magnetic field in one zone on Mars is about 10 times stronger than scientists expected, and it's changing rapidly.

Scientists are still trying to figure out whether Mars shows any traces of life.

What can the coronavirus outbreak teach us about bringing Mars samples back to Earth?

By Leonard David

A new virus called SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus that has caused an outbreak of a disease called COVID-19. But what does that have to do with Mars?

NASA's Mars InSight lander recently moved its robotic arm closer to its digging device, called the "mole," in preparation to push on its top, or back cap. Photo released on Feb. 21, 2020.

NASA has a new idea to get the InSight lander's 'mole' on Mars digging again

By Mike Wall

The "mole" aboard NASA's Mars InSight lander is about to get yet another push.

This image, the second selfie captured by NASA's InSight Mars lander, is a mosaic of 14 photos taken between March 15 and April 11, 2019.

Mars is a seismically active world, first results from NASA's InSight lander reveal

By Mike Wall

The first science returns from NASA's InSight Mars lander reveal a seismically active Red Planet.

An artist’s illustration of Japan's Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft at the small Martian satellite Phobos.

Japan to launch a sample-return mission to Mars moon Phobos in 2024

By Mike Wall

The Martian Moon Exploration (MMX) mission, which aims to haul pieces of the Mars moon Phobos to Earth, has officially become a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) project.

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Astrogeology Science Center has released the locations of more than 1,000 cave-entrance candidates on Mars. The dots indicate the location of possible caves in the Tharsis region on Mars.

Scientists eye the Martian underground in search for alien life

By Leonard David

While the cold, dry, radiation-blasted surface of Mars is widely considered to be uninhabitable, the subsurface may be a very different story.

The shipping container carrying NASA's Mars 2020 rover is readied for loading aboard an Air Force C-17 transport plane at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California, on Feb. 11, 2020.

NASA's Mars 2020 rover arrives at Florida launch site for July liftoff

By Hanneke Weitering

NASA's newest Mars rover has just left the nest.

Mars as seen from orbit by NASA’s Viking mission.

Water on Mars? Boulder shadows may spawn short-lived pools of brine.

By Mike Wall

Many tiny patches of modern Martian ground may be capable of supporting life, if only very briefly, a new study suggests.

This illustration shows how early Mars may have looked, with signs of liquid water, large-scale volcanic activity and heavy bombardment from planetary projectiles.

Mars took way longer to form than we thought, ancient impacts reveal

By Samantha Mathewson

Early cosmic impacts may have influenced the evolution of Mars, suggesting that the Red Planet formed much slower than previously thought.

Artist's illustration of NASA's planned Mars Ascent Vehicle launching samples off the surface of the Red Planet.

NASA's Mars sample-return plans get a boost in 2021 budget request

By Mike Wall

'Mars Future Missions' get $233 million in the newly unveiled 2021 budget request.

A night-sky image taken by the Mars InSight lander's Instrument Context Camera on Jan. 28, 2020.

This picture is from Mars. It's probably not what you think.

By Meghan Bartels

It's some next-level skywatching: Scientists are using images captured by NASA's InSight lander to look for meteors on Mars.

J.J. Hastings practices dying on Mars just outside of the HI-SEAS habitat in Hawaii with a Martian death garment specially designed and made by fashion designer Pia Interlandi.

How to die on Mars

By Chelsea Gohd

As we venture out off Earth, it's important that we consider what might happen if we die.

An artist's depiction of NASA's MAVEN spacecraft studying Mars.

Discovery of 'rifts' and 'layers' above Mars may aid radio communications on Earth

By Elizabeth Howell

A NASA probe at Mars made a finding that could help scientists better understand radio interference at Earth.