Mars | SpaceRef - Mars Today

Mars TOP STORY

Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky

Martian Dust Storm

Dust storms are common on Mars. But every decade or so, something unpredictable happens: A series of runaway storms breaks out, covering the entire planet in a dusty haze

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Mars TOP STORIES

NASA Updates Mars 2020 Mission Environmental Review

Mars Imaged by Hubble

As NASA continues preparations for the summer 2020 Florida launch of its Mars 2020 rover, including the recent completion of testing the spacecraft in Mars-like conditions, public safety remains a top priority.

InSight's Arm Camera Stares Into the Pit

The shadow of NASA InSight's robotic arm moves over its heat probe, or "mole," on Nov. 3, 2019, the 333rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Mars 2020 Heads Into the Test Chamber

In this time-lapse video, taken on Oct. 9, 2019, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, bunny-suited engineers move the Mars 2020 rover from a high bay in the Spacecraft Simulator Building into the facility's large vacuum chamber for testing in Mars-like environmental conditions.

An Astronaut Smart Glove to Explore The Moon, Mars and Beyond

The NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) and collaborating organizations SETI Institute, Mars Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Collins Aerospace, and Ntention are announcing the successful field test of an "astronaut smart glove" for future human exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Mars InSight's Mole Has Partially Backed Out of Its Hole

After making progress over the past several weeks digging into the surface of Mars, InSight's mole has backed about halfway out of its hole this past weekend.

New Selfie From Mars Curiosity

A new selfie taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is breathtaking, but it's especially meaningful for the mission's team: stitched together from 57 individual images taken by a camera on the end of Curiosity's robotic arm, the panorama also commemorates only the second time the rover has performed a special chemistry experiment.

Mars 2020 Stands on Its Own Six Wheels

This time-lapse video, taken on Oct. 8, 2019, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, captures the first time NASA's Mars 2020 rover has carried its full weight on its legs and wheels.

HiRISE Views InSight and Curiosity on Mars

The HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently sent home eye-catching views of the agency's InSight lander and its Curiosity rover.

River Relic Spied By Mars Express

Mars may seem to be an alien world, but many of its features look eerily familiar - such as this ancient, dried-up river system that stretches out for nearly 700 kilometres across the surface, making it one of the longest valley networks on the planet.

Global Analysis Of Submarine Canyons On Earth May Shed Light On Martian Landscapes

Submarine canyons are a final frontier on planet Earth.

Mars 2020 Rover Tests Descent-Stage Separation

In this picture from Sept. 28, 2019, engineers and technicians working on the assembly and testing of the Mars 2020 spacecraft look on as a crane lifts the rocket-powered descent stage away from the rover.

NASA's Push to Save the Mars InSight Lander's Heat Probe

NASA's InSight lander, which is on a mission to explore the deep interior of Mars, positioned its robotic arm this past weekend to assist the spacecraft's self-hammering heat probe. Known as "the mole," the probe has been unable to dig more than about 14 inches (35 centimeters) since it began burying itself into the ground on Feb. 28, 2019.

NASA's InSight 'Hears' Peculiar Sounds on Mars

Put an ear to the ground on Mars and you'll be rewarded with a symphony of sounds. Granted, you'll need superhuman hearing, but NASA's InSight lander comes equipped with a very special "ear."

Sols 2536-2537: Mars Curiosity's SAM Wet Chemistry Experiment

Searching for organic molecules in rocks on Mars is no easy task. Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument is designed to analyze the chemical composition of gases, which it creates by slowly heating rock samples in an oven.

Getting Mac And Cheese To Mars

Washington State University scientists have developed a way to triple the shelf life of ready-to-eat macaroni and cheese, a development that could have benefits for everything from space travel to military use.

Drones Probe Dust Devils to Understand Mars's Atmosphere

Dust devils, small dusty whirlwinds, have been studied for decades. But, says Brian Jackson, an associate professor in the Department of Physics at Boise State University, the ability of dust devils to lift dust into the atmosphere remains murky.

Layers in Mars' Danielson Crater

This image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows sedimentary rock and sand within Danielson Crater, an impact crater about 42 miles or 67 kilometers in diameter, located in the southwest Arabia Terra region of Mars.