Mars

Mars

Mars 2020

How NASA’s Perseverance Is Helping Prepare Astronauts for Mars

The rover carries several swatches of spacesuit materials, and scientists are assessing how they’ve held up after four years on the Red Planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021 to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to help scientists understand the planet’s climate and geography. But another key objective is to […]

Posted March 26, 2025

Astrobiology

Curiosity (Rover)

Goddard Space Flight Center

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars Exploration Program

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Missions

NASA Centers & Facilities

NASA Directorates

Planetary Science

Planetary Science Division

Planets

Science & Research

Science Mission Directorate

The Search for Life

The Solar System

The Universe

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Detects Largest Organic Molecules Found on Mars

Researchers analyzing pulverized rock onboard NASA’s Curiosity rover have found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date. The finding, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests prebiotic chemistry may have advanced further on Mars than previously observed.

Posted March 24, 2025

Goddard Space Flight Center

Mars

The Solar System

NASA: New Study on Why Mars is Red Supports Potentially Habitable Past

A new international study partially funded by NASA on how Mars got its iconic red color adds to evidence that Mars had a cool but wet and potentially habitable climate in its ancient past. The current atmosphere of Mars is too cold and thin to support liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, on its […]

Posted February 25, 2025

Curiosity (Rover)

Mars

A Rainbow-colored “Feather” in the Martian Sky

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this feather-shaped iridescent cloud just after sunset on Jan. 27, 2023. Studying the colors in iridescent clouds tells scientists something about particle size within the clouds and how they grow over time.

Posted February 12, 2025

Curiosity (Rover)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS)

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Captures Colorful Clouds Drifting Over Mars

While the Martian clouds may look like the kind seen in Earth’s skies, they include frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice. Red-and-green-tinted clouds drift through the Martian sky in a new set of images captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover using its Mastcam — its main set of “eyes.” Taken over 16 minutes on Jan. 17 […]

Posted February 11, 2025

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

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Missions

NASA’s InSight Finds Marsquakes From Meteoroids Go Deeper Than Expected

With help from AI, scientists discovered a fresh crater made by an impact that shook material as deep as the Red Planet’s mantle. Meteoroids striking Mars produce seismic signals that can reach deeper into the planet than previously known. That’s the finding of a pair of new papers comparing marsquake data collected by NASA’s InSight […]

Posted February 3, 2025

Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

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