Mars

Mars

Geyser Season on Mars

This Oct. 29, 2018, image from the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures geysers of gas and dust that occur in springtime in the South Polar region of Mars. As the Sun rises higher in the sky, the thick coating of carbon dioxide ice that accumulated over the winter begins to warm and […]

Posted January 29, 2025

Mars

Night Sky Network

January’s Night Sky Notes: The Red Planet

Have you looked up at the night sky this season and noticed a bright object sporting a reddish hue to the left of Orion? This is none other than the planet Mars! January will be an excellent opportunity to spot this planet and some of its details with a medium-sized telescope. Be sure to catch these three events this month.

Posted January 1, 2025

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Avalanches, Icy Explosions, and Dunes: NASA Is Tracking New Year on Mars

Instead of a winter wonderland, the Red Planet’s northern hemisphere goes through an active — even explosive — spring thaw. While New Year’s Eve is around the corner here on Earth, Mars scientists are ahead of the game: The Red Planet completed a trip around the Sun on Nov. 12, 2024, prompting a few researchers […]

Posted December 20, 2024

InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS)

NASA Mars Orbiter Spots Retired InSight Lander to Study Dust Movement

New images taken from space show how dust on and around InSight is changing over time — information that can help scientists learn more about the Red Planet. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) caught a glimpse of the agency’s retired InSight lander recently, documenting the accumulation of dust on the spacecraft’s solar panels. In the […]

Posted December 16, 2024

Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate

Artemis

Earth's Moon

Mars

NASA Outlines Latest Moon to Mars Plans in 2024 Architecture Update

As NASA develops a blueprint for space exploration throughout the solar system for the benefit of humanity, the agency released several new documents Friday updating its Moon to Mars architecture. The roadmap sets NASA on course for long-term lunar exploration under the Artemis campaign in preparation for future crewed missions to Mars.

Posted December 13, 2024

Perseverance (Rover)

Astrobiology

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars 2020

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reaches Top of Jezero Crater Rim

The road ahead will be even more scientifically intriguing, and probably somewhat easier-going, now that the six-wheeler has completed its long climb to the top. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has crested the top of Jezero Crater’s rim at a location the science team calls “Lookout Hill” and rolling toward its first science stop after the […]

Posted December 12, 2024

Ingenuity (Helicopter)

Astrobiology

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars 2020

Perseverance (Rover)

NASA Performs First Aircraft Accident Investigation on Another World

The review takes a close look the final flight of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which was the first aircraft to fly on another world. Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and AeroVironment are completing a detailed assessment of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s final flight on Jan.

Posted December 11, 2024

Mars

Ames Research Center

Ames Research Center's Science Directorate

General

High-Tech Computing

Mars Moons

Martian Moon Exploration (MMX)

Missions

NASA Centers & Facilities

Planets

Technology

The Solar System

Making Mars’ Moons: Supercomputers Offer ‘Disruptive’ New Explanation

A NASA study using a series of supercomputer simulations reveals a potential new solution to a longstanding Martian mystery: How did Mars get its moons?

Posted November 20, 2024

Curiosity (Rover)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Takes a Last Look at Mysterious Sulfur

The rover captured a 360-degree panorama before leaving Gediz Vallis channel, a feature it’s been exploring for the past year. NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing for the next leg of its journey, a monthslong trek to a formation called the boxwork, a set of weblike patterns on Mars’ surface that stretches for miles. It will […]

Posted November 18, 2024

Perseverance (Rover)

Astrobiology

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars 2020

NASA’s Perseverance Captures ‘Googly Eye’ During Solar Eclipse

The tiny, potato-shaped moon Phobos, one of two Martian moons, cast a silhouette as it passed in front of the Sun, creating an eye in Mars’ sky. From its perch on the western wall of Mars’ Jezero Crater, NASA’s Perseverance rover recently spied a “googly eye” peering down from space. The pupil in this celestial […]

Posted October 30, 2024