Mars

At JPL's Mars Yard testing area, two spacecraft engineers Matt Robinson (left) and Wesley Kuykendall with test rovers Soujourner at center, test sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, left, and Curiosity, right.

Think Mountain Time’s Confusing? Try Living on Martian Time

Smithsonian's latest podcast "AirSpace" digs into the zany work schedules of the men and women on NASA's Mars rover projects

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai soon after its formation in 2015

How the Rapidly Changing Shape of This New Island Could Teach Us About Mars

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai has lasted longer than it should, and the processes that formed the island are of interest to NASA

Apollo 17's Saturn V launch vehicle sits atop pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Apollo 17 Was the Swan Song of Manned Space Exploration

Looking back 45 years later, is there hope humanity will once again push beyond Earth? President Donald Trump seems to think so

Earthworms Reproduce in Faux Mars Soil For the First Time

A vital component of healthy Earth gardens, scientists are testing their resilience in the harsh Red Planet environment

The dark, narrow streaks were once thought to be caused by flowing water. But a new study suggests they are just rolling sand.

Mars' Streaks of Flowing Water May Actually Be Sand

Scientists have debated for years if—and how much—water could exist on the Red Planet

Off to court…

Why NASA Needs To Establish Martian Law

Future Mars colonists may want to form their own legal system. What would stop them?

Astronauts traveling to Mars may be able to pack a little lighter with microbes that could make nutrients and the building blocks of plastic.

Could Astronauts Harvest Nutrients From Their Waste?

A new study suggests that modified yeast feeding on human waste can make useful byproducts for long missions in space

The Sun is seen setting through the Martian atmosphere by the Curiosity rover. Nighttime can bring turbulent snowstorms in the planet's atmosphere

Violent Snowstorms May Rack the Martian Night

Simulations show how the water snow falling on Mars may fall much differently than we're used to here on Earth

The Mars Rover Concept Vehicle was created as a traveling exhibit to inspire future space explorers.

A Vehicle Like This Will One Day Go to Mars

For now, the prototype rover—part tank, part Batmobile—is destined for Washington, D.C.

Researchers tested the fungus that grew in this isolated habitat as four people lived in it for a month.

Space-Bound Humans Bring Fungus Aboard—And the Stowaways Could Cause Trouble

Microscopic life is everywhere, but it could be dangerous for future astronauts bound for Mars

The Bonneville Crater on Mars

Mars Surface May Be Too Toxic for Microbial Life

The combination of UV radiation and perchlorates common on Mars could be deadly for bacteria

The astronauts of "2001: A Space Odyssey" hide in a pod to discuss the troubling behavior of their spacecraft's artificial intelligence, HAL 9000. In the background, HAL is able to read their lips.

When We Go to Mars, Will We Have a Real-Life HAL 9000 With Us?

How generations of NASA scientists were inspired by an evil Hollywood supercomputer

Fossils provide potential evidence that ancient life thrived Australia's Dresser Formation, a region composed of 3.5-billion-year-old hot springs.

Fossils From Ancient Hot Springs Suggest Life May Have Evolved on Land

These 3.5-billion-year-old rocks could vindicate Darwin's claim that life evolved in "some warm little pond," and not in the ocean

Why Morning Glories Could Survive Space Travel

The seed of the common garden flower could survive long journeys in space

Scientists Make Sturdy Bricks From Mars-Like Soils

Their findings may be a step forward in the mission to build structures on the Red Planet

An artist's rendition of Maven as it spies on Mars' atmosphere.

Mars Has Metal in Its Atmosphere

Metallic ions have a permanent presence in the red planet’s atmosphere—kind of like on Earth

The latest iteration of the four-legged LEMUR exploration robot clings to a test rock surface in Aaron Parness’ lab in a recent test of its microspine capabilities.

A New Generation of Interplanetary Rovers Is Crawling Toward the Stars

These four-legged, wheel-less robots will explore asteroids and the frigid outer worlds of our Solar System

What a ring around Mars may have looked like

Mars May Have Had a Ring in the Past and Could Have One in the Future

The red planet's moon may have broken apart into a ring of debris and reformed several times over the planet's history

Shortly after the announcement of the TRAPPIST-1 system, NASA crowdsourced its Twitter followers for possible planet names. The actual process of naming new planets, however, is a bit more involved.

How Do New Planets Get Their Names?

Sorry, Planet McPlanetface: Asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies go through a strict set of international naming guidelines

Computer-simulated global view of Venus.

The Case for Going to Venus

Sending a probe to Earth’s lifeless twin could help us understand how life rises—and falls—on faraway planets

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