Mars

Curiosity rover is crushing it: Ran over a rock and found pure sulfur

An unexpected splash of yellow on the red planet

Science22 Jul 2024 | 22

Mars is slam-dunked by hundreds of basketball-sized meteorites every year

Impact studies crucial for accurately determining Red Planet's age

Science29 Jun 2024 | 19

Perseverance pays off as Mars rover's SHERLOC brought back from the brink

Bot's arm used to free instrument's dust cover and return to science

Science27 Jun 2024 | 12

Rosalind Franklin rover gets another shot at Mars after string of bad luck

Could 2030 bring touchdown at last?

Science17 May 2024 | 5

NASA plasma propulsion project promises Mars in a flash

System would also make it easier to transport much heavier spacecraft

Science02 May 2024 | 24

China to launch sample return mission to the far side of the Moon – maybe next week

And hatches 2030 plan to beat US for Mars rock retrieval

Science30 Apr 2024 | 19

Mars helicopter sends final message, but will keep collecting data

One last software update installed safely, reconfigured it as 'stationary testbed'

Science18 Apr 2024 | 21

NASA needs new ideas and tech to get Mars Sample Return mission off the ground

Current plans are too expensive and slow, meaning China could win race to score red rocks

Science16 Apr 2024 | 46

NASA's Mars Sample Return Program struggles to get off the drawing board

The tech just isn't ready and clunky collab with ESA isn't helping, auditor finds

Science04 Mar 2024 | 18

72 flights later and a rotor blade short, Mars chopper loses its fight with physics

Perseverance images show violent end to Ingenuity's final flight

Science26 Feb 2024 | 23

WATSON picks up slack on Mars for SHERLOC as Perseverance gadgets show age

The curious incident of the instrument cover on the Red Planet rover

Science15 Feb 2024 | 16

Save the Mars Sample Return mission, plead Congresscritters

Letter: Budget cuts will 'essentially cancel' daring multi vehicle project unless reversed

Science02 Feb 2024 | 19

Mars Helicopter Ingenuity will fly no more, but is still standing upright

In Memoriam for plucky robot that brushed off dead sensors and dust like they were nothing

Science26 Jan 2024 | 36

NASA lost contact with Mars helicopter Ingenuity, then managed to find it again

ESA makes its own discovery: the most water ever found on Mars

Science22 Jan 2024 | 18

It's been two decades since Spirit landed on the red sands of Mars

Decades, gone in a flash: Longlived mission was almost derailed by file system whoopsie

Science05 Jan 2024 | 9

ESA's Mars Express continues to avoid retirement home

Space Extenders II Another chunk of science, another mission extension. But probe is running on fumes

Science24 Dec 2023 | 34

Solar wind gave Mars a breather and its magnetosphere inflated

NASA's long-lived MAVEN probe was there taking notes

Science13 Dec 2023 | 8

NASA celebrates Perseverance Rover's 1000th Martian day with lakebed history lesson

As its companion helicopter plans its furthest flight yet

Science13 Dec 2023 | 17

Chinese boffins pitch quadcopter for Mars sample return mission

In the race for the Red Planet, NASA is falling behind

Science07 Dec 2023 | 14

That time a JPL engineer almost killed a Mars Rover before it left Earth

Forget Martian dust devils, it's the peril of the blue smoke you have to worry about

Science29 Nov 2023 | 54

Maverick Mars chopper has survived way past its warranty – now it's time for a sequel

With Ingenuity still on the Red Planet, engineers have the best of both worlds

Science23 Nov 2023 | 15

Bezos might beat Musk to Mars as NASA recruits Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket

Eyeing an August 2024 launch, if spacecraft is ready for its first mission

Science23 Nov 2023 | 24

AI chemist creates catalysts to make oxygen using Martian meteorites

Robotic process hunts down local extraterrestrial materials to aid supply of on-site fuel and oxygen

AI + ML14 Nov 2023 | 6

4,000 days of Curiosity: Rover still 'strong' despite worn joints, vision issues

Trundlebot has trundled 32km across 'punishingly cold environment bathed in dust and radiation'

Science07 Nov 2023 | 31

Mars' iron core surrounded by molten rock, seismic studies show

Two new pieces of research suggest center is smaller than previously thought

Science27 Oct 2023 | 6

Mars chilled for aeons, but stayed so stressed it gets crusty marsquakes

Multiple orbiters failed to find a crater matching rumble. Boffins now blame Red planet's internal problems

Science19 Oct 2023 | 7

Mars helicopter to try for new speed record on Thursday

57 flights past expected lifetime and still improving

Science12 Oct 2023 | 38

Elon Musk's ambitions for Starship soar high while reality waits on launchpad

Comment Monster rocket yet to trouble orbit, let alone the Red Planet

Science06 Oct 2023 | 86

Red Planet roommates have been stuck on 'Mars' together for 100 days

Simulation milestone coincides with NASA's 65th birthday – will it manage the real thing before its centenary?

Science04 Oct 2023 | 16

Perseverance rover sets a Martian speed record with software controls

347.7 meters in a day - humans could probably do better

Science27 Sep 2023 | 7

Researchers train an AI system to find extraterrestrial life

Machine learning model touted as ideal for finding LGMs on Mars, and beyond

Science27 Sep 2023 | 26

NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is in danger of never launching

Review board: Mega project is way over budget, needs cash, and senators want it axed

Science25 Sep 2023 | 22

MOXIE microwaved Mars air into oxygen, but now it's time for a breather

Concept will need to be scaled up to keep more than a small dog alive

Science11 Sep 2023 | 19

Boffins reckon Mars colony could survive with fewer than two dozen people

Taming that unforgiving dust world may be significantly less expensive than anticipated

Science16 Aug 2023 | 129

Curiosity finds evidence of wet and dry seasons on ancient Mars

Scientists: Martian mud cracked in a manner that only happens after repeated cycles of drying

Science12 Aug 2023 | 38

NASA to test potential 400Mbps laser link for Mars

High bandwidth comms experiment to fly with Psyche asteroid mission in October

Networks10 Aug 2023 | 12

NASA, DARPA enlist Lockheed to build nuclear-powered spacecraft

Hey, at least this one isn't an actual bomb

Science27 Jul 2023 | 16

Perseverance reveals more detail on Martian organic chemistry

Building blocks for life could have been present for up to 2.6 billion years on the Red Planet, rover discovery shows

Science12 Jul 2023 | 8

Mars helicopter phones home after 63 days of silence

If Japanese space boffins have their way, it could be joined by a robotic hummingbird

Science03 Jul 2023 | 14

Fresh details on the flash that sits inside Mars Perseverance Rover

Plus space-hardened SSDs planned for lunar DC ... if and when that happens

The Reg in Space15 Jun 2023 | 5

Scientists think they may have cracked life support for Martian occupation

Outdated ISS system will need an upgrade if we're to go further into space

The Reg in Space07 Jun 2023 | 82

Mars helicopter went silent for six sols, imperilled Perseverance rover

Ingenuity's still setting records, but waking it up and chatting are getting harder

The Reg in Space30 May 2023 | 42

Encoded 'alien message' will reach Earth today, but relax: It's just a drill

SETI encouraging everyone to break out their decoder rings, get in on the simulated first-contact fun

Science24 May 2023 | 23

Perseverance rover shows up Curiosity with discovery of Martian water park

Latest snaps have NASA rethinking scale of rivers on the Red Planet

Science12 May 2023 | 23

China's Mars rover finds signs of 'modern' water

Asia In Brief AWS adds Korean support; Singtel creates InfraCo; Philippines SIM registration drive extended

Science01 May 2023 | 4

China space agency reckons Zhurong Mars rover has probably been done in by dust

Hopes it might wake during the Martian solstice, but not with much confidence

Science27 Apr 2023 | 4

NASA InSight lander spills the beans on Mars' core

The lander might be dead, but its scientific legacy lives on

Science25 Apr 2023 | 8

Mars Helicopter completes 50th flight, 45 more than NASA planned

And sets a Martian height record for good measure

Science17 Apr 2023 | 33

Curiosity gets interplanetary software patch for better driving and more on Mars

And you thought patching your production environment was stressful

Science15 Apr 2023 | 52

Move over, Google Earth. Caltech's here with a fresh 3D tour of Mars

Alien dust world globe took three years of hand-stitching images to create

Science08 Apr 2023 | 18

Wannabe space 'superpower' UK tosses £1.6M at eight research projects

Very world-beating funding

Science08 Mar 2023 | 65

To explore caves on Mars and the Moon, take a hint from Hansel & Gretel, say boffins

Robot adventurers drop mesh network 'breadcrumbs' to stay connected

Science03 Mar 2023 | 32

China's Zhurong rover may be dead: NASA images show no sign of life

Pic Or maybe it's just resting and pining for the fjords

Science23 Feb 2023 | 11

Research raises questions: Are instruments taken to Mars sensitive enough to find life?

Study in Chile desert finds NASA Mars mission instruments unlikely to detect signs of life in Earth's most arid regions

Science21 Feb 2023 | 18

Curiosity finds clearest evidence yet for water on Mars

A rippled rocky ridge suggests the presence of lakes and waves, all at a higher elevation than expected

Science09 Feb 2023 | 10

Field trip! European Space Agency sends astronauts abroad to learn about rocks

Astronauts need better autonomy as ground control gets further away

Science06 Feb 2023 | 12