Content for Mars

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Gets a Major Software Upgrade

“The update brings loads of improvements, the most significant being new driving capabilities. Years in the making, a major software update that has been installed on NASA’s Curiosity rover will enable the Mars robot to drive faster and reduce …

Engineers Keep an Eye on Fuel Supply of NASA’s Oldest Mars Orbiter

“Measuring the fuel supply on Odyssey, a decades-old spacecraft without a fuel gauge, is no easy task. Since NASA launched the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter to the Red Planet almost 22 years ago, the spacecraft has looped around Mars more …

NASA’s Curiosity Views First ‘Sun Rays’ on Mars

“The veteran rover captured a dazzling sunset at the start of a new cloud-imaging campaign. Martian sunsets are uniquely moody, but NASA’s Curiosity rover captured one last month that stands out. As the Sun descended over the horizon on …

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Set to Begin Third Year at Jezero Crater

“After completing the first sample depot on another world, the rover continues its hunt for Mars rocks worthy of study on Earth. NASA’s Perseverance rover will celebrate its second anniversary on the surface of Mars Saturday, Feb. 18. Since …

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Shows Off Collection of Mars Samples

“The Red Planet rover snapped a portrait of the sample depot it has assembled with 10 backup sample tubes that could be returned to Earth by a future mission. Even space robots know what “pics or it didn’t happen …

NASA’s Curiosity Finds Surprise Clues to Mars’ Watery Past

“Among other discoveries made by the rover, rippled rock textures suggest lakes existed in a region of ancient Mars that scientists expected to be drier. When NASA’s Curiosity rover arrived at the “sulfate-bearing unit” last fall, scientists thought they …

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot

“Ten sample tubes, capturing an amazing variety of Martian geology, have been deposited on Mars’ surface so they could be studied on Earth in the future. Less than six weeks after it began, construction of the first sample depot on …

NASA Explores a Winter Wonderland on Mars

“Cube-shaped snow, icy landscapes, and frost are all part of the Red Planet’s coldest season. When winter comes to Mars, the surface is transformed into a truly otherworldly holiday scene. Snow, ice, and frost accompany the season’s sub-zero …

NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science

“The mission has concluded that the solar-powered lander has run out of energy after more than four years on the Red Planet. NASA’s InSight mission has ended after more than four years of collecting unique science on Mars. Mission …

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface

“Filled with rock, the sample tube will be one of 10 forming a depot of tubes that could be considered for a journey to Earth by the Mars Sample Return campaign. A titanium tube containing a rock sample is resting …