Articles tagged as Mars | Smithsonian Magazine

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

New Research

Mars Has Metal in Its Atmosphere

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

April 13, 2017

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.

Think Big

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

March 22, 2017

What a ring around Mars may have looked like

New Research

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

March 21, 2017

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.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

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

March 17, 2017

Computer-simulated global view of Venus.

Think Big

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

March 15, 2017

As part of his survival plan, Watney uses vacuum-packed potatoes to start his own farm on Mars.

Scientists Successfully Grow Potatoes in Mars-Like Soils

Can potatoes grow on the red planet? The International Potato Center is on the case

March 15, 2017

This lumpy moon would have made short work of NASA's MAVEN craft.

Left unattended, MAVEN and Phobos could have collided

March 3, 2017

What thorny ethical issues await us once we make it to Mars? A composite image of the red planet, composed by processing about 1000 Viking Orbiter red- and violet-filter images have been to provide global color coverage at a scale of 1 km/pixel.

Think Big

When Humans Begin Colonizing Other Planets, Who Should Be in Charge?

The biggest threat humans pose to other worlds is what we don’t know—or what we think we know, but don’t

March 1, 2017

Clocking in at 2.4 billion year old, this space rock is unlike the others.

New Research

A Martian Volcano May Have Continuously Erupted for Billions of Years

A space rock found in Northwest Africa provides new clues to volcanic activity on Mars

February 7, 2017

Visit Kennedy Space Center, the Closest Thing to Space on Earth

January 30, 2017

This vertically exaggerated view shows scalloped depressions in a part of Mars where such textures prompted researchers to check for buried ice, using ground-penetrating radar aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They found about as much frozen water as the volume of Lake Superior.

New Research

This Massive Martian Field of Ice Could Fill Lake Superior

The frosty deposit could be a lifeline for future human explorers on the Red Planet

November 23, 2016

The crew of the International Space Station's Expedition 38

New Research

Space Makes Astronauts Grow Taller, But It Also Causes Back Problems

The inches gained during long stays in space don’t stick around once the adventurers return to Earth

October 31, 2016

The European Space Agency lost contact with the Schiaparelli probe after it jettisoned its heat shield and deployed its parachute

October 20, 2016

An illustration of the Schiaparelli lander detaching from the Trace Gas Orbiter as it makes its way to the surface of Mars

A lot is riding on the European Space Agency’s first Mars lander

October 17, 2016

Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on NASA's final space shuttle mission from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 8, 2011.

Some leaps, launches and grand plans for the future

October 13, 2016

Two 2001 images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter show a dramatic change in the planet's appearance when haze raised by dust-storm activity in the south became globally distributed. The images were taken about a month apart.

New Research

Major Martian Dust Storms Might Soon Envelope the Red Planet

A plus for meteorologists but perhaps bad news for rovers

October 11, 2016

Carmel Johnston (left), crew commander, enjoys her first meal outside the dome.

Space Hub

Astronauts Tell All About Their One Year on “Mars”

In an unprecedented simulation, NASA learned that its astronauts are a bunch of overachievers

September 21, 2016

As more countries and companies send spacecraft to other worlds, scientists are worried about potential contamination risks. Here, NASA's Curiosity rover takes a self-portrait on Mars.

Think Big

Can We Save Mars From Ourselves?

When we travel to Earth-like worlds, contamination may be inevitable

September 9, 2016

Delayed InSight Mission to Mars Slated to Launch in 2018

With redesigned equipment, scientists hope to unearth how the Red Planet came to be

September 7, 2016

Think Curiosity is cool? You ain't seen nothing yet.

Think Big

How the Next Generation of Mars Rovers will Search for Signs of Life

The Mars 2020 rover doesn’t even have a name yet—but it already has an ambitious goal

September 2, 2016