Exploration of Mars

A commercial landing on Mars will have to wait a little longer as two private space companies updated their plan to touchdown on the Red Planet, delaying it by two years for reasons not made explicitly clear.Astronomers Could Soon Get…

China’s Zhurong rover has found evidence of liquid water on present-day Mars, according to a team that reviewed data from the rover’s cameras.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonTo be clear, the team claims they’ve collected…

The Chinese rover snapped a selfie on Mars next to its lander shortly after arriving at the Red Planet. Image: China National Space AdministrationAbout a year ago, China’s Zhurong rover hunkered down on the Martian surface to avoid the…

NASA’s quest to return rocky samples from the surface of Mars to Earth in 2033 is already running up the bill, with the project needing a lot more money than what was allocated to the mission for 2023. Better Mobility & Cameras: NASA…

NASA is setting up an independent review board to overseethe Mars Sample Return mission plans, in an effort to make sure the mission will be completed on time and—crucially—under budget.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX…

NASA has released an interactive map of Mars made from over 100,000 images taken by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; the mosaic is the highest-resolution global portraitof Mars ever made.What Was Your First Experience with…

In February 2021, NASA landed a $2.7 billion rover on Mars that has been roaming the Red Planet ever since. The space agency got what it paid for, as the largely autonomous Perseverance rover has been dutifully collecting rock core…

NASA is staying focused on the Artemis lunar program, its Moon to Mars objectives, and maintaining a presence in low Earth orbit as part of the agency’s proposed budget for 2024. The space agency also has a new item on its annual…

ESA’s Sample Transfer Arm will pick up samples and load them into a spacecraft to launch them off the surface of Mars.Gif: ESA/NASA/GizmodoThe Mars Sample Return Program is a bold plan to deliver precious samples of Martian soil back to…

The Chinese rover snapped this selfie of itself on Mars shortly after landing on the Red Planet.Image: China News ServiceChina’s Zhurong rover went into hibernation mode in May 2022 to avoid the harsh winter season on Mars, but…