Wind-powered tumbleweed rover could roll across Mars
Imagine exploring Mars not with a handful of expensive, heavy rovers, but with swarms of lightweight, wind-driven spheres rolling across the red planet like...
Scientists unveil smarter lithium batteries for Mars exploration
Exploring Mars is one of humanity’s most ambitious goals, but it comes with huge technical challenges.
Among them is how to keep rovers, instruments, and...
Tea plants thrive in Moon soil, but fail on Mars
The idea of astronauts enjoying a cup of tea on the Moon may not be so far-fetched after all.
A team of researchers from the...
Mars could once have had an ozone shield like Earth, study finds
Scientists studying the harsh winter at Mars’s north pole have uncovered surprising conditions inside the planet’s polar vortex—an enormous, swirling current of air that...
Scientists discover minerals on Mars that mirror life on Earth
Scientists have uncovered one of the strongest pieces of evidence yet that Mars may once have been home to microbial life.
A new study, led...
Why autonomous reactors are key to powering human life on Mars
Sending humans to Mars will require reliable energy systems that can work without constant human attention.
One of the most promising options is nuclear power,...
Mars has a solid core, solving a planetary mystery
For decades, scientists have puzzled over the deep interior of Mars.
Did it resemble Earth, with a solid center wrapped in a liquid outer core,...
Mars’s rocky interior preserves the chaos of its violent birth, study finds
When we picture the inside of planets like Earth and Mars, we often imagine neat layers stacked one on top of another: a solid...
Scientists find way to turn Mars soil into metal
The dream of building homes, labs, and entire settlements on Mars is no longer just the stuff of science fiction.
Billionaires, space agencies, and space...
NASA’s Perseverance rover delivers one of its clearest views yet of Mars
NASA’s Perseverance rover has captured one of its sharpest and most breathtaking panoramas of Mars so far, thanks to an unusually clear day on...